WEBVTT - Capítulo 214: Linda Garcia in The House 0:00:03.760 --> 0:00:07.360 Lok at Our Radio is a radiophonic novela, which. 0:00:07.160 --> 0:00:10.360 Is just a very extra way of saying a podcast. 0:00:11.000 --> 0:00:12.280 I'm fiosa fem. 0:00:12.320 --> 0:00:13.800 And I am ma la munios. 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:18.240 We're podcasting through another Trump election year. We've been podcasting 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:22.800 through election years, a global pandemic, civic unrest, political controversies, 0:00:22.840 --> 0:00:24.720 the Me Too movement, the rise of TikTok, and we 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:25.599 are still here. 0:00:25.960 --> 0:00:27.680 We're not done telling stories. 0:00:27.920 --> 0:00:32.280 We're still making podcasts. We're older, we're wiser, We're even 0:00:32.360 --> 0:00:35.840 podcasting through a new decade of our lives. 0:00:35.960 --> 0:00:39.640 Since twenty sixteen, we've been making locat Our Radio independently 0:00:40.200 --> 0:00:44.239 until we joined iHeartMedia's Michael Dura Network in twenty twenty two. 0:00:44.960 --> 0:00:47.640 From our lips to your ears, fall in love with 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:50.159 Locata Radio like you never have before. 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:54.040 Welcome to Season nine. Love that first listen. 0:00:57.200 --> 0:01:00.920 Ola La Loka Motes. Welcome to Season nine of Loka 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:01.640 Dora Radio. 0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:04.040 I'm diosa and I am Mala. 0:01:04.520 --> 0:01:07.880 Loka Tora Radio is a podcast dedicated to ourchiving our 0:01:07.920 --> 0:01:11.760 present and shifting the culture forward. You're tuning into Capitolo 0:01:11.800 --> 0:01:14.600 Do two fourteen. 0:01:14.560 --> 0:01:19.319 Last time on Loca Tora Radio. We interviewed Priscadriguez about 0:01:19.319 --> 0:01:22.800 her new book Bis and Primas, which explores the Latina 0:01:23.000 --> 0:01:25.560 archetypes that we find in most of our families. 0:01:25.760 --> 0:01:29.240 I think I write for Latina's I think it's more 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:33.960 a millennial Latina for sure. Latinas who went to pwi's 0:01:34.520 --> 0:01:41.120 Latinas were raised with really strict conservative Christian parents, like 0:01:41.560 --> 0:01:44.520 who understand when I say speaking in tongues like that's 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:45.160 the Let's. 0:01:45.160 --> 0:01:48.000 Tune in, leave a comment, subscribe and share with a friend. 0:01:48.320 --> 0:01:52.200 Almost every election cycle here at Lokata Radio, we produce 0:01:52.440 --> 0:01:56.800 a series called Latinas in Politics. On today's episode, we're 0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:00.760 going to be talking to multi hyphenic creative Life Garcia. 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:04.360 You may also know her as Lose Warrior. She used 0:02:04.360 --> 0:02:06.880 to host a podcast called Let There Be Loose. She 0:02:07.200 --> 0:02:11.760 is also the author of the book titled Wealth Warrior. 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:16.720 She has been creating workshops about financial literacy and the 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:21.440 stock market, specifically for marginalized communities for the past several years, 0:02:21.840 --> 0:02:25.960 but now she's shifting into local politics in the state 0:02:26.000 --> 0:02:26.640 of Texas. 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:30.440 Linda Garcia, in this new chapter of her life, will 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:33.960 be running uncontested in the upcoming November elections for the 0:02:34.000 --> 0:02:37.680 office of Texas State Representative for District one oh seven, 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:40.600 and she is slated to be sworn into office in 0:02:40.680 --> 0:02:44.880 January twenty twenty four. She had a very unconventional journey 0:02:45.240 --> 0:02:48.359 into elected politics. We're going to hear all about it 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:51.880 and how a text message at a Christmas party led 0:02:51.960 --> 0:02:54.160 to this new political position for her. 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:55.360 Stick around. 0:02:55.480 --> 0:02:57.440 It's a really good interview and you're going to want 0:02:57.440 --> 0:03:00.480 to hear all of it. 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:06.919 My name is Linda Garcia. I am calling from Dallas, Texas, 0:03:06.960 --> 0:03:14.160 and I am currently also the Texas State Representative elect 0:03:14.360 --> 0:03:15.800 for the Democratic Party. 0:03:16.360 --> 0:03:20.200 So Linda, tell us about your journey and how you 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:24.440 got into politics. What brought you to this place where 0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:26.040 you decided to run for office. 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:30.480 You know, it's really interesting because in my early twenties, 0:03:30.560 --> 0:03:34.480 which was about twenty five years ago, I did have 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:38.600 this intention of I want to be a politician one day, 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:42.800 and I had big aspirations. I thought one day I'll 0:03:42.800 --> 0:03:47.000 be mayor of Dallas. I'm originally from California, but at 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:50.400 the time I was living in Dallas, and I started 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:52.880 working for the City of Dallas, and I got to 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:56.800 meet some city officials and just kind of get to 0:03:56.920 --> 0:04:00.560 see some of the behind the scenes, and I decided, Okay, 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:04.600 absolutely not. I will not enter politics. It's for sure 0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:07.960 not for me. So I moved away from the idea. 0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:14.480 And then after graduating college, a few years later, I 0:04:14.520 --> 0:04:18.560 met I had a friend that was a lobbyist, and 0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:22.120 he took me out to dinner. He's a Republican and 0:04:22.200 --> 0:04:25.920 he had mentioned that he thought I would be great 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:29.920 to become a candidate one day and represent the Republican Party, 0:04:29.960 --> 0:04:32.679 which I thought was so wild, like wow, there's really 0:04:32.720 --> 0:04:38.280 people out here on the hunt looking for potential candidates. 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:41.280 And I really was impressed with I mean, we're talking 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:46.160 about twenty years ago, this idea that they understood where 0:04:46.480 --> 0:04:50.440 Latinos were headed and that they should definitely start seeking 0:04:50.520 --> 0:04:53.719 viable candidates. So I thought that was really interesting and 0:04:53.760 --> 0:04:57.080 I was like, no, I'm not doing that. So already 0:04:57.080 --> 0:05:00.960 there were two instances in my life where the idea 0:05:00.960 --> 0:05:05.560 of politics was around me, like the energy was around 0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:10.640 And then this last time, I was asked by our 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:15.560 current state representative, Representative Victoria yavik Riado, who is very 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:19.520 well respected here in the state of Texas. She had 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:23.040 a very serious inquiry and asked for me to strongly 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:29.480 consider becoming a state representative and running for office, and honestly, 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:32.359 I was flattered, but there was a big part of 0:05:32.400 --> 0:05:35.160 me that was terrified of the idea, and I was 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:41.200 I was kind of in limbo. She then started talking 0:05:41.279 --> 0:05:42.960 to me more about it, and I'm like, oh, this 0:05:43.040 --> 0:05:47.200 is the very serious inquiry. I asked her how much 0:05:47.240 --> 0:05:50.480 does a state representative make, as you should ask when 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:54.360 anyone approaches you for a job. And when she told 0:05:54.360 --> 0:05:57.839 me that a state representative in Texas makes seven thousand, 0:05:58.400 --> 0:06:02.080 I was like a month and she said no, a year. 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:07.520 I was in shock, and I started to do a 0:06:07.520 --> 0:06:10.799 lot of research. I started to research how much state 0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:15.600 representatives get paid in other states, and there's like, the 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:18.360 comparison is crazy. And then to start to look at 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:24.159 Republican states versus democratic states was even crazier. So I 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:28.880 saw immediately the system at play. And then on top 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:31.800 of that, I checked to see how much the per 0:06:31.920 --> 0:06:35.080 capita income is in my district, the district that I 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:38.120 would be representing, which is about one hundred and ninety 0:06:38.120 --> 0:06:43.200 five thousand Texans, And in my district the per capita 0:06:43.279 --> 0:06:47.800 is twenty four thousand a year, and the Latino population 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:52.599 is at sixty five percent, and so I really started 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:55.200 to think, how are you going to find someone that 0:06:55.240 --> 0:06:59.920 can afford to actually run for this position? And then 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:02.920 and that was a no brainer for me. I did 0:07:02.920 --> 0:07:06.679 it because the position only paid seven thousand a year, 0:07:06.960 --> 0:07:10.520 and I saw the system at play. I understood immediately 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:12.680 why I was losing all of my rights here in 0:07:12.720 --> 0:07:16.800 the state of Texas. And more importantly, I see the 0:07:16.840 --> 0:07:20.240 Texas as a leading state in the sense that if 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:25.520 Texas passes a law, then other Republican states follow, so 0:07:26.080 --> 0:07:30.560 we are in a very important territory. And then the 0:07:30.640 --> 0:07:36.200 setup of the situation was that I probably had a 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:39.920 ninety five percent chance of not having a candidate run 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:43.120 against me, so it would be like a straight slam dunk. 0:07:44.400 --> 0:07:47.920 It was like an episode on Scandal, honestly, if I 0:07:47.960 --> 0:07:53.720 could describe it. And I was given about three hours 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:57.560 to make a decision. I came home, had a family meeting, 0:07:58.000 --> 0:08:01.800 emergency family meeting with all of my family members, very 0:08:01.840 --> 0:08:06.400 serious conversations on how our lives would change. My sister 0:08:06.480 --> 0:08:11.160 in law, who is a she works in politics. She 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:15.240 works for Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett and has for years. She's 0:08:15.360 --> 0:08:19.720 also asked me to run for politics. She's also made 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:22.480 serious inquiries and thought that I would be a good candidate. 0:08:22.880 --> 0:08:24.800 Of course, she was like, you have to do this. 0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:28.920 So I had the support of my family and I 0:08:29.040 --> 0:08:32.200 was terrified. And that's how it happened. That's how I 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:36.439 went into the journey. It was literally an overnight decision. 0:08:36.840 --> 0:08:41.160 I was then thrown into registering for the position. Cameras 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:45.840 are on me interviews. At that point, I hadn't really 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:50.480 established any policies or what I wanted to do for 0:08:50.600 --> 0:08:53.199 my district. It all happened so fast. 0:08:53.960 --> 0:08:55.360 Don't go anywhere, lookamotives. 0:08:55.520 --> 0:08:56.559 We'll be right. 0:08:56.320 --> 0:09:15.479 Back, and we're back with more of our episode. 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:21.400 So this article in D magazine talks about you at 0:09:21.400 --> 0:09:24.440 a Christmas party in December of last year when you 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:28.600 got a text message from Victoria Criado at that time 0:09:28.640 --> 0:09:31.160 the state rep for Texas House District one oh seven, 0:09:31.720 --> 0:09:34.440 and that she wanted you to replace her because she 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:36.880 was running for a different seat. But she had never 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:40.520 met you or spoken to you, but she still wanted 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:42.640 to reach out and ask you to take her seat. 0:09:43.320 --> 0:09:46.200 Why do you think she had that confidence in you 0:09:46.440 --> 0:09:48.960 when she had never met or spoken to you before. 0:09:49.040 --> 0:09:52.360 What was it that led her to believe that you 0:09:52.360 --> 0:09:53.200 could do the job. 0:09:54.559 --> 0:09:58.280 Sure. So it was actually a close contact of her 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:02.680 that reached out first to builter out this idea. And 0:10:02.760 --> 0:10:05.800 this contact of hers his name is Ramido. He has 0:10:05.840 --> 0:10:09.360 an organization out here called Solmost Dejas. I was on 0:10:09.400 --> 0:10:12.520 the board for almost Dejas. 0:10:11.600 --> 0:10:12.000 And. 0:10:14.040 --> 0:10:17.320 Ramido had also been semi pushing me to run for office. 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:19.400 I mean, I guess this is like a repeated theme 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:21.800 now that I'm talking it through. This is definitely a 0:10:21.800 --> 0:10:25.760 repeated theme in my life. And I feel like that 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:29.200 was probably initially more his confidence because I was sitting 0:10:29.200 --> 0:10:31.400 on the board and he was familiar with my work 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:35.160 and he walked her through my work. When Victoria and 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:37.880 I met the following day, one of the things I 0:10:37.920 --> 0:10:40.720 told her is like, I'm not changing anything about me 0:10:40.840 --> 0:10:43.200 because I don't know what this position in tells or 0:10:43.240 --> 0:10:47.680 what they're demanding or wanting from me. I don't understand 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:52.160 the political process. I'm walking through it brand spanking new. 0:10:53.200 --> 0:10:55.960 So it was really important for me to communicate that 0:10:56.280 --> 0:10:59.040 I was going to maintain integrity on who I was. 0:10:59.240 --> 0:11:02.880 But one of the things that Victoria talks about is 0:11:03.360 --> 0:11:06.520 that she could see that I had been doing the work, 0:11:06.640 --> 0:11:09.440 and so the work means that I had been taking 0:11:09.480 --> 0:11:15.520 steps to work with our community and shift current circumstances 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:18.280 in our community. And so for a lot of people, 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:21.679 that is what a public servant does. That is what 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:25.560 someone in politics aims to do, hopefully, if their heart 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:29.040 is in the right place, is take action and make changes. 0:11:29.559 --> 0:11:33.160 So I know that they went through my work and 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:36.319 my you know, my socials and all of that, and 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:41.199 she was fine with the way I am and said 0:11:41.320 --> 0:11:44.640 that's okay, I see, you know, I've seen your stuff. 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:47.160 We still would like to move forward and ask you 0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:52.480 to consider taking this role. She also, you know, is 0:11:52.920 --> 0:11:56.680 a strong politician here as I mentioned, and she has 0:11:57.320 --> 0:12:02.520 aspirations to move into bigger spaces to make a bigger impact. 0:12:03.320 --> 0:12:05.320 So I'm sure that was also a big part of 0:12:05.400 --> 0:12:06.440 the decision. 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:10.600 Can you share with our listeners that maybe aren't familiar 0:12:10.920 --> 0:12:14.080 with what is a representative? 0:12:14.360 --> 0:12:14.440 Like? 0:12:14.600 --> 0:12:17.160 What does it mean to be a Texas State rep 0:12:17.480 --> 0:12:21.120 Democratic nominee? What does it entail, what does a job 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:24.160 look like, and what does the district look like? 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:32.000 Yeah, so basically, rights that we currently have here in Texas, 0:12:32.040 --> 0:12:35.320 like the abortion ban, all of those are voted on 0:12:35.679 --> 0:12:40.720 by an amount of representatives that represent the constituents or 0:12:40.760 --> 0:12:44.920 the folks that live in the representatives district. So you're 0:12:44.920 --> 0:12:51.000 basically entrusting your voting rights on a state representative to 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:57.400 vote reflecting your personal beliefs, morals, values, et cetera. A 0:12:57.440 --> 0:13:02.559 state representative can also come up with bill ideas and 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:06.800 present those bill ideas, or carry someone else's bill idea 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:10.880 and get those bill ideas past and then turn into law. 0:13:11.400 --> 0:13:14.320 So it is basically a body of folks that vote 0:13:14.360 --> 0:13:18.839 on specific bills that then become law, and either we're 0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:21.720 getting our rights taken away like we're witnessing here in 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:24.640 Texas the majority of the time, especially as of late, 0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:28.480 or we're implementing additional laws. 0:13:28.960 --> 0:13:32.200 So while you were living in California, had you ever 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:35.520 considered running for office in California or is this something 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:39.040 that was destined to happen in Texas? You mentioned becoming 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:42.400 like the mayor of Dallas and being a politician in Dallas. 0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:45.920 Why Texas and why not California. 0:13:46.040 --> 0:13:49.120 That's so interesting you asked that question. That is such 0:13:49.120 --> 0:13:54.480 a good question. You know, places carry energy, there's just 0:13:54.720 --> 0:13:58.720 a completely different energy in California. I was born there. 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:02.320 I lived there until twelve years old. At twelve, I 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:05.880 moved to Dallas. At twenty seven, I moved back in 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:11.360 pursuit of creativity. I used to write, produce, and direct 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:15.640 local TV commercials here in Dallas, Texas, and I left 0:14:15.800 --> 0:14:20.080 back to my home state to pursue film. I went 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:25.760 on to launch the first Latino movie studio called Bantaion Films. 0:14:25.840 --> 0:14:28.320 I got to work on a lot of films via that. 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:32.120 I then went into Netflix. And so for me, what 0:14:32.360 --> 0:14:37.000 California had was a lot of creativity, a lot of 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:41.080 pushing back against the resistance that I was so familiar 0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:46.200 with here in Texas. Texas has very strong energy of assimilation. 0:14:47.080 --> 0:14:51.680 And it's almost like when I'm here in Texas, which 0:14:51.720 --> 0:14:56.200 I've spent both my entire life. I've spent time in 0:14:56.280 --> 0:15:00.200 both places, and a lot of what I did deal 0:15:00.320 --> 0:15:03.280 with here does feel a little bit more formal and 0:15:03.360 --> 0:15:07.520 more political, even just exploring the stock market and finance 0:15:08.680 --> 0:15:12.120 that just has much more of a Texas energy. And 0:15:12.160 --> 0:15:15.880 then when I'm in California, I get to explore something 0:15:15.920 --> 0:15:20.640 that is more spiritual and more creative. And it's these 0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:23.760 two aspects that live inside of me and I feel 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:27.359 like it's because I've gotten to live in both places, 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:33.360 and I feel like it's it's also I don't not 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:37.520 that the word fun is the correct word. But I'm 0:15:37.600 --> 0:15:41.960 exploring these two very distinct parts of my brain. A 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:45.000 part of me that gets to be an intellect and 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:49.160 dive into data and numbers, and then this other part 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:51.800 of me in California that gets to be free spirited. 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:56.120 And I'm just both both spaces. But when I'm in 0:15:56.360 --> 0:15:58.720 California it pulls one side of me, and when I'm 0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:01.400 in Texas it pulls another side of me. I don't 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:03.160 know if that makes sense. 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:05.800 That does make sense, And I want to ask you 0:16:05.840 --> 0:16:09.320 something because now you've shared, right, you've lived in both states, 0:16:09.400 --> 0:16:12.880 one blue, one red, and we hear and I don't 0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:15.480 know how true it is, but sometimes you know, to 0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:17.840 be a little bit of a masochist. I will read 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:23.160 the comments on Instagram and people. I'll see comments that say, 0:16:23.240 --> 0:16:26.160 this is why I'm leaving California and moving to Texas, right, 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:29.080 this is why I'm leaving a blue state and going 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:33.000 to a red state. And so you know, we live here. 0:16:33.040 --> 0:16:35.240 We think it's great, yes we do. 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:38.280 We don't live in a red state. But as someone 0:16:38.280 --> 0:16:41.000 that's lived in both, you know, what has been your 0:16:41.040 --> 0:16:44.960 experience of living in a red state during all of 0:16:45.000 --> 0:16:49.920 these huge crucial changes that have happened in Texas, like 0:16:50.000 --> 0:16:52.120 the abortion band and like so many others. 0:16:52.520 --> 0:16:56.320 So let's talk about some of the positives first. Some 0:16:56.400 --> 0:17:00.480 of the positives for me here in Texas is the 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:05.520 ability to build generational wealth. That does come so much 0:17:05.560 --> 0:17:08.400 more easier. You can purchase a home, it is much 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:13.520 more affordable. The quality of life increases, and when I'm 0:17:13.520 --> 0:17:16.639 talking about the quality of life, I'm specifically talking about 0:17:16.640 --> 0:17:19.960 a roof over head, roots and vegetables that I can 0:17:20.000 --> 0:17:23.720 now you know, afford much more comfortably that are organic, 0:17:23.920 --> 0:17:26.840 and that type of space. My son goes to a 0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:30.480 private school. Things that I can afford that I was 0:17:30.640 --> 0:17:34.000 never able to afford in California. That felt so much 0:17:34.040 --> 0:17:38.800 more difficult, right, So that is the biggest row. It 0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:41.879 was definitely a sacrifice in the sense of, you know, 0:17:42.040 --> 0:17:46.040 the weather and my friends and the creative space that 0:17:46.119 --> 0:17:50.480 I love so much, and the accessibility to creative spaces 0:17:50.600 --> 0:17:53.520 at this stage in my life, at forty four years old, 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:56.639 I just felt like it was the right move for me, 0:17:57.080 --> 0:18:01.679 And yeah, there are definitely pros and cons, And again, 0:18:02.280 --> 0:18:05.119 I think something that is really interesting is just the 0:18:05.200 --> 0:18:10.640 difference of Mexican Americans here versus and I'm speaking from 0:18:10.640 --> 0:18:14.720 a Mexican American perspective as a child of immigrants versus 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:21.680 Mexican Americans in California. So I guess navigating those two 0:18:22.119 --> 0:18:26.480 energies and seeing the pros and the cons out here 0:18:26.520 --> 0:18:31.080 in Texas, it's very behind in terms of progress and 0:18:31.200 --> 0:18:36.000 the ability to freely express ourselves in comparison to the 0:18:36.040 --> 0:18:41.000 beauty of California, continuously pushing against resistance and against a 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:45.520 simulation coming up with, you know, our own culture in California, 0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:48.480 going all the way back to bachuco DA's and to 0:18:49.160 --> 0:18:53.240 low writer and Cholo movements where we were continuously pushing 0:18:53.320 --> 0:18:58.320 against forms of assimilation and resisting. We're here. It was 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:00.800 life was easier if you assimilated. 0:19:01.560 --> 0:19:03.360 We hope you're enjoying this interview. 0:19:03.760 --> 0:19:19.479 Stay tuned, We're back, and we hope you enjoy the 0:19:19.520 --> 0:19:23.719 rest of the interview. On the topic of assimilation, there 0:19:23.760 --> 0:19:29.240 are so many levels to assimilation and getting into politics, 0:19:29.440 --> 0:19:33.840 I feel probably has its own type of assimilation. And 0:19:34.480 --> 0:19:38.920 what you've already shared, what you said when you first considered, 0:19:39.200 --> 0:19:42.000 you know, entering office, was that you're not deleting anything 0:19:42.040 --> 0:19:45.080 off your Instagram. You're not changing who you are. Why 0:19:45.200 --> 0:19:48.600 was that so important to you and the Instagram specifically, 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:50.480 because I feel like there are people out there who 0:19:51.080 --> 0:19:53.919 maybe are not on Instagram the way we are, Maybe 0:19:53.960 --> 0:19:56.080 it doesn't hold a place in their lives the way 0:19:56.119 --> 0:19:58.560 it does for us and for you, And so I'm 0:19:58.600 --> 0:20:02.399 curious why, specific the social media space you wanted to 0:20:02.440 --> 0:20:05.640 protect your archive and your identity and what that meant 0:20:05.640 --> 0:20:07.359 for you. 0:20:07.359 --> 0:20:11.760 You know, we had just I mean, I was very 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:17.280 outspoken after October seventh in terms of being pro Palestine, 0:20:17.480 --> 0:20:20.280 and so I think that when I was saying Instagram, 0:20:20.400 --> 0:20:23.320 what I was really saying is I'm not deleting my 0:20:23.440 --> 0:20:27.880 pro Palestine content that I have highlighted. That was really 0:20:28.359 --> 0:20:33.280 really important for me. And of course everything else comes 0:20:33.280 --> 0:20:36.920 second in terms of other things that I've spoken up 0:20:37.119 --> 0:20:40.439 on and had been very vocal. But that was a 0:20:40.480 --> 0:20:43.680 way for me to protect that space, and I had 0:20:43.960 --> 0:20:47.119 just come off of speaking on it. I was also, 0:20:47.680 --> 0:20:52.160 in my sphere, the first one to speak up about it. 0:20:52.240 --> 0:20:55.640 I also received a lot of backlash for speaking up 0:20:55.760 --> 0:20:59.040 on it. But I also came from a background where 0:20:59.040 --> 0:21:03.320 my sister in law had gone to the West Bank, 0:21:03.640 --> 0:21:06.600 you know, in twenty nineteen, and she had been educating 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:11.120 us on Palestine for years on what was taking place. 0:21:11.280 --> 0:21:15.360 So when October seventh happened, I already had all of 0:21:15.400 --> 0:21:20.239 this context, and I just felt like this was it 0:21:20.320 --> 0:21:23.280 was going to be really important that I not waiver 0:21:23.680 --> 0:21:28.800 and not be bullied or feared into a space where 0:21:28.840 --> 0:21:32.840 I lose myself for the cause. So in other words, 0:21:33.480 --> 0:21:35.760 that I wasn't going to give up a part of 0:21:35.800 --> 0:21:39.280 myself so that I could be a politician and vote 0:21:39.359 --> 0:21:42.760 for certain progressive things, but not be able to vote 0:21:42.800 --> 0:21:48.160 for all progressive things. That's really important to me, and 0:21:49.240 --> 0:21:52.359 that was what I was mostly. That's where my head 0:21:52.560 --> 0:21:56.120 was fresh off of that conversation and where we were 0:21:56.320 --> 0:21:56.960 at the time. 0:21:57.400 --> 0:22:00.520 I love that you mentioned being pro Palestine. There's this 0:22:00.680 --> 0:22:03.520 pressure once you get into politics to lean a certain 0:22:03.560 --> 0:22:09.400 way or have certain views, And you know, that's so admirable, 0:22:09.600 --> 0:22:14.600 right because I think that pressure is intense. When you 0:22:14.760 --> 0:22:18.399 feel like there's that backlash can really affect It's a 0:22:18.440 --> 0:22:21.480 domino effect in our lives in some ways. But it's 0:22:21.520 --> 0:22:24.160 really about like, what do you really value and who 0:22:24.200 --> 0:22:27.160 do you really value? And how important are your values 0:22:27.200 --> 0:22:32.040 to you? And I feel like that is so aligned 0:22:32.119 --> 0:22:35.320 with who you are as a person and now running 0:22:35.680 --> 0:22:39.639 for an elected position. You've also had some photos be 0:22:39.760 --> 0:22:43.160 weaponized against you, So can you talk about that as 0:22:43.200 --> 0:22:45.760 well and tell us what the photos are. I know 0:22:46.000 --> 0:22:48.800 what they were for, but if you can just paint 0:22:48.800 --> 0:22:50.840 the picture for the listener, sure. 0:22:51.040 --> 0:22:56.680 So I am very inspired by black culture. I always 0:22:56.760 --> 0:23:00.520 have been, growing up in southern California in and you know, 0:23:00.960 --> 0:23:03.760 the I was the nineteen I was born in nineteen eighties. 0:23:03.920 --> 0:23:10.480 So my first experience with something that wasn't like all 0:23:10.600 --> 0:23:14.119 like uh, like my mom for example, we grew up 0:23:14.160 --> 0:23:18.399 watching Spanish television and like Quen Senerra and delenovelas, and 0:23:18.480 --> 0:23:20.919 so the first time I got a taste of something 0:23:21.000 --> 0:23:26.440 that wasn't fully white was black culture like Yo, MTV 0:23:26.720 --> 0:23:31.000 raps and so n WA and just all of this 0:23:31.280 --> 0:23:35.600 rich culture where I felt I could look towards that 0:23:35.720 --> 0:23:40.080 didn't that felt more closer than me than watching telenovelas 0:23:40.160 --> 0:23:42.879 with my mom or wal Mercado or whatever it is 0:23:42.920 --> 0:23:45.600 that she was watching at the time on Spanish television. 0:23:46.840 --> 0:23:50.119 And so I have embedded that in my book. I 0:23:50.160 --> 0:23:53.360 have rap lyrics at the beginning of every chapter, and 0:23:53.640 --> 0:23:57.119 I have pictures that I took in a Cugi sweater 0:23:57.480 --> 0:24:00.919 and in these pictures we were promo the book and 0:24:01.040 --> 0:24:04.359 just promoting the brand, and there's you know, holding a 0:24:04.400 --> 0:24:07.440 stack of money like a telephone. It was the funnest 0:24:07.480 --> 0:24:10.680 shoot I've ever done in my entire life that I love. 0:24:10.920 --> 0:24:14.480 I love that shoot, and I have to admit, though, 0:24:14.560 --> 0:24:18.520 there was this initial part of me, because I am human, 0:24:18.720 --> 0:24:22.359 coming into the space and this like desire to like 0:24:23.000 --> 0:24:25.240 I felt the desire in my head to like want 0:24:25.280 --> 0:24:28.160 to like wear long sleeves and cover up the tattoos 0:24:28.160 --> 0:24:32.160 that I have on my forearms. Like there was instantly 0:24:32.359 --> 0:24:36.159 this automatic like how should I do my makeup? And 0:24:36.520 --> 0:24:40.480 immediately I was like, Okay, I see, I am acknowledging 0:24:40.560 --> 0:24:44.040 that you're afraid to walk into this space being authentically you. 0:24:44.280 --> 0:24:48.000 This is what we're pushing against. First is my own thoughts, 0:24:48.160 --> 0:24:51.600 my own limitations about how I like to show up 0:24:51.720 --> 0:24:55.159 as a person. And so I'm in the space, and 0:24:55.200 --> 0:24:57.800 there were there were moments where I would look at 0:24:57.800 --> 0:25:00.840 my stuff and I'm like, this isn't political, like, why 0:25:00.880 --> 0:25:03.080 am I in this space? I do not fit in. 0:25:03.119 --> 0:25:07.000 I just felt like out of you know, the cool 0:25:07.920 --> 0:25:13.760 Latino elected click and sure enough, all of my everything 0:25:13.800 --> 0:25:19.120 I was feeling was projected. And d magazine did a 0:25:19.160 --> 0:25:22.639 really stupid little piece on me that was maybe like 0:25:22.720 --> 0:25:27.840 two paragraphs, and they made fun of me holding the 0:25:27.920 --> 0:25:32.040 money like a phone, stating that I believe that I 0:25:32.040 --> 0:25:35.040 could use the phone a stack of one hundred dollars 0:25:35.080 --> 0:25:40.600 bills for money. I'm a koujie swear a sweater wearing Latina. 0:25:40.760 --> 0:25:46.040 And then the rumor started amongst lobbyists and politicians throughout 0:25:46.080 --> 0:25:50.080