Speaker 1: Broadcasting from the Hip Hop Weekly Studios. I'd like to
Speaker 1: welcome you to another episode of Civic Siger, where our
Speaker 1: mission is to foster ally ship, empathy and understanding. I'm
Speaker 1: your host, Ramsey's job.
Speaker 2: He is Ramsey's job. I am q ward.
Speaker 1: Most of the time.
Speaker 2: My mother calls me different names when she's upset, so
Speaker 2: sometimes she does full print time with the strong pronunciation
Speaker 2: of the oh.
Speaker 1: But today I will be Q awarding you. I listened
Speaker 1: to Civic side. Indeed you are. We have some special
Speaker 1: guests in the building because we have a lot to
Speaker 1: talk about. We'd like to welcome back some some dear friends.
Speaker 1: Or I said welcome some, I should say welcome some
Speaker 1: dear friends. But this is an organization that we've been
Speaker 1: working with very closely. We have Angela Salazar from the
Speaker 1: ye WCA as well as Marta or Banowska. All right,
Speaker 1: I got it, all right, all right, that's my thought, okay.
Speaker 1: And Angela is the equity programs director, and Marta is
Speaker 1: the brand manager for the HYE WC. And we're going
Speaker 1: to get into all of that. The reason that they're
Speaker 1: here today andason why we want you to stick around
Speaker 1: is because there's been a lot going on with respect
Speaker 1: to bodily autonomy, women's rights, women's ability to choose, and
Speaker 1: government's intervention toward that end. And the y w c
Speaker 1: A works with Women's the Young Women's Christian Association. If
Speaker 1: I'm not mistaken as the acronym but women, I remember. Okay,
Speaker 1: so you're going to educate me too. But I know
Speaker 1: that you work very closely with with with women. And
Speaker 1: these are the sorts of fights that are very important.
Speaker 1: And you know on this show we communicate with allies
Speaker 1: and potential allies, and so we're an honor to have
Speaker 1: you up here to help us, help inform us on
Speaker 1: how we can best advocate for the outcomes that really
Speaker 1: shape the things that you're pursuing. So that and so
Speaker 1: much more to stick around for. But before we get there,
Speaker 1: first and foremost, we like to start things with some
Speaker 1: avenue excellence, shall we? I think we shall. So today's
Speaker 1: avenue Excellence sponsored by Major Threads for innovative fashionable sportswear.
Speaker 1: Check Major threads dot com. And today I'll be sharing
Speaker 1: from Huffington Post. Now, to be fair, this is an
Speaker 1: older article but we're just getting to it. So just
Speaker 1: letting you know anyway. At twenty seven, Hunneth Johnson is
Speaker 1: the youngest district judge in Pennsylvania. Johnson won the seat
Speaker 1: in the general election for the Dauphin County Magisterial District
Speaker 1: in Pennsylvania, becoming the youngest magisterial district judge in the state.
Speaker 1: The Harrisburg, Pennsylvania native began his term in January and
Speaker 1: will preside over cases within the predominantly black state capitol.
Speaker 1: Johnson is no stranger to the other side of the law.
Speaker 1: He's been in jail three times and ran through the
Speaker 1: streets as a teenager. As a student at penn State University,
Speaker 1: Johnson ran a foul of the law again, this time
Speaker 1: as a member of his fraternity, Omega Sci Fi. While
Speaker 1: he was president of the fraternity, he was charged in
Speaker 1: connection with hazing allegations. Quote I went to jail for
Speaker 1: two weeks, went to trial. Thank god I wont unquote,
Speaker 1: Johnson recalled. He goes on to say, quote that was
Speaker 1: one of the happiest days. I just felt like my
Speaker 1: life was going to be taken from me. Unquote. Now
Speaker 1: Johnson has an opportunity to make a difference quote, being
Speaker 1: that I live in the area they know me, I
Speaker 1: know the people. I know what's going on. Unquote. The
Speaker 1: father of one said goes on to say, you have
Speaker 1: single moms that can't pay a parking ticket. I have
Speaker 1: the control to make life easier for her, rather than
Speaker 1: someone from out of town who doesn't understand that one
Speaker 1: hundred dollars ticket might be too much for her and
Speaker 1: she ends up in jail over that ticket. Quote. So
Speaker 1: you know, one of the things that we have to
Speaker 1: deal with is being associated with criminal behavior. And one
Speaker 1: of the things that the criminal justice system doesn't do
Speaker 1: is rehabilitate people. And so when you see stories like
Speaker 1: this that not only are people being rehabilitated, but indeed
Speaker 1: they end up getting power and shaping outcomes, we have
Speaker 1: to salute that as ebony excellence. So even though it's
Speaker 1: an older story to you, Honey Johnson, all right, now
Speaker 1: we have to have a conversation. It's been busy, all right,
Speaker 1: let's do it. All right. So I'm still learning about
Speaker 1: the y w c A. I I know that there's
Speaker 1: a lot of good things that the organization is is doing.
Speaker 1: When I do get a chance to speak with or
Speaker 1: listen to Debbie speak, at least in Arizona, Debbie Asparza.
Speaker 1: I hear all of the things that the National y
Speaker 1: MC y w C A sorry is is doing to
Speaker 1: shape outcomes for for women specifically, but I also hear
Speaker 1: some things that the organization is up against. Right, So
Speaker 1: before we get there, and just know that I'm learning,
Speaker 1: I speak for Q two, I know what you was
Speaker 1: learning to. Before we get there, let's ask just kind
Speaker 1: of in a general sense, for the benefit of our listeners,
Speaker 1: for those who might not know, discuss angel will start
Speaker 1: with you, discuss the role the YWCA plays in society.
Speaker 3: Yes, so the role that we play in society. First
Speaker 3: of all, YWCA is a very old acronym from when
Speaker 3: it first started. In general, our mission is to eliminate
Speaker 3: racism and empower women. So that does make us won't
Speaker 3: women focused? However? Are The first part of that mission
Speaker 3: is eliminate racism, which is encompasses every day.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I love that too.
Speaker 3: Right, It's not just a women issue. Racism affects all
Speaker 3: of us, even people who think they're not being affected
Speaker 3: by it. Systemic barriers are kind of blanketed across entire
Speaker 3: communities and entire society. So that's our focus. That's our mission,
Speaker 3: that's the work that we do. We do it in programming.
Speaker 3: We have conversations regarding tough topics such as the one
Speaker 3: we'll be talking about, but we hit on everything to
Speaker 3: try to promote advocacy. So we're just using this catchphrase
Speaker 3: because we've been having these conversations a lot more lately
Speaker 3: because societies it's getting it's getting tough out there right now.
Speaker 3: So we've been saying we educate to activate, So we
Speaker 3: teach people about things that are going on, whether or
Speaker 3: not they're in communities are being affected by it. So
Speaker 3: a community member who may not even know about racism, tactics,
Speaker 3: systemic barriers, things about health, mental wellness, they have no
Speaker 3: idea what's going on. We teach them about what's going
Speaker 3: on in society and then aha moment happens a lot
Speaker 3: of times and then they're like, oh, I can kind
Speaker 3: of relate to that, or I know somebody now that
Speaker 3: has been affected by it. What can I do to
Speaker 3: help make change? And so we're trying to push on
Speaker 3: that piece, what can you do to make change? And
Speaker 3: so we're a convener, we bring other organizations together, we'll
Speaker 3: bring we're trying to bring corporations together whoever wants to
Speaker 3: listen basically and have those conversations and just plant the
Speaker 3: seed of potential advocacy.
Speaker 2: I appreciate you being so thorough with the explanation the
Speaker 2: different ways that the YWC affects not just Arizona, but
Speaker 2: society at large, because, like Rahmsa said, it's not just
Speaker 2: us that are listening, but this conversation is being had
Speaker 2: over airways where people who don't even live here will
Speaker 2: be able to learn a little bit about what you
Speaker 2: guys are doing.
Speaker 1: Marta.
Speaker 2: With the choices that you made at some point as
Speaker 2: a young person to get involved with the YWCA, what
Speaker 2: is it in particular that drew you to that organization
Speaker 2: that made you want to work in the space that
Speaker 2: you're in.
Speaker 4: Wow, it's a great question, I think for me, and
Speaker 4: I think for a lot of you know, these younger
Speaker 4: people who are growing up, we're tired of it, Like
Speaker 4: we don't want to leave live in these systems that
Speaker 4: are oppressing us, you know, and I don't want to
Speaker 4: be I work in marketing, which is a numbers in
Speaker 4: a sales game, but I didn't want to be pushing
Speaker 4: a product or a service. I wanted to be advocating
Speaker 4: for something I truly believe in, and I think I
Speaker 4: speak for you know, my generation and for people in
Speaker 4: the generation below me, that we're not going to let
Speaker 4: this continue to happen. And that's kind of what we
Speaker 4: do at y b C is we're looking at a
Speaker 4: system systemic approach. So we are talking to these corporations
Speaker 4: and these partners who have money and dollars and who
Speaker 4: are perpetuating these things that are again oppressing people. So
Speaker 4: we're starting there. We're starting with these big ticket people
Speaker 4: and being like, hey, you know these things you've been
Speaker 4: doing for hundreds of years, We're not going to take
Speaker 4: it anymore.
Speaker 1: Nice. Well, I have another question too. You mentioned your
Speaker 1: role as the marketing and brand manager. What is that
Speaker 1: encompass with respect to why w C, Like, how's how what?
Speaker 1: What does your job entail?
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's definitely advancing and growing in different ways. We're
Speaker 4: now a team of two in marketing, but we recently
Speaker 4: just published an op ed about the topic we're about
Speaker 4: to be talking about about reproductive rights in the state
Speaker 4: of Arizona. But of course that affects women all across
Speaker 4: the country, so we're really getting bolder in our messaging
Speaker 4: and we're you know, we're talking to bigger audiences and
Speaker 4: we're getting ourselves out there.
Speaker 1: Well, I want to I want to make sure that
Speaker 1: we say this that y w c A is nationwide.
Speaker 1: So there are y w c A. I guess they
Speaker 1: would be chapters, right, associations associations if you know, depending
Speaker 1: on where you're listening to us from, there's bound to
Speaker 1: be one within driving distance of where you live. And
Speaker 1: on the ground there is a national concerted effort to
Speaker 1: check certain boxes. The eliminating Racism mantra I think or
Speaker 1: a positioner, I'm not sure what it's called, what it's
Speaker 1: referred to, but that statement that exists, yeah, the mission statement.
Speaker 1: There you go. That is across the board WCA. Right,
Speaker 1: So anyone that hears what we're talking about today, can
Speaker 1: We're going to give you the information to plug in
Speaker 1: with this local chapter here that's doing some great things,
Speaker 1: but also in the in your local communities where you're listening,
Speaker 1: that exists for you to tap in and make a
Speaker 1: difference in a measurable way where you can see as well.
Speaker 2: So I was gonna ask Angela about equity programs. Just
Speaker 2: when I read that. It was something that I got
Speaker 2: excited about because part of the mission statement with it
Speaker 2: being racism, and you know what people would probably understand
Speaker 2: from the older acronym, you know, the position of avocacy
Speaker 2: for women. Explain a little bit more about what equity
Speaker 2: programs is and what your role entails.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm glad you asked that because we get that
Speaker 3: question a lot. What is equity in society as a whole?
Speaker 3: Equity usually is related to the housing fields. However, equity
Speaker 3: means for us at least you know, trying to I
Speaker 3: hate to use this phrase, but level of play and
Speaker 3: field right, Equity is not the same as equality, meaning
Speaker 3: we're meeting the person's needs based on their needs. It's not, oh,
Speaker 3: we're going to give everybody. We're gonna solve hunger by
Speaker 3: giving everybody a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It's what
Speaker 3: does this person need to, you know, starve off the hunger.
Speaker 3: Maybe they have a peanut allergy, maybe they can't eat gluten,
Speaker 3: so we're going to give them what they can eat,
Speaker 3: not versus we're just blanketing equality everywhere and saying, hey,
Speaker 3: everybody have a sowuch. So when we talk about equity,
Speaker 3: it's meeting the person's needs or in the community individual,
Speaker 3: whatever the case may be, meeting that need where it's needed.
Speaker 1: Okay, you know it's funny because that's something that we
Speaker 1: talk about on the show, you know, equality versus equity
Speaker 1: quite a bit, because what I've what we've seen in
Speaker 1: such a long time, and one thing that I've found
Speaker 1: very frustrating. I'm speaking for myself, but I know Q
Speaker 1: is way more frustrated than me, so, but even I
Speaker 1: found it to be frustrating is that the difference in
Speaker 1: our space between equity and equality is much bigger than
Speaker 1: the difference in our opposition space. Almost like those people
Speaker 1: that are, let's just to pick a person, a super
Speaker 1: far right conservative that has a very limited view of
Speaker 1: how the world works outside out of you know, their
Speaker 1: own ecosystem socioeconomic bubble. They might think that equality solves everything.
Speaker 1: You know, you had the same thing that I had,
Speaker 1: so let's let's let's get it right. And that's again
Speaker 1: a frustrating thing that we have to deal with too,
Speaker 1: because equality is a great first step, but equity shapes
Speaker 1: outcomes in a way that equality cannot. And that's one
Speaker 1: of the things that we often again, we bump our
Speaker 1: heads with people that oppose us, you know, on the show,
Speaker 1: and we try to teach the difference. But again that
Speaker 1: that the gap between those two is much bigger for
Speaker 1: us than it is for those folks, because they think, well,
Speaker 1: if you started off where I started with the same things,
Speaker 1: then you should be able to make it there. And
Speaker 1: it's like, I get how with a limited viewpoint you
Speaker 1: could say that to yourself. I would I would probably
Speaker 1: say that too if I had the same perspective. But
Speaker 1: so I'm appreciative of us having this conversation.
Speaker 3: I like that you mentioned that least though, because that
Speaker 3: is part of our our work that when we do
Speaker 3: learning lessons, we have discussions, we do different types of programming,
Speaker 3: and with margin's help also we we craft our language.
Speaker 3: We're constantly changing the language that we use in these
Speaker 3: programs because again we have to meet the needs of
Speaker 3: the community. Wherever we're talking to we're switching up our
Speaker 3: language consistently. It could be if we're in corporate spaces, right,
Speaker 3: we can't say the things that we say talking to
Speaker 3: grassroots organizations because it's not going to connect. So grassroots
Speaker 3: organizations have a different language that we use because they
Speaker 3: can understand almost everything that we're throwing at them, but
Speaker 3: it's at a different viewpoint. On top of that, when
Speaker 3: you're going to corporate spaces, you kind of have to
Speaker 3: tread lightly. Yet we're still trying to push the boundary
Speaker 3: that is. So that's equity work right there in a sense,
Speaker 3: but it is open up those eyes and minds.
Speaker 1: To be fair, they people call us all the time.
Speaker 1: We have to fly all over the country and we
Speaker 1: have to figure out what the angles are because I
Speaker 1: think that our the underlying operating presumption is that, especially
Speaker 1: if they have us in the room, that people are
Speaker 1: wanting to do better, or at least appear to do better,
Speaker 1: you know, whatever their their story is. And so that's
Speaker 1: not nothing. So we got it. You know, if anybody's
Speaker 1: willing to take any steps, we'll meet you there. We
Speaker 1: you know, allyship looks very different for a lot of people,
Speaker 1: and our job historically has been to kind of bolster
Speaker 1: that and increase what that increase that footprint for, or
Speaker 1: allow people to increase their own footprint toward that end.
Speaker 1: So I do want to get to the discussion that
Speaker 1: we're supposed to have. So you know, the total abortion
Speaker 1: band in Arizona, which there was a couple of ups
Speaker 1: and downs with that, and now it's been fully repealed,
Speaker 1: so thank god for that. But I do want to
Speaker 1: kind of get a sense of what it was like
Speaker 1: at the YWCA when you heard about this news, So
Speaker 1: Martin this time, let's start with you and then just
Speaker 1: kind of talk us through how that felt individually and
Speaker 1: maybe how it impacted the organization.
Speaker 4: Yeah, well breaking it was breaking news, and I think
Speaker 4: all of us were immediately emotionally triggered by it. Right
Speaker 4: because this is the band that took effect in this
Speaker 4: state was from eighteen sixty four, which is pre statehood,
Speaker 4: which is still the time of the Civil War, so
Speaker 4: it's irrelevant completely. It does not need to take place
Speaker 4: in today's day and age at all. So immediately just
Speaker 4: emotional like, how is this possible as a young woman
Speaker 4: like myself, It's like my mother had more rights than
Speaker 4: I did today.
Speaker 1: Wow, I didn't think about that. Wow, it's crazy.
Speaker 4: And then it was all hands on deck, right, it
Speaker 4: was stop everything, and it's okay, what are we going
Speaker 4: to say? And we have a sister association in Tucson,
Speaker 4: so we contacted Tucson immediately and we said, what's our message,
Speaker 4: what are we going to tell people? How do we
Speaker 4: tell people how to take action now? And there's a
Speaker 4: ballot initiative taking place in the state, so of course,
Speaker 4: sign the petition, find someone who's who has it and
Speaker 4: go sign it immediately, and what else? And then we said,
Speaker 4: go register to vote, because we I mean, we have
Speaker 4: a voice and we have to use it if we
Speaker 4: don't want this to ever happen again.
Speaker 3: We reached out to why WC, why WCAUSA, so we're
Speaker 3: constantly in communication with them as well, because we want
Speaker 3: to make sure our messaging was going to be online.
Speaker 3: We knew we were going to be one of the
Speaker 3: first to react, and so we didn't want to step
Speaker 3: on tools if they were gonna, you know, send us
Speaker 3: something to share out. But we also wanted to be
Speaker 3: on the forefront of it, and so we reached out
Speaker 3: to them. They gave us resources to help craft our
Speaker 3: language in this statement that we put together along with
Speaker 3: our sister associations, so we didn't just like run over
Speaker 3: all these people and say hey, sign on this. We
Speaker 3: actually got their feedback, we got therapies on it, and
Speaker 3: then we reached out to other organizations to see, you know.
Speaker 1: It was our language appropriate.
Speaker 3: On top of that, to make sure that because we're
Speaker 3: not the experts on this, although we do monitor it
Speaker 3: very closely, it's it's it's a constant education even for
Speaker 3: us in this field, we're constantly having to do research
Speaker 3: and read about it. And so when we crafted that
Speaker 3: that statement, we were just like all day just emailing
Speaker 3: people and making sure we were getting everybody's feedback on it.
Speaker 2: Sometimes the way that politics work for me is not
Speaker 2: just frustrating but confusing. With Republicans, you know, blocking repeal
Speaker 2: the first time around, and it, you know, finally being
Speaker 2: something that's successful, you have to understand it. In some
Speaker 2: of those rooms, there are women voting and supporting against
Speaker 2: their own best interest, in their own autonomy. What does
Speaker 2: that feel like? Because I know how some of the
Speaker 2: things that we come up against while.
Speaker 1: We're dealing with black people that we're dealing with black
Speaker 1: people vote and organize and.
Speaker 2: Speak out almost aggressively against their own best interests. In
Speaker 2: a case like this, when it's women's rights and you
Speaker 2: expect it to be something that women are one hundred
Speaker 2: percent aligned on, and then again you see those who
Speaker 2: maybe you didn't vote for, But who are supposed to
Speaker 2: be representing your best interest in spaces like this not
Speaker 2: be as supportive as you would like. We get to
Speaker 2: deep breath and exhale that this total band was repealed,
Speaker 2: but not unanimous and not the first time around. What
Speaker 2: does that look and feel like for you guys?
Speaker 3: So that goes back to the whole education piece. I
Speaker 3: always talk about people only know what they know, and
Speaker 3: so I'm a backtrack. Even before this happened, Uh, we
Speaker 3: had put together an event to highlight abortion, the abortion
Speaker 3: rights movement back in the seventies. So we did this
Speaker 3: probably a month prior, yeah, a month prior to the
Speaker 3: to the band happening, just to bring awareness like this
Speaker 3: could this could happen?
Speaker 1: Like, hey, we're not.
Speaker 3: It's not a done deal, right Uh, Roll versus Way
Speaker 3: got a return. Now let's educate you on the history
Speaker 3: of it. Why uh we pushed for roll Versus way
Speaker 3: back of the day, why it was necessary. So we
Speaker 3: did a piece where we educated people on all the
Speaker 3: goal stuff that was happening when people really needed an abortion.
Speaker 3: You know, it could have been medical, it could have
Speaker 3: been just a personal choice. But we didn't want to
Speaker 3: go back to that, and so we did a piece
Speaker 3: where we were educating people to try to make them
Speaker 3: again take agency of their own education, like read up
Speaker 3: more on it, and then also going back to the petitions,
Speaker 3: sign the petitions or be vocal about why we shouldn't
Speaker 3: be going in this direction. And to your question Q,
Speaker 3: women who are in support of a band, I always
Speaker 3: say they probably are just not aware of this history
Speaker 3: of it. They're they're buying into social media, They're probably
Speaker 3: just running with the movement of their circle, right uh.
Speaker 3: And then it does go back to politics. It's almost
Speaker 3: like a gain mentality if you say something outside of
Speaker 3: that circle. Or again, what's the rustier game members going
Speaker 3: to look like?
Speaker 1: You know, there was once upon a time. I so
Speaker 1: for me my experience, you would know better. But just
Speaker 1: to share with our listeners, I knew people that considered
Speaker 1: this to be a faith based issue, which, to be fair,
Speaker 1: that's if your faith is your faith, then you know,
Speaker 1: be great. But there's in this country a separation between
Speaker 1: faith and politics. Right anyway, it's supposed to be well anyway,
Speaker 1: this individual says, well, abortions, what if what if you
Speaker 1: had the person that could cure cancer and you aborted
Speaker 1: that person and then cancer never got cured. And I
Speaker 1: remember pushing back on that faith based argument, this argument
Speaker 1: that something amazing could happen, and I said, well, what
Speaker 1: if you had the next Hitler or the next Hitler?
Speaker 1: And that shut them up. So anyway, we're gonna we're
Speaker 1: gonna keep talking about this