WEBVTT - The ICE Raid Protests in LA with Activist Wendy Amara (Part 1) 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:03.840 Broadcasting from the Hip Hop Weekly Studios. Welcome to another 0:00:03.920 --> 0:00:07.000 episode of Civic Cipher, where our mission is to foster allyship, 0:00:07.000 --> 0:00:09.960 empathy and understanding. I am your host, ramses Ja. 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:13.600 He is ramses Ja, I am Qward. You are tuned 0:00:13.600 --> 0:00:15.600 in to Civic Cipher, Yes, you are. 0:00:15.640 --> 0:00:18.319 And we want you to stick around because we have 0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:22.480 a special guest in the building. She has been connected 0:00:22.560 --> 0:00:26.320 to us through family ties, and she goes by the 0:00:26.400 --> 0:00:29.160 name of Wendy Amara, who is an activist, a board 0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:32.400 member of Roots and Wings, a content creator group that 0:00:32.520 --> 0:00:35.640 uplifts the stories of immigrants, and she is the host 0:00:35.920 --> 0:00:38.680 of the Yes Muhar Build It podcast and she can 0:00:38.720 --> 0:00:44.360 be found online at Wendyamara dot com. Welcome to the show, Wendy, Thank. 0:00:44.159 --> 0:00:46.559 You, Thank you, ramses thank you Qward. Thank you for 0:00:46.600 --> 0:00:47.920 having me. I'm excited to be here. 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:52.080 Oh, we are excited to talk to you about the 0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:57.080 goings on in Los Angeles. So obviously this is something 0:00:57.160 --> 0:00:59.960 that matters to us and we are just now getting 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:02.240 to the point where we're able to dedicate a full 0:01:02.280 --> 0:01:05.959 conversation to it, and so we want you to stick 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:07.959 around because of course there's a lot of things going 0:01:08.000 --> 0:01:11.600 back and forth about what's going on in LA A 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:15.760 lot of people really don't know what the what is 0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:18.120 out there. They see the images and they kind of 0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:21.280 have some sense of it. But of course, Wendy, being 0:01:21.319 --> 0:01:24.560 a person who's been on the ground and being able 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:27.120 to kind of work with these communities very closely and 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:31.080 being a part of these communities as well, is going 0:01:31.120 --> 0:01:33.200 to be able to offer us some insight. And then, 0:01:33.240 --> 0:01:34.679 you know, for the second part of the show, we're 0:01:34.720 --> 0:01:38.639 going to do our best to give you the ally 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:40.800 and the and the would be ally listening to us, 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:45.200 the potential talking points that conservatives might have when it 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:48.240 comes to immigration, and ways that you can push back 0:01:48.280 --> 0:01:54.320 against narratives that are that misrepresent or mischaracterize, you know, 0:01:54.400 --> 0:01:56.680 immigration in this country. So we have a whole lot 0:01:56.680 --> 0:01:58.480 for you to stick around for. But before we get 0:01:58.520 --> 0:02:01.360 into the weeds, it is time is all for some 0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:06.280 ebony excellence, shall we? I think we shall. Today's ebony 0:02:06.320 --> 0:02:09.640 excellence comes from the Black Information Network. I'll read it. 0:02:11.440 --> 0:02:14.720 And we talked about this guy before on the QR code, 0:02:14.720 --> 0:02:18.160 but why not bring him back again? Right? Seattle Police 0:02:18.280 --> 0:02:20.880 Chief Sean Barnes said he expects to go to jail 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:23.639 for standing up for the First Amendment rights of residents 0:02:23.680 --> 0:02:27.520 and attacks from the Trump administration against other politicians and protesters. 0:02:27.760 --> 0:02:31.320 For KUOW, protests broke out in Seattle and other cities 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:33.840 across the nation in response to anti ICE demonstrations in 0:02:33.840 --> 0:02:36.840 Los Angeles. On Monday, June ninth, three hundred people marched 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:39.120 to Seattle City Hall to rally against the arrest of 0:02:39.160 --> 0:02:43.080 a union leader during the LA protests. Tuesdays, June and tenths, 0:02:43.160 --> 0:02:46.720 protests in Seattle included a gathering outside Henry M. Jackson 0:02:46.760 --> 0:02:50.000 Federal Building. Protesters chanted anti ICE slogans, and a few 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:53.040 clashed with police. Trump has responded to protest in LA 0:02:53.080 --> 0:02:56.520 by threatening California Governor Gavin Newsom and activating the National 0:02:56.520 --> 0:02:59.799 Guard and the Marines. During a recent Public Safety Committee meeting, 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:03.560 Barnes pledged to prioritize the rights of Seattle residents amid 0:03:03.560 --> 0:03:06.799 the Trump administration's response to protest, noting that he expects 0:03:06.840 --> 0:03:09.320 to go to jail over the issue. Quote, I will 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:11.919 do everything in my power to protect anyone in Seattle 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:14.160 from anyone who comes to this city with the intention 0:03:14.240 --> 0:03:17.679 to hurt them or inhibit their First Amendment rights. What 0:03:17.720 --> 0:03:20.160 that means is that at some point I will probably 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:22.520 go to jail and be imprisoned because we have an 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:25.880 administration that has threatened to jail politicians and has threatened 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:29.480 to jail a governor. This is what Barnes told council members. 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:31.880 He goes on to say the federal government's decision to 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:34.360 bring in the military and I was a marine, is 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:37.840 not warranted. He also noted that cities like la and 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:41.920 Seattle have experience with handling large demonstrations and keeping them peaceful, 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:48.920 and yeah, that's this is like human excellence. But this 0:03:48.960 --> 0:03:52.120 guy happens to also be black, so that's cool, you know, 0:03:52.320 --> 0:03:55.160 but this is what all human beings should be doing 0:03:55.520 --> 0:03:59.520 right now, and he's stepping up to the plate. So 0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:01.720 we had to shut them out. And he's a police 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:08.160 chief at that, so kudos. All right, So ICE raid 0:04:08.280 --> 0:04:13.360 protests in Los Angeles. First off, tell us a little 0:04:13.360 --> 0:04:18.960 bit about yourself, Wendy Amara. We know you of course 0:04:19.000 --> 0:04:22.560 through you know ritzyp who is you know, family and 0:04:22.600 --> 0:04:24.840 of course a dear friend of the show. But you know, 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:26.880 this is your first time talking to our listeners, So 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:29.440 give a little bit of background on yourself, just so 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:31.279 folks know who they're listening to today. 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:35.960 Sure, thank you so much, so, Wendy Amara. I'm a 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:39.480 life and business coach, primarily for women of color. I've 0:04:39.520 --> 0:04:41.240 been a coach for eighteen years. I've had a lot 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:44.320 of experience in the work, but I went to college 0:04:44.520 --> 0:04:47.360 to work in nonprofits. I actually have a master's degree 0:04:47.400 --> 0:04:50.839 in urban planning, and I wanted to do social policy planning. 0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:54.720 So I've always had politics community organizing in my blood. 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:59.960 I remember protesting Pete Wilson and Prop one eighty seven 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:02.960 back in the nineteen nineties. I remember those protests. Actually 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:06.320 got arrested on UCLA's campus for protesting Prop two o 0:05:06.520 --> 0:05:09.480 nine back in the day. So I've been an activist 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:12.800 for a long time, a community organizer, built my business, 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:17.240 left the nonprofit world because I was exhausted from working 0:05:17.279 --> 0:05:20.880 so many hours and not getting some good pay, and 0:05:21.040 --> 0:05:23.840 found coaching and figured out that my life was going 0:05:23.880 --> 0:05:27.200 to move in a slightly different direction. I consider myself 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:30.640 highly privileged in that I have been able to build 0:05:30.640 --> 0:05:33.080 a life for myself and my family where I have 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:35.400 a lot of choices and options, and I'm very clear 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:37.520 that I use that privilege to stand up for those 0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:40.520 that don't have a voice that don't have aren't able 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:43.600 to speak up for themselves, like my immigrant parents who 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:46.880 came from Guatemala back in the nineteen seventies and were 0:05:46.920 --> 0:05:50.560 able to get amnesty during the Reagan administration. So I'm 0:05:50.560 --> 0:05:53.120 a child of immigrants, I'm first gen. I see a 0:05:53.160 --> 0:05:56.600 lot of immigration issues in our country that have been 0:05:56.600 --> 0:05:59.800 here for a long time, and what's been underneath is 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:03.359 now just more apparent to everybody. Now it's in our face. 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:05.440 That's what we're saying right now. 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:10.880 There's an interesting thing happening when you know, tens of 0:06:10.920 --> 0:06:13.680 thousands or hundreds of thousands or millions of people are 0:06:13.720 --> 0:06:18.240 outside protesting. Because all of us have a role to 0:06:18.320 --> 0:06:23.839 play in fights like this, Ramsay, myself and Wendy for 0:06:24.080 --> 0:06:30.440 our listeners. We are broadcasters, journalists, content creators. What role 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:34.120 do we play right using our tools and our platforms 0:06:34.200 --> 0:06:38.560 to participate in protests. It's not always just about being 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:41.159 out on the streets, you know. The kind of nature 0:06:41.200 --> 0:06:44.720 of civic cipher came from us realizing that the bullhorn 0:06:44.800 --> 0:06:48.120 only reaches you know, a few hundred people that are 0:06:48.160 --> 0:06:51.840 in the space where you are, and tapping these microphones 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:56.240 gives us access to a much larger audience. So, in 0:06:56.279 --> 0:07:00.280 your opinion, Wendy, how do we play our part and 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:05.840 supporting movements like the protests happening in La. 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:07.119 Yes, well, one of the ways to play our part 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:09.720 is by sharing the stories, sharing the facts of what 0:07:09.760 --> 0:07:12.960 we're witnessing, what we're seeing happen, and then sharing our stories. 0:07:13.000 --> 0:07:15.200 Because you're absolutely right, the bullhorn will only go as 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:16.920 far when you're out in the street. But the new 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:19.960 bullhorn now is social media. So I'm actually part of 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:22.080 this group called Roots and Wings. It's a group of 0:07:22.120 --> 0:07:26.720 creators that got together. One guy, Jay Gonzalez, went viral 0:07:27.120 --> 0:07:29.240 through one video he did on TikTok that ended up 0:07:29.240 --> 0:07:31.840 getting something like twenty million views. He was talking about 0:07:31.840 --> 0:07:34.800 how he found out his mom, who is an immigrant 0:07:34.800 --> 0:07:38.760 from Mexico, voted for Trump, and then that conversation that 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:42.160 they had him coming to the realization of that and 0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:47.040 putting that out there. That one TikTok went viral, and 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:50.240 that's how Roots and Wings was created because somebody else 0:07:50.240 --> 0:07:51.480 reached out to him and said, what are we going 0:07:51.520 --> 0:07:54.120 to do about this? Because my mom also voted for Trump? 0:07:54.200 --> 0:07:56.080 What are we going to do? So a couple people 0:07:56.080 --> 0:07:58.840 got together it became sixty of us. Now we've done 0:07:58.840 --> 0:08:02.840 a couple of videos and the power of being able 0:08:02.880 --> 0:08:07.360 to use storytelling in this new way to not only 0:08:07.360 --> 0:08:10.840 get information out there, but to affect people's emotions. Right 0:08:11.400 --> 0:08:13.800 what do we do with all of these vent up 0:08:14.440 --> 0:08:19.520 hyper emotions we're feeling right now. Everyone's angry, everyone's frustrated, 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:22.760 everyone's in fear. There's a lot of anxiety in our 0:08:22.760 --> 0:08:26.880 community right now. And as content creators, what we can 0:08:26.920 --> 0:08:31.320 do is actually help people, support people in taking that 0:08:31.400 --> 0:08:34.680 emotion and using it in some way, making some decision 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:37.640 about Okay, are you going to share what you're thinking? 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:39.640 Are you going to knock on your neighbor's door. I mean, 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:42.439 everybody can do something right now. It doesn't have to 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:45.520 be out there protesting. You can actually be calling your 0:08:45.800 --> 0:08:49.360 council members talking to people about the big bill that's 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:51.679 going to get passed right that big beautiful bill in July. 0:08:52.320 --> 0:08:55.160 You can be out there just filming ice as they're 0:08:55.320 --> 0:08:59.040 passing by the street. That is important information. We're realizing 0:08:59.040 --> 0:09:01.240 that what we're doing as content creators right now is 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:05.640 actually reaching more people than what the hotlines that have 0:09:05.679 --> 0:09:08.439 been set up by some of the organizations because one 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:14.240 post or one reel or one TikTok can reach millions 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:17.800 of people. So one person in our group actually has 0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:20.760 more power than some of the elected officials who might 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:23.079 put out a statement and only like three hundred people 0:09:23.080 --> 0:09:27.960 read their statement. Who trusts who? As content creators? People 0:09:27.960 --> 0:09:30.839 trust us, and what do we do with that trust? 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:36.200 You know? I think that that brings an interesting point 0:09:36.240 --> 0:09:40.760 out because I know that there were people. So we 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:46.079 had the No King's Day protest. It was all over 0:09:46.080 --> 0:09:48.960 the country, of course, but in Phoenix. I went to 0:09:49.000 --> 0:09:52.160 the one in Phoenix, Arizona, and Q was in LA 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:58.120 that day, so I know, and Q, you can help 0:09:58.200 --> 0:10:00.240 me out if you had the same experience. But I 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:03.120 know that there were people who were wanting to go, 0:10:04.000 --> 0:10:07.600 but they were worried that it was going to be 0:10:07.760 --> 0:10:10.520 like LA and they were worried that it was going 0:10:10.559 --> 0:10:11.800 to be a riot. And I'm like, well, where are 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:13.360 you getting this from? And they're like, well, you know, 0:10:13.360 --> 0:10:16.960 they're calling it a riot. They're saying LA is rioting 0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:19.280 writing writing. I'm like, okay, so where's this coming from? 0:10:19.280 --> 0:10:21.520 And then you get the articles and you and because 0:10:21.559 --> 0:10:25.439 we work in the media space, we're able to see, Okay, 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:28.560 who wrote this article and we can check you know 0:10:28.640 --> 0:10:32.560 what political bias does this news organization have to it? Right? 0:10:32.760 --> 0:10:38.760 And of course these are right wing media outlets that 0:10:38.800 --> 0:10:43.160 are calling what's going on in LA riots right, and 0:10:43.200 --> 0:10:47.920 that'll scare people from participating. It provides cover for people 0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:53.000 and justification for people who feel like, you know, all 0:10:53.040 --> 0:10:57.920 immigrants should get deported in the most inhumane way possible. Whatever. 0:10:58.240 --> 0:11:00.280 It just says, Okay, well, these are violent people. They 0:11:00.320 --> 0:11:02.160 need to get out of the country, right, So there's 0:11:02.160 --> 0:11:05.120 a ton of things wrong with the narrative if the 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:08.720 narrative is inaccurate. So I want you to do us 0:11:08.760 --> 0:11:12.439 all a favor here. How would you, a person who's 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:15.400 been on the ground at these protests, how would you 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:19.240 classify these protests? Are they protest or are they riots? 0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:21.920 And then tell us why. Yeah. 0:11:21.920 --> 0:11:24.640 I was at the No Kings March on Saturday in 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:28.160 downtown LA, which now has been officially stated as the 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:33.040 biggest march that we have had in Los Angeles history, 0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:36.840 the most amount of people marching. I would categorize it 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:39.520 as a march, which is what it was. We marched 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:45.480 from downtown LA to about four or five miles around peacefully, 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:49.040 peacefully and dancing in the streets. In fact, I was 0:11:49.120 --> 0:11:51.360 dancing to one of my favorite bands, also Motley, who 0:11:51.360 --> 0:11:54.160 happened to be there. It felt more like a party 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:58.320 than like any sort of even protest. Of course, there 0:11:58.320 --> 0:12:01.800 were lots of signs, and there was police presence, but 0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:05.760 they were standing on the outside. There was the National Guard, 0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:08.120 which we don't even know why the National Guard is 0:12:08.160 --> 0:12:12.280 in LA. There are no violence happening in the streets 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:15.760 out in LA. Even the protests and the marches are 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:18.600 not violent. Now. Of course, there's a few people that 0:12:18.679 --> 0:12:22.000 get violent around five o'clock, eight o'clock. The mayor of 0:12:22.000 --> 0:12:24.400 Los Angeles put in a curfew where we can't be 0:12:24.960 --> 0:12:27.760 in certain parts of downtown LA after eight pm. So 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:30.440 as it gets closer to the curfew, right, the cops 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:32.920 show up with the horses, and it becomes more like, okay, 0:12:33.000 --> 0:12:35.760 we're going to start moving the crowd. But during the day, 0:12:36.000 --> 0:12:40.080 completely peaceful. The amount of arrest compared to the amount 0:12:40.080 --> 0:12:43.200 of people that were there is insane, right, there was 0:12:43.559 --> 0:12:45.640 hundreds of thousands of people out in the streets. Over 0:12:45.679 --> 0:12:48.679 this last week. I think there's been fifteen arrests or something. 0:12:48.760 --> 0:12:52.080 Very small in comparison to and yes, there are some 0:12:52.120 --> 0:12:55.920 people that will get violent, but there are not violent 0:12:56.160 --> 0:13:00.400 protests happening. There are no riots happening in Los Angelis. 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:05.000 The city will not burn down, and the safety of 0:13:05.040 --> 0:13:08.480 our people is not in danger. We are okay, We 0:13:08.600 --> 0:13:11.400 do not need the National Guard. All of that is 0:13:11.440 --> 0:13:14.839 a story that the media has created that I think 0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:19.240 the right philosophy has created that Donald Trump has created 0:13:19.559 --> 0:13:21.920 so that he could send the National Guard, so that 0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:24.560 he could create a war where there is no war. 0:13:24.880 --> 0:13:28.520 He could create violence where there is no violence. There 0:13:28.559 --> 0:13:30.079 just wasn't. Of course, we're going to go out in 0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:33.200 the streets and protest when people are being literally kidnapped. 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:36.439 That's what the ice raids feel like to us. Imagine 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:41.319 a three or four trucks show up, these big, huge 0:13:41.880 --> 0:13:45.160 trucks that don't have any sort of identification of police 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:48.160 or anything. They're just these vans, and then the van 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:51.160 doors open or the truck doors open, and outcome armed 0:13:51.200 --> 0:13:55.000 men that all they have on is a police vest, 0:13:55.480 --> 0:13:58.520 but there's no identification on them, and they have masks, 0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:02.160 these huge masks. They're dressed in regular clothing. I'm talking 0:14:02.200 --> 0:14:04.720 about jeans and a black t shirt. Okay, they're not 0:14:04.800 --> 0:14:07.280 in a uniform of any sort. And then they just 0:14:07.360 --> 0:14:09.320 grab people and move people. 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:10.040 That's it. 0:14:11.320 --> 0:14:13.400 They show up at a car wash on a particular 0:14:13.440 --> 0:14:17.320 corner and then just start grabbing people in that car 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:19.600 wash and putting them into their truck. They're not stopping 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:22.560 and asking excuse me, sir, what is your name? Where 0:14:22.600 --> 0:14:25.040 were you born? Are you an American citizen? Do you 0:14:25.120 --> 0:14:28.440 have citizenship paperwork or residency paperwork or a green card? 0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:32.880 There is absolutely no communication. There is only grabbing people 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:38.280 who look illegal, right, what does illegal look like? Look illegal? 0:14:38.360 --> 0:14:40.640 And then putting them in the van. And then these 0:14:40.680 --> 0:14:45.080 people disappear. We're finding out that they're getting moved from 0:14:45.160 --> 0:14:46.720 state to state. So if you were picked up in 0:14:46.800 --> 0:14:50.680 California at a gas station yesterday, you're probably in Texas 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:53.480 by now at some holding cell somewhere, so that the 0:14:53.520 --> 0:14:56.160 families can't get to them, the attorney, if they do 0:14:56.240 --> 0:14:58.520 have an attorney, can't get to them. And there's a 0:14:58.520 --> 0:15:00.960 certain percentage of them that are here legally, that are 0:15:01.000 --> 0:15:04.520 going through a process of getting legalization, that actually have 0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:07.200 paperwork if they would have been asked. In fact, there's 0:15:07.200 --> 0:15:10.760 been people who literally had their passport in their pocket 0:15:11.600 --> 0:15:14.560 and we're telling the ICE agents, I have my passport 0:15:14.640 --> 0:15:16.360 right now, I just need to go to my pocket 0:15:16.360 --> 0:15:18.600 and get it. And still got picked up. And we 0:15:18.640 --> 0:15:22.200 have documentation of this through videos. We have people taking 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:24.480 out their cell phones. Here's the good news, guys. The 0:15:24.520 --> 0:15:27.280 good news is everybody and their mother now has a 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:29.280 cell phone, right and everybody and the mother knows how 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:32.800 to take video. So everybody, whether you speak English or not, 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:38.000 has a camera in their hand all the time. Therefore, 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:41.200 everything's being documented, everything's being videoed. That's how we know 0:15:41.440 --> 0:15:46.320 we're witnessing people being taken. Of course we're going to 0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:48.960 say something as a city. Of course, we're going to 0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:51.520 stand up for our community. These are our parents, these 0:15:51.560 --> 0:15:55.840 are our brothers, sisters, uncles, kids. I mean, ICE is 0:15:55.880 --> 0:15:59.440 showing up at hospitals. Ice is showing up at schools, 0:15:59.760 --> 0:16:07.120 at graduations, at churches on Sunday, everywhere, everywhere. But we 0:16:07.240 --> 0:16:10.320 are not being violent. There is nothing to be afraid of. 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:12.840 I also got a bunch of texts from people being like, Wendy, 0:16:12.880 --> 0:16:15.200 you're gonna go out to downtown. I'm like, yes, I'm 0:16:15.200 --> 0:16:18.720 gonna be there. And it was beautiful. It was like 0:16:18.840 --> 0:16:24.160 a street party with love and joy and people uniting 0:16:24.240 --> 0:16:27.880 and people hugging. There's a lot of love. It was community, 0:16:28.440 --> 0:16:30.920 community standing up for each other. That's what we've been 0:16:30.920 --> 0:16:33.240 doing here in La. 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:36.320 You know, there's a lot to say about the other 0:16:36.440 --> 0:16:41.040 ring of communities right now and taking people's skin color 0:16:41.080 --> 0:16:44.040 and the language they speak and making that the criminal offense. 0:16:44.480 --> 0:16:46.320 So it doesn't matter if you have your passport of 0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:49.960 you come through the proper channels to seek you know, 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:53.240 either asylum or just as an immigrant who you know, 0:16:53.360 --> 0:16:55.640 went through permanent residency and got a green cart and 0:16:55.640 --> 0:16:57.920 then applied to be a citizen. And because we see 0:16:57.920 --> 0:17:01.920 people being arrested at citizen hearings, it's a very intentional 0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:04.840 and very cruel thing to do to someone when you're 0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:08.879 criticizing of not going about it the right way and 0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:12.440 specifically targeting people that are and no one, I won't 0:17:12.480 --> 0:17:15.080 say no one, but a certain group of us intentionally 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:20.119 ignored the hypocrisy and that approach a lot about narratives 0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:22.280 in the space that we work in and the way 0:17:22.320 --> 0:17:28.879 that the narratives are shaped and then consumed by a 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:34.399 certain segment of our population, mostly right wing extremist and 0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:38.280 dealing with a very very personal lived experience of this. 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:44.840 My children are dual citizens. Their mother is from Sonoda, Mexico, 0:17:45.640 --> 0:17:50.200 and my wonderful babies did not get to spend Father's 0:17:50.280 --> 0:17:53.439 Day with their father because I was in Los Angeles, 0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:57.400 and forgive me, forbid their mom from bringing them here 0:17:57.880 --> 0:18:02.280 because I noticed that state troopers were replaced with border patrol, 0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:08.080 and having my half Mexican children and their Mexican mother 0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:11.639 come to Los Angeles as it's the target of the 0:18:11.680 --> 0:18:16.920 administration and it's very very cruel detention and deportation practices. 0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:19.679 I just didn't, you know, want to even make that 0:18:19.720 --> 0:18:23.720 a possibility. With what we do and the way we 0:18:23.800 --> 0:18:27.480 know the importance of narrative. What do you think is 0:18:27.600 --> 0:18:31.320 missing from the way the right wing is consuming the 0:18:31.359 --> 0:18:35.320 information surrounding these raids and these protests, and you know 0:18:35.400 --> 0:18:39.080 the way that they're consuming these narratives. What's missing from 0:18:39.119 --> 0:18:43.200 the messaging to maybe get a more human response from 0:18:43.200 --> 0:18:45.000 people who are politically not aligned. 0:18:46.720 --> 0:18:49.760 Yeah, well, I'll start with the what's missing is the 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:54.840 idea that immigrants are ruining this country, the idea that 0:18:55.640 --> 0:19:01.640 immigrants are the enemy, right, so's missing is the facts 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:05.760 that immigrants have built this country or continue to build 0:19:05.760 --> 0:19:09.200 this country. In fact, the Los Angeles economy is based 0:19:09.280 --> 0:19:14.240 on immigrant workers, is based on undocumented workers. Undocumented people 0:19:14.280 --> 0:19:17.680 are doing literally doing the jobs that cannot be filled 0:19:18.000 --> 0:19:22.720 by regular Californians born in the state. The majority of 0:19:22.760 --> 0:19:27.879 people being taken are not criminals. People will say, oh, 0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:31.880 they're criminals because they crossed the border illegally and they're 0:19:31.880 --> 0:19:36.159 here illegal. That technically is a misdemeanor. It's equivalent to 0:19:36.680 --> 0:19:40.680 a speeding ticket. That's what you're saying. You're saying, somebody 0:19:40.680 --> 0:19:43.159 who has done something that's equivalent to a speeding ticket 0:19:43.400 --> 0:19:47.040 deserves to be picked up at their workplace the throne 0:19:47.119 --> 0:19:50.080 in a van and then disappears right ends up going 0:19:50.119 --> 0:19:53.040 back to wherever. Ninety percent of the people who they're 0:19:53.040 --> 0:19:56.639 picking up do not have any other criminal record besides 0:19:57.240 --> 0:19:59.720 being here. And you know it's ironic as they're picking 0:19:59.720 --> 0:20:03.639 them up at workplaces. They're all working and contributing to 0:20:03.680 --> 0:20:07.159 the economy. They're helping the economy, which, by the way, 0:20:07.200 --> 0:20:11.040 they also pay taxes. So what's missing is the real facts. 0:20:11.240 --> 0:20:14.159 What's happened with this administration happened the first time this 0:20:14.200 --> 0:20:17.639 administration came to power is that they have othered the 0:20:17.720 --> 0:20:21.920 immigrant and made the scapegoat of the undocumented people, that 0:20:22.560 --> 0:20:26.399 undocumented people are the reason that so many problems are 0:20:26.400 --> 0:20:28.840 happening in the United States, or the reasons why your 0:20:28.880 --> 0:20:31.359 price of eggs is so expensive, are the reasons why 0:20:31.440 --> 0:20:36.520 gasoline is so expensive. All of that is bs It's 0:20:36.560 --> 0:20:39.199 not based in real facts. So what's missing is the 0:20:39.320 --> 0:20:42.400 truth that immigrants actually contribute to this country. 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:43.800 Now, I'm not saying we. 0:20:43.800 --> 0:20:47.320 Should have open borders and everybody should just come over. 0:20:47.720 --> 0:20:50.080 There should be a path for citizenship, there should be 0:20:50.480 --> 0:20:54.360 laws changed, policies put in place. But what I am 0:20:54.400 --> 0:20:57.879 saying is that the way the narrative is run right now, 0:20:58.400 --> 0:21:00.320 the way the story is being told right now, is 0:21:00.359 --> 0:21:03.520 that that illegal immigrant that you're staring at right now 0:21:03.560 --> 0:21:06.119 is the reason why you don't have more money in 0:21:06.160 --> 0:21:09.520 your pocket, And that simply is not true. That is 0:21:09.560 --> 0:21:13.199 a one hundred percent lie. Or that that immigrant that 0:21:13.240 --> 0:21:15.760 you're staring at across the street who's selling oranges in 0:21:15.800 --> 0:21:19.399 that corner, that immigrant is a rapist, a killer, a 0:21:19.520 --> 0:21:23.160 part of the cartel, that those are complete atrocities. 0:21:23.320 --> 0:21:24.000 It's not true. 0:21:24.160 --> 0:21:28.200 If they're just straight out lying to people The fact 0:21:28.400 --> 0:21:31.119 is that person who's standing at the corner selling the 0:21:31.160 --> 0:21:34.320 oranges is a hard working human being who probably has 0:21:34.359 --> 0:21:37.000 been here for fifteen twenty years, and during those fifteen 0:21:37.040 --> 0:21:41.120 to twenty years has been contributing through his taxes, through 0:21:41.119 --> 0:21:44.960 his work to this society. In fact, he probably picked 0:21:44.960 --> 0:21:47.960 those oranges or works in the farms during the day 0:21:47.960 --> 0:21:50.200 and then works at night and on the weekends, and 0:21:50.320 --> 0:21:54.399 has been moving his family up. He has nothing to 0:21:54.440 --> 0:21:57.399 do with why your life is the way your life is, 0:21:57.880 --> 0:22:00.920 so we've become the scapegoats. That's the big part of 0:22:00.960 --> 0:22:04.479 what's missing. At the heart of that is looking at Okay, 0:22:04.560 --> 0:22:08.080 so why am I miserable? Why is the price of 0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:11.520 aggs so expensive? Why is everything getting worse and worse 0:22:11.560 --> 0:22:15.159 and worse. Why am I so angry? Those are the 0:22:15.160 --> 0:22:17.199 real questions that we need to be looking at, and 0:22:17.240 --> 0:22:19.880 we need to be looking as Americans in the mirror 0:22:19.920 --> 0:22:23.240 for those answers. When people are upset, it's easy to 0:22:23.240 --> 0:22:26.360 point the finger somewhere. And the people who Trump has 0:22:26.400 --> 0:22:29.240 decided to point the finger to, and the right wing 0:22:29.280 --> 0:22:32.200 conspiracy has decided to point the finger too, is immigrants. 0:22:32.960 --> 0:22:36.520 So what's missing is the truth and compassion, compassion for 0:22:36.560 --> 0:22:39.080 these people, compassion for our people. 0:22:40.200 --> 0:22:48.800 Well, thank you for humanizing the immigrants, because that's something 0:22:48.840 --> 0:22:53.400 that is very much missing from conversations. Like these people 0:22:53.440 --> 0:22:55.760 are working, they're taking care of their families, they're elevating 0:22:55.800 --> 0:23:00.240 their families, and I think the more humanized they are, 0:23:00.240 --> 0:23:04.720