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Speaker 1: Hi everyone, It's Sophia. Welcome to Work in Progress. Welcome

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Speaker 1: back to Work in Progress friends. This week we have

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Speaker 1: a guest who I've been a fan of for what

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Speaker 1: feels like forever. Ariana Debos is an award winning actress.

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Speaker 1: She is known for varying roles on stage, in film

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Speaker 1: and television. I was lucky enough to see her in

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Speaker 1: the original cast of Hamilton in New York on Broadway.

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Speaker 1: I was so blown away by her, and she has

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Speaker 1: just continued this breathtaking trajectory, winning an Academy Award in

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Speaker 1: addition to a BAFTA for her performance in Steven Spielberg's

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Speaker 1: reimagining A Westside Story. She played Anita so beautifully, and

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Speaker 1: she also in the midst of you know, doing such

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Speaker 1: an iconic role in such an iconic film and winning

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Speaker 1: an Oscar for it happened to make history because she

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Speaker 1: became the first openly queer Afro Latina to win an

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Speaker 1: Academy Award. She's an absolute legend, and not only is

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Speaker 1: she following up that project with incredible films other plays,

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Speaker 1: hosting the Tony Awards not once but twice in two years,

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Speaker 1: being nominated for Emmy's I Mean The list literally goes

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Speaker 1: on and on and on, but she is doing something

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Speaker 1: that is so close to her heart and mind. Arianna

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Speaker 1: has taken a role as the acl USE Artist Ambassador

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Speaker 1: to advocate for voting rights. She is doing incredible work

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Speaker 1: making sure we all have the right to vote and

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Speaker 1: also helping the ACLU to debunk myths and provide trusted

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Speaker 1: information in a year where it is more important than ever.

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Speaker 1: So today we're going to chat about Broadway art, identity, voting,

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Speaker 1: and probably plenty more things that make us feel excited, inspired,

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Speaker 1: and motivated for the year ahead. Let's get to it.

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Speaker 2: Hi, how are you?

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Speaker 1: I'm good. I'm so happy that you're here, and like

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Speaker 1: just the overlap that we have with some of our

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Speaker 1: favorite friends. I'm just like I have not gotten to

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Speaker 1: spend time with her, but I love her the same.

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Speaker 1: I'm is there anything that you want to know? Is

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Speaker 1: there anything that you want to definitely talk about?

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Speaker 2: Yeah?

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Speaker 3: Not really, I feel like I mean, I don't I

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Speaker 3: don't claim to be an expert in anything.

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Speaker 2: I'm just like a human, so same.

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Speaker 3: I always like provided disclaimer on anything, Like, guys, I'm

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Speaker 3: just my perspective and experience, but I could be wrong

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Speaker 3: and that's okay.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's kind of amazing when you learn more and

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Speaker 1: then change your mind or just like expand your opinion.

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Speaker 1: I think that Isn't that an interesting thing about our

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Speaker 1: lives too, is like now, because everything is so online,

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Speaker 1: it's almost like, yeah, supposedly every time you have a thought,

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Speaker 1: you're declaring who you are. And it's like, right, we're not,

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Speaker 1: or we're just all on this journey together learning yep,

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Speaker 1: And yeah.

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Speaker 4: Well I said that, like the thing about America, you're

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Speaker 4: supposed to be able to like change your mind, have

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Speaker 4: an opinion all the things.

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Speaker 1: It's one of the things I feel like I can

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Speaker 1: say to you because I know you are also such

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Speaker 1: an activist and an advocate. Like when you say, isn't

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Speaker 1: that the thing about this country? I think yes. I

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Speaker 1: think it's baked into even the ideals of who we

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Speaker 1: are because we had these incredible founding ideals that even

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Speaker 1: the Founding fathers, who were by no means perfect, to

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Speaker 1: have a whole lot of you know, skeletons in and

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Speaker 1: out of their closets. They were like, we're going to

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Speaker 1: do the most progressive thing that's been done in history.

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Speaker 1: And we know we're not even building it the right

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Speaker 1: way yet. So we're going to bake change into the foundation.

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Speaker 1: It's what James Baldwin said, Like, I love this country,

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Speaker 1: and therefore I criticize her. I want to bring her

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Speaker 1: her Yes, Like I need to hold her to the

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Speaker 1: standards that she says are hers, and I think the

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Speaker 1: job of our generations is to get ever closer to

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Speaker 1: the actual execution of those ideals.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like, that's why they created living documents.

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Speaker 3: It's okay, Like anybody who wants to be better than

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Speaker 3: they were the day before, they like I constantly like

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Speaker 3: check myself.

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Speaker 2: I ask the questions, critique, you know.

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Speaker 5: What I mean, like self interrogation, you self interrogation, take

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Speaker 5: the notes, you know, Like I feel like our you know,

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Speaker 5: we're as well.

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Speaker 4: I'm sadly recording this because it's probably Yeah, I just

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Speaker 4: feel like.

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Speaker 6: You know, that's part of what being a citizen of

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Speaker 6: the United States is, you know, like you are if

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Speaker 6: you are really being active and noticing it.

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Speaker 3: It's like, no, we're not always going to get it right.

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Speaker 3: The whole point of voting is so that you can

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Speaker 3: participate in the critique and the making better of the

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Speaker 3: world that you live in and you know, for me,

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Speaker 3: being a sleep in that process is not really an option,

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Speaker 3: partially because my identity demands that I stay awake.

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Speaker 1: Yes, and yeah, okay, so this is this is cool

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Speaker 1: because we dove in we and I actually think that

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Speaker 1: this is a moment that connects us well to what's

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Speaker 1: normally my first question. But I was just like, you

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Speaker 1: also want to change the world. Tell me all about

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Speaker 1: it when you think about that perspective, Like, you stand

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Speaker 1: as this incredibly accomplished woman, and what you have achieved

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Speaker 1: is breathtaking, and the way you use your platform as breathtaking,

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Speaker 1: and you you are also very aware of how your

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Speaker 1: identity requires you to spend the privilege of a platform

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Speaker 1: like this when you I always like to know, you know,

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Speaker 1: when I sit across from somebody who like has an

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Speaker 1: Academy award on their shelf, I'm like, I'm like, do

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Speaker 1: you see Like do you see Ariana today? If you

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Speaker 1: were to like hang out with your eight year old self,

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Speaker 1: would you see the through lines of who you are?

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Speaker 1: Or were you into completely different things when you were little?

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Speaker 1: Like how is it now for you to look back

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Speaker 1: on yourself?

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Speaker 3: You know, it's funny I look at if looking at

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Speaker 3: my eight year old self, I could see how she

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Speaker 3: got here. It's I mean, I say that like really assuredly,

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Speaker 3: but I really can. Like I was a very creative child,

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Speaker 3: you know. And I was the type of kid like

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Speaker 3: when I would when I was born and my mom

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Speaker 3: and I live with my grandmother, and I'm an only child.

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Speaker 2: There's racist an only child, and yeah, what do you do?

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Speaker 2: Only children? We have to find ways to entertain ourselves.

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Speaker 2: We sure do, we sure do. So I would like

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Speaker 2: go outside.

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Speaker 3: We lived in like an apartment complex, and I'd go

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Speaker 3: outside and there were these staircases, and I made the

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Speaker 3: staircase like my stage, and I would just give shows

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Speaker 3: for myself and like make it up songs or singing

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Speaker 3: songs like her. And I'd like be like, oh, what

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Speaker 3: if I did this dance step going downstairs? And like

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Speaker 3: the neighbors would sort of look through the window and

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Speaker 3: I would wave at them, and they were great about it.

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Speaker 3: But look, I mean I think about it now, I'm like, Wow,

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Speaker 3: they must have thought, Wow, she's really going.

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Speaker 1: For it, that little girl just belting it out.

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Speaker 3: Just belting it out, like but it I don't know

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Speaker 3: that that sort of endless like childlife like curiosity and

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Speaker 3: the need to express because that's really what it was.

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Speaker 2: I wanted to find a place to put my emotions

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Speaker 2: or you know.

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Speaker 3: I remember when Titanic came out that you know, Celine

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Speaker 3: Dion's my heart will go on, like eight year old

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Speaker 3: Lorianta or however old I was, like she was belting

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Speaker 3: it out on the staircase, like really believing that she

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Speaker 3: was on.

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Speaker 2: The Titanic in.

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Speaker 3: The front ofership with the sunset and the wind and

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Speaker 3: the singing and the chest pounds, Like there's a lot

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Speaker 3: of that young person that is still inside of me.

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Speaker 3: But also, you know, my mom is a public school teacher.

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Speaker 7: She's an educator, and again she raised me as a

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Speaker 7: single parent, and there were I was surrounded by educators

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Speaker 7: and predominantly female educators for that matter, and so it

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Speaker 7: took it really took a village to raise me.

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Speaker 2: But as you can see, I'm the brown, the brown,

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Speaker 2: but I'm a black woman.

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Speaker 3: In the United States of America, some people would look

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Speaker 3: at me and be like, oh, she's brown, and I'm like, yeah,

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Speaker 3: but I'm black.

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Speaker 2: I am an Afro Latina and my mom is white.

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Speaker 3: So and I was raised by her side of the

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Speaker 3: family really and our extended like chosen family. So my

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Speaker 3: father that that brings the Latini dad to my existence

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Speaker 3: was not present. So Spanish was not spoken in my home.

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Speaker 3: I was not raised eating the food at all times

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Speaker 3: that are cultural to my identity, and so I I

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Speaker 3: didn't come to that portion of my identity of really

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Speaker 3: having the opportunity to dig into that as much until

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Speaker 3: my adulthood. So there was sort of a disconnect in

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Speaker 3: my childhood. I didn't and I hate the way this,

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Speaker 3: but it is my reality.

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Speaker 2: I did not see color for.

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Speaker 3: The longest time, and I didn't really have a concept

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Speaker 3: of race. I could hear tone, like if I'm in

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Speaker 3: the grocery stores with my mom as a kid, and

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Speaker 3: you know, someone says something that doesn't sound very nice

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Speaker 3: or throws us a look that is not very inviting

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Speaker 3: or is judgmental. I could discern those types of things,

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Speaker 3: but it wasn't really until you know, I was, you know,

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Speaker 3: very much in school that I really started to process

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Speaker 3: all of that. And as we know, they don't put

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Speaker 3: a lot of the realities of certain things in textbooks.

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Speaker 2: So but thank.

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Speaker 3: God I had an educator for a parent who helped

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Speaker 3: supplement all of that, you know, And she did go

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Speaker 3: the extra mile understanding that she has a child of color,

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Speaker 3: and she needed to explain certain things to me, you know,

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Speaker 3: and really give me an understanding of racism, even though

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Speaker 3: in my mind.

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Speaker 2: I wasn't processing, if that makes sense.

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Speaker 3: I knew what racism was, but I felt like the

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Speaker 3: civil rights movement was so far away because it was

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Speaker 3: in a book, you know. And so then as I'm

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Speaker 3: as I was developing as an adult or becoming an

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Speaker 3: adult and moving to New York City and seeing the

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Speaker 3: realities of the world, and like, no, the civil rights

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Speaker 3: movement ain't that movement is not that far away.

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Speaker 2: In fact, she's fresh, Yes, she's still fresh.

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Speaker 1: Well, And when you consider the fact speaking of your

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Speaker 1: mom as an educator, like Ruby Bridgers is still alive,

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Speaker 1: that little girl who had to be escorted by state

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Speaker 1: troopers into her school at the age of five, in

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Speaker 1: her little Mary Jane's and little bows in her hair,

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Speaker 1: like she's younger than my mom. And so I think

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Speaker 1: it's so interesting to hear hear you the way you

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Speaker 1: talk about this, because I know that for me, what

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Speaker 1: feels like the experience of our generation is the waking

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Speaker 1: up to what we were taught as children lived in

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Speaker 1: books is actually our present day experience that remains reverberating.

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Speaker 1: And I don't know if I put myself in your

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Speaker 1: mom's shoes, like to think back to when you were

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Speaker 1: a little kid, and we weren't having, you know, common

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Speaker 1: conversations about intersectionality. We weren't, we were we were in

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Speaker 1: that process. Like what an incredible thing that, as you said,

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Speaker 1: your mom was an educator who had the wherewithal to say,

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Speaker 1: I'm a white woman raising a daughter of color whose

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Speaker 1: identity is also intersectional. And like, of course you've had

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Speaker 1: a journey and thank god she was your mom, Like whoa,

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Speaker 1: what a? What an experience? Was was moving to New

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Speaker 1: York because of how diverse it is and because of

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Speaker 1: how diverse artists communities are. Like did that feel like

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Speaker 1: a homecoming or a wake up call? Or both both?

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Speaker 2: To be honest, I felt like both.

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Speaker 3: I feel like, you know, my journey with the Broadway

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Speaker 3: community has been.

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Speaker 2: Wonderful and also fascinating.

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Speaker 3: I think, you know, I was I came under what

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Speaker 3: felt like to me living in the experience of it.

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Speaker 3: I felt like I came under a lot of criticism

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Speaker 3: that I was like the white black girl.

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Speaker 2: I didn't sound black enough.

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Speaker 3: I didn't sing black enough, I didn't really dance black enough.

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Speaker 2: Like I just really wasn't black enough.

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Speaker 3: In fact, there were several nights I'd be out and

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Speaker 3: about with artists and there would be people who would

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Speaker 3: try to tell me about myself and my own blackness,

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Speaker 3: and I was never afforded the in those spaces, I

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Speaker 3: was not afforded the opportunity to defend myself. It was

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Speaker 3: never welcomed for me to explain anything. It was just

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Speaker 3: assumed that I was elitist or thought I was better

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Speaker 3: than everyone else, when in actuality, what was really happening

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Speaker 3: was I was trying to find community.

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Speaker 2: You know, I would ask, for example, like I would

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Speaker 2: ask a question.

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Speaker 3: You know, every culture has its own language, its own

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Speaker 3: like euphemisms or whatnot, and like.

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Speaker 2: Sometimes I'll be perfectly frank.

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Speaker 3: Sometimes there were moments, especially when I was eighteen and

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Speaker 3: fresh in New York and even into my second Broadway show,

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Speaker 3: like where I didn't understand something and so I'd asked

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Speaker 3: the question and they'd be like, what the hell, Oh

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Speaker 3: so not really black, And I'm like, what does what

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Speaker 3: does that mean, like when I walk down the street,

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Speaker 3: I'm very I mean, the cops don't see a difference

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Speaker 3: between me and you, so I don't.

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Speaker 2: I don't get it. So things like that, and so

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Speaker 2: that was very jarring for me, And.

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Speaker 3: To be honest, sometimes I still like have to chet

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Speaker 3: that one out in therapy, like I don't because I don't.

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Speaker 2: I went the first person to say.

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Speaker 3: You know, being a member of both the black community

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Speaker 3: and the Hispanic community, it's like, yeah, there's there's colorism.

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Speaker 2: Is a thing.

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Speaker 3: There's interdimensional prejudice that is going on for very different reasons,

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Speaker 3: and sometimes you really have to sit down and unpack

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Speaker 3: what that is, and it's it can be really hard

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Speaker 3: because it's pitting the community against each other.

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Speaker 2: And then and also those two communities.

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Speaker 3: In particular, it's like they get pit against each other

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Speaker 3: all the time when in reality it's like we should

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Speaker 3: be working together. I'm really unclear, and yet we're still

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Speaker 3: arguing about minutia and not that the minutia is not important,

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Speaker 3: but given the world that we live in, can we

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Speaker 3: not find our common ground and elevate that first?

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Speaker 2: You know, like, is are there? I don't.

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Speaker 3: I would I wish that we as communities could have

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Speaker 3: those conversations and like see our differences or the beauty

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Speaker 3: of the minutia as like these make us individual, but

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Speaker 3: these things bring us together. And sometimes that's not the

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Speaker 3: standpoint that's taken. I will be the first to admit that.

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Speaker 1: And now a word from our wonderful sponsors, And what

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Speaker 1: a hard thing it must be to be growing up,

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Speaker 1: growing into yourself, wanting to amass more understanding of your

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Speaker 1: multi identities, and in a way to be told that

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Speaker 1: your multiness is the problem. You're like that this is me,

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Speaker 1: Like I live here, I'm literally this.

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Speaker 8: Person every day and it's the you know what I

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Speaker 8: look back on and like my first experiences in New

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Speaker 8: York and because I was so hungry for community and like.

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Speaker 2: And to be honest, like coming to New.

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Speaker 3: York and and finding as an artist and finding the

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Speaker 3: Broadway community also was one of the best things that

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Speaker 3: could happen to me.

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Speaker 2: But I think when you are like developing and trying.

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Speaker 3: To embrace who you are, what is interesting is that

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Speaker 3: for me, it put me in a place where I

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Speaker 3: allowed people to tell me who I was, and I

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Speaker 3: am innately and aquarius, and I don't do well authority figures.

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Speaker 2: But I look back on it now and I'm like, oh,

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Speaker 2: but I let people try to tell me which box

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Speaker 2: I could be in, which also created issues because I

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Speaker 2: butt heads against that.

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Speaker 3: So I was sort of cultivating this like cycle of

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Speaker 3: of unhappy.

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Speaker 2: Which is not unlike voting rights.

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Speaker 1: Because it's so weird that they all sort of tied

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Speaker 1: together really anything.

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Speaker 2: But I feel like it's I look at it.

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Speaker 3: Now and I think I I started finding a flow

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Speaker 3: in my life when I embraced all of the things

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Speaker 3: that make me me and instead of trying to like

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Speaker 3: put a lid on some things by owning them, it

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Speaker 3: allowed me to actually live my most authentic life and

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Speaker 3: I've found happiness in my life. That doesn't mean that

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Speaker 3: everything's cupcakes and sprinkles. It's not.

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Speaker 2: But there became a flow, and so I could find

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Speaker 2: the spaces that were meant for me. You know.

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Speaker 3: It's almost like I had to be ready to accept

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Speaker 3: all of that, that there was going to be good

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Speaker 3: with the bad, and you were never going to be

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Speaker 3: able to cookie cut yourself down enough to be acceptable.

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Speaker 3: It's like, I don't I don't fox with palatability anymore.

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Speaker 3: I think that's death to creativity, palatability, bye, goodbye.

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Speaker 2: I love it.

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Speaker 1: But that's such an experience of stepping into power. And

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Speaker 1: it's like, you know, we clearly don't have the same

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Speaker 1: experience as young women finding our artistry and our specificity.

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Speaker 1: But like I'm hearing you talk about this, and I'm like, girl,

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Speaker 1: yes to so much of it. I you know, at

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Speaker 1: twenty one, moved for my first big job and moved

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Speaker 1: to a very small town and felt very isolated and

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Speaker 1: really wanted to be an adult and really wanted to

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Speaker 1: prove that I was good enough, really wanted to do

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Speaker 1: all the things right. And you know, I carried all

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Speaker 1: my familial and childhood trauma with me and I wanted

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Speaker 1: to like build a life and do a thing. And

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Speaker 1: I didn't have anybody saying if what is offered around

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Speaker 1: you doesn't feel like enough, go out and seek it.

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Speaker 1: I was sort of like, Okay, well, if these are

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Speaker 1: the five forks I get to choose from all time,

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Speaker 1: do this and if this, and I would I built

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Speaker 1: a life to be like kind and a good team

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Speaker 1: player and palatable and things, and wasn't good for me.

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Speaker 1: It's a it's a journey, I think, to discover how

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Speaker 1: to seek more, how to be grateful for what it is,

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Speaker 1: but like not give up on yourself a little bit,

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Speaker 1: not shrink yourself a little bit. And people especially don't

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Speaker 1: like when women don't shrink themselves, And they especially don't

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Speaker 1: like when we don't shrink ourselves and we're political. Like

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Speaker 1: for them, it's, oh yeah, they just they melt down.

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Speaker 1: But like, even when I think about your art, like

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Speaker 1: your identity is inherently political, your art has been political,

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Speaker 1: Like hello, you were part of the original cast of Hamilton,

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Speaker 1: Like you made politics pop culture in this like beautiful way,

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Speaker 1: in a way that claimed diversity, chose diversity, Like what

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Speaker 1: what was that like? Because by the way, I remember

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Speaker 1: like early days and I'm like, this is the most

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Speaker 1: inspiring thing I've ever seen. All I care about is

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Speaker 1: like the actual potential of the realization of the American Documents?

357
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Speaker 1: Does everybody know? Like do people know? And then I remember,

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Speaker 1: like within four weeks I wanted to bring a bunch

359
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Speaker 1: of friends back and like couldn't get tickets for four months,

360
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Speaker 1: And I was like, Okay, everybody knows, Like, and what

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Speaker 1: was it like to be in it? Because I know,

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Speaker 1: as an audience member and a fan, I was just

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Speaker 1: like melting down. And I was like you as a

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Speaker 1: kid on the staircase, like wapping around in my car

365
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Speaker 1: with the windows down, singing along to you guys, Like

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Speaker 1: what what did it feel like to be in it?

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Speaker 3: Oh? I mean.

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Speaker 2: I could say it was wild?

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Speaker 9: You know.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think.

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Speaker 3: I don't know if you, if you speak to any

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Speaker 3: members of the original cast, I don't know that we

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Speaker 3: have good words for it because it felt so singular,

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Speaker 3: to be honest, but you're but what what you what

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Speaker 3: you said is exactly what we did, Like.

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Speaker 2: We made are political.

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Speaker 3: It's like how it's so rare that you get like

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Speaker 3: every you know, you get presidents to Broadway, like what

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00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:07,359
Speaker 3: the Secretary of State is coming to Broadway, like you know,

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Speaker 3: like senators.

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Speaker 2: Actively want to see this.

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Speaker 3: It like it made you know, art, It gave art

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Speaker 3: a different platform, and it certainly gave Broadway a different

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Speaker 3: a different audience, you know, And I think that was

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Speaker 3: really cool and there there, It wasn't a you could

386
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Speaker 3: be in your seventies or eighties and still love Hamilton.

387
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Speaker 3: You could be a child and love Hamilton for different reasons.

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Speaker 3: But the messaging behind it, the diversity, spoke to the

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Speaker 3: you know, facing some truths about women.

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Speaker 2: Women in the sake wall work, you.

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Speaker 3: Know, like there was there was a lot in there

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Speaker 3: that I think, you know, created a different synergy and

393
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Speaker 3: showed a lot of people as possible.

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Speaker 2: I think.

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Speaker 3: Fighting personally fighting the Revolutionary War eight times a week

396
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Speaker 3: was really hard. Girl.

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Speaker 1: I thought about you guys again, because it's just like

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Speaker 1: one of the shows I've seen the most times. And

399
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Speaker 1: I did a play like a straight play on the

400
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Speaker 1: West End in twenty ty three, and I would get

401
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Speaker 1: to the end of a five show weekend and literally collapse,

402
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Speaker 1: and I was like, wait, I have friends who do

403
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Speaker 1: this and they sing and dance like wow, you like

404
00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:29,800
Speaker 1: I look at you now like a person with superpowers.

405
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Speaker 1: It's incredible.

406
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Speaker 3: It's the wildest thing. I will always say that like

407
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Speaker 3: Broadway in like theater theater in general. If you're if

408
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Speaker 3: you're doing theater at a high.

409
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Speaker 2: Level, which the West End is, is so like more

410
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Speaker 2: power to you.

411
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Speaker 1: It was so cool.

412
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Speaker 10: It was also doing straight plays on the West End

413
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Speaker 10: I find just inherently intimidating because like the Brits, they

414
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Speaker 10: they know thet all, you know what I mean.

415
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Speaker 2: Oh great?

416
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Speaker 1: It was the one American in the play, and I

417
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Speaker 1: was like, cool, no pressure, I'm going to be Oh

418
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Speaker 1: my god, I heard you great though.

419
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Speaker 11: Actually I'm sad I missed it, but I heard you

420
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Speaker 11: were absolutely wonderful, So go you.

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Speaker 1: I loved every minute of it. I was crushed when

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Speaker 1: I got like, you know, as so many people did,

423
00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:21,320
Speaker 1: like hit so hard, pandemic, yeah, sickness that I was like, oh,

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Speaker 1: I'm actually like too sick to keep working. I've never

425
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Speaker 1: had this happen before. I've left the hospital and gone

426
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Speaker 1: back to set. What do you mean I have to go?

427
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Speaker 2: Do you mean? Yeah?

428
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Speaker 1: But the months that I got to be there and

429
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Speaker 1: do it, it gave me the bug in such an

430
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Speaker 1: intense way. And now I'm like, what's my next.

431
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Speaker 3: Playing to be?

432
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Speaker 1: I need it.

433
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Speaker 2: I'm really need it. Okay, now, okay, gool gool cool.

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Speaker 1: So if you want to do a straight play straight already.

435
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Speaker 2: You're great. All right, I'm going to keep the lookout. Okay,

436
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Speaker 2: you heard it here first, everyone.

437
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Speaker 1: Let's go to Broadway.

438
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Speaker 2: Broadway. No, but I do think what was I saying? Oh?

439
00:24:56,359 --> 00:25:00,880
Speaker 3: I do think there's no training like.

440
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Speaker 2: Like doing theater. It's a different kind of stamina, it's

441
00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:03,840
Speaker 2: a different kind of work.

442
00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:08,359
Speaker 3: Ethic, you know, and I had the privilege of doing

443
00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:11,200
Speaker 3: like six Broadway shows almost back to back.

444
00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:13,879
Speaker 1: Wow, yeah, you never stopped.

445
00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:16,040
Speaker 2: I didn't, and I'm very grateful.

446
00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:18,679
Speaker 3: You know. I got some great advice when I was

447
00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:22,320
Speaker 3: doing my first Broadway show. I ran into Judith Light

448
00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:24,960
Speaker 3: who is my favorite humans on the world in the

449
00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:29,240
Speaker 3: Planet Icon, and she was like, just say yes, just

450
00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:30,080
Speaker 3: keep saying yes.

451
00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:30,560
Speaker 2: You will.

452
00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:33,440
Speaker 3: You will learn something from every show that you do.

453
00:25:34,119 --> 00:25:36,760
Speaker 3: And the lesson may be easy, the lesson may be hard,

454
00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:38,880
Speaker 3: but you will learn. And you will always have an

455
00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:42,000
Speaker 3: income because you know, I didn't go to university for

456
00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:42,399
Speaker 3: what I do.

457
00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:44,880
Speaker 2: I think people like assume.

458
00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:46,520
Speaker 3: That maybe I went to Juilliard or maybe I went

459
00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:48,639
Speaker 3: to you know, a really great.

460
00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:51,640
Speaker 1: Like a conservatory, a conservatory, thank you.

461
00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:54,800
Speaker 2: Nope, did not, did not. I I graduated in two

462
00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:58,600
Speaker 2: thousand and nine. So there just wasn't any money any

463
00:25:58,720 --> 00:25:59,480
Speaker 2: the recession.

464
00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:02,199
Speaker 1: No, like they always say, like the bubble burst in

465
00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:03,200
Speaker 1: two thousand and eight.

466
00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:06,520
Speaker 3: Yes it did, it did, and it there was no

467
00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:11,040
Speaker 3: money for scholarships. And again I single parent home with

468
00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:16,760
Speaker 3: a public school teacher salary. It's like there, we barely

469
00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:18,480
Speaker 3: had money for you go to a state school, you

470
00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:22,840
Speaker 3: know what I mean. I was reliant on scholarships even

471
00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:25,359
Speaker 3: in my when I was training, Like I went to

472
00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:28,960
Speaker 3: a competitive dance studio and received incredible training, but I

473
00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:31,840
Speaker 3: worked as a teacher's assistant to pay off some of

474
00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:32,840
Speaker 3: my basic tuition.

475
00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:34,399
Speaker 2: And then every time we went.

476
00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:37,680
Speaker 3: To like a convention, competition or something, I took them

477
00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:41,720
Speaker 3: very seriously because in the class portion of the convention

478
00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:45,679
Speaker 3: I wanted to do well. It was very focused, not

479
00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:48,720
Speaker 3: to my detriment, but I knew that if I didn't

480
00:26:48,760 --> 00:26:51,240
Speaker 3: get a scholarship, nine times out of ten, I would

481
00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:53,440
Speaker 3: not be coming back the next year because we could

482
00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:57,200
Speaker 3: not afford it. So like, dance was such a savior

483
00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:00,840
Speaker 3: to me because it gave me a structure for my life.

484
00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:03,600
Speaker 3: I found something I loved and I was willing to

485
00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:08,840
Speaker 3: do the work to so that my opportunities would continue

486
00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:12,040
Speaker 3: to advance. Like yeah, I could keep the doors open.

487
00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:15,120
Speaker 3: And you know, there at one point in my life

488
00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:17,960
Speaker 3: there was a very privileged white woman said to me, like,

489
00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:20,239
Speaker 3: you're so privileged because you had a white mom. And

490
00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:22,480
Speaker 3: I was like, in what way do you think that

491
00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:25,040
Speaker 3: I was privileged? I lived in a small town. We

492
00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:28,320
Speaker 3: for a time, we lived in subsidized housing, and people

493
00:27:28,359 --> 00:27:30,280
Speaker 3: really look down on my mom because she had a

494
00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:33,240
Speaker 3: brown child or a black child, And.

495
00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:37,760
Speaker 2: So I'm I don't get it.

496
00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:40,680
Speaker 3: Like if the cops stopped us and saw me, there's

497
00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:43,600
Speaker 3: like a myriad of questions. Even sometimes you know, white

498
00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:46,440
Speaker 3: women in the in the grocery store, like would say

499
00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:49,600
Speaker 3: some things like is that your child? Like her students

500
00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:51,919
Speaker 3: at times were like are you adopted? Like there was

501
00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:55,879
Speaker 3: always this question around what I came to believe my validity.

502
00:27:56,880 --> 00:27:59,359
Speaker 3: And now that does not mean that we had it

503
00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:03,040
Speaker 3: harder than absolutely everybody. That is not what I'm saying.

504
00:28:03,359 --> 00:28:07,240
Speaker 3: I am saying that as a child, I understood that

505
00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:10,359
Speaker 3: there were differences, and no, my mom did not have

506
00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:15,000
Speaker 3: an easy time of it, and perhaps at times my

507
00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:18,720
Speaker 3: identity might have made it harder, you know, but like

508
00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:20,960
Speaker 3: she's my mother, and she loved me, and she busted

509
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:25,000
Speaker 3: her butt to give me a good life. But whiteness

510
00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:28,560
Speaker 3: at times does not always translate to privilege. And I

511
00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:32,480
Speaker 3: think there are will always be an inherent privilege to whiteness.

512
00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:35,200
Speaker 3: But given my identity and the life that I lived

513
00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:38,040
Speaker 3: growing up, I saw some real times where it was

514
00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:43,160
Speaker 3: not helpful. The whiteness did not play come into play

515
00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:45,920
Speaker 3: as a helpful factor, if that makes.

516
00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:50,320
Speaker 2: Sense, and there are there are people who have trouble here.

517
00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:55,200
Speaker 1: It's so odd to me. I don't understand why people

518
00:28:55,360 --> 00:29:01,600
Speaker 1: want to always couch what others have gone through. It's like,

519
00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:05,880
Speaker 1: why why would someone even feel the need to say

520
00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:08,560
Speaker 1: that to you, because then, by the way, you're required

521
00:29:08,600 --> 00:29:11,720
Speaker 1: to do the emotional labor of educating someone to be like,

522
00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:14,760
Speaker 1: you know what, I, because I lived with my mother,

523
00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:18,080
Speaker 1: might have had proximity to a version of her privilege,

524
00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:22,480
Speaker 1: but I also was very aware of how that privilege

525
00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:24,760
Speaker 1: didn't extend to me because I don't look like my mother. Like,

526
00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:26,800
Speaker 1: just the fact that you have to sit and say

527
00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:29,760
Speaker 1: that to somebody is like, God, it's exhausting say that.

528
00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:33,040
Speaker 2: Oh it was exhausting, and to this day at times

529
00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:34,080
Speaker 2: it is exhausting.

530
00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:36,040
Speaker 3: But it's like, I share that with you in this

531
00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:39,160
Speaker 3: moment because I also am like, but yes, podcast, people

532
00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:41,680
Speaker 3: love this podcast and maybe they never thought about that,

533
00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:45,280
Speaker 3: And I'm like, I don't have a problem sharing, but

534
00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:49,920
Speaker 3: in the moments where it's like, oh God, controversial again,

535
00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:52,160
Speaker 3: I don't care about being palata well anymore.

536
00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:55,600
Speaker 2: I'll just say it. If that makes sense.

537
00:29:56,080 --> 00:29:58,800
Speaker 1: Yeah, and now a word from our sponsors that I

538
00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:08,840
Speaker 1: really enjoy and I think will too. Well, that's the thing, Like,

539
00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:11,960
Speaker 1: I think we have to be as frank as possible

540
00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:16,280
Speaker 1: about reality if we ever hope to create better ones,

541
00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:20,760
Speaker 1: and to your point, like, okay, if we want to

542
00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:24,040
Speaker 1: rally the troops for a better America, we want to

543
00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:27,680
Speaker 1: make this country live up to its ideals. Actually, us

544
00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:31,920
Speaker 1: women should be mobilizing fifty one percent of the population, like,

545
00:30:32,040 --> 00:30:35,480
Speaker 1: let's go. But we have to be willing to hear

546
00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:41,440
Speaker 1: the different experiences of the women. Like if we're all

547
00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:43,520
Speaker 1: in a pool, then we're a bunch of buckets in

548
00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:47,239
Speaker 1: a pool. And if I don't know anything about what

549
00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:49,280
Speaker 1: you go through, or I'm not willing to hear what

550
00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:51,520
Speaker 1: you go through, or I'm not curious about what you

551
00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:54,320
Speaker 1: go through, not only am I doing a disservice to

552
00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:58,200
Speaker 1: you in our relationship, I'm also making myself more ignorant.

553
00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:01,560
Speaker 1: So I'm going to advocate us well for you and

554
00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:06,360
Speaker 1: for me, Like come on, we should just we should

555
00:31:06,440 --> 00:31:10,920
Speaker 1: just be willing. Yeah, not dissimilarly to a good script, right,

556
00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:12,920
Speaker 1: like to our friends at home. You hear me talk

557
00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:15,920
Speaker 1: about this a lot with other actors. Like how a

558
00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:20,040
Speaker 1: really good movie or TV show will make they will

559
00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:24,360
Speaker 1: tell someone's specific story. And when you do specificity really well,

560
00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:28,800
Speaker 1: everyone identifies with it because it's also universal. And like,

561
00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:32,640
Speaker 1: we only create a good universal outcome if we are

562
00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:36,720
Speaker 1: willing to pay attention to everybody's specificity and then design

563
00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:38,920
Speaker 1: an outcome that supports us all.

564
00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:42,440
Speaker 3: And honestly, you say it so plainly, I'm like this, yeah, God,

565
00:31:43,080 --> 00:31:44,360
Speaker 3: just that it's pretty.

566
00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:47,840
Speaker 11: It seems so simple to me, which is also why

567
00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:52,440
Speaker 11: I was just like, you know, I'm I I knowing

568
00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:55,280
Speaker 11: my I mean, why my life, So I know my journey,

569
00:31:55,600 --> 00:31:59,200
Speaker 11: but like knowing all these different like mile markers in

570
00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:02,720
Speaker 11: my life, it's like, Okay, I want to I want

571
00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:04,000
Speaker 11: to try.

572
00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:08,160
Speaker 3: And cultivate community in the ways that I might not

573
00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:11,480
Speaker 3: have had growing up, you know what I mean. And

574
00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:15,040
Speaker 3: and so I try to choose my art from that standpoint,

575
00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:16,400
Speaker 3: like who can this speak to?

576
00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:20,560
Speaker 2: Or how how can my presence be a value?

577
00:32:20,600 --> 00:32:24,880
Speaker 3: Add Like, I'm not someone who just like inserts myself.

578
00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:27,120
Speaker 2: Just because like I'm very intentional.

579
00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:30,840
Speaker 3: About things when I like, I think that's very important.

580
00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:35,080
Speaker 3: But that's also why I think about like just to

581
00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:36,880
Speaker 3: sort of whack because like I know, I.

582
00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:39,560
Speaker 2: Tell you realness, I.

583
00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:47,560
Speaker 3: Especially on a day like today, But I think when

584
00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:51,880
Speaker 3: I think about my idea, my my identity, my my journey,

585
00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:54,920
Speaker 3: I'm an artist, and they all work together and like

586
00:32:55,240 --> 00:32:58,280
Speaker 3: sometimes separating because I think clarity about like what is

587
00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:01,240
Speaker 3: going on with your identity and your work because people

588
00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:04,280
Speaker 3: like to confuse the two is very important. But that's

589
00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:06,400
Speaker 3: how I come back to like who am I as

590
00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:09,840
Speaker 3: a human and what am I trying to do with

591
00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:11,640
Speaker 3: this platform that I've been given?

592
00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:14,520
Speaker 2: So for me when I was like, oh, I love

593
00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:16,760
Speaker 2: the ACLU, why because they are.

594
00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:19,120
Speaker 1: Not They're advocating for all of us.

595
00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:20,440
Speaker 2: I think that's really important.

596
00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:24,800
Speaker 3: They're advocating for everyone, even the people, and that's the

597
00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:27,480
Speaker 3: beauty of being an American, Like I don't always have

598
00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:30,440
Speaker 3: to agree with my fellow American, but I do believe

599
00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:33,760
Speaker 3: that we all have a place here in this country

600
00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:35,600
Speaker 3: and we all have the right to be heard.

601
00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:37,280
Speaker 2: And so I was like, I can get down. I

602
00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:38,560
Speaker 2: love that, let's go.

603
00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:44,239
Speaker 1: That also takes a certain willingness to self interrogate and

604
00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:46,760
Speaker 1: to hold yourself to the standards you say you believe

605
00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:50,040
Speaker 1: it to say, like I really do not agree yes,

606
00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:53,120
Speaker 1: with this person's bigoted opinion. But guess what, I'm the

607
00:33:53,120 --> 00:33:56,600
Speaker 1: first amendment they're allowed to say it. So what am

608
00:33:56,600 --> 00:33:59,160
Speaker 1: I going to do to support the people they might

609
00:33:59,200 --> 00:34:01,560
Speaker 1: be verbally attacked? How am I going to build a

610
00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:04,240
Speaker 1: better system? How am I gonna allow them to be

611
00:34:04,280 --> 00:34:06,360
Speaker 1: who they are whether I agree or not? And then

612
00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:10,560
Speaker 1: make sure I'm defending the people who their rights might harm?

613
00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:15,560
Speaker 1: Like that takes a bigness. And you know, again, when

614
00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:19,719
Speaker 1: you talk about your identity, your journey, your work, like

615
00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:23,680
Speaker 1: I think about you being in the original cast of Hamilton,

616
00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:26,960
Speaker 1: I think about you as this woman who lives at

617
00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:30,440
Speaker 1: the intersections you live at. In twenty twenty two, by

618
00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:33,520
Speaker 1: the way, like talk about how history is now you

619
00:34:33,600 --> 00:34:35,920
Speaker 1: became the very first queer woman of color to win

620
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:39,040
Speaker 1: an Academy Award for West Side Story. And you know

621
00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:41,000
Speaker 1: you're talking about how as a kid you didn't grow

622
00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:44,520
Speaker 1: up speaking Spanish, Like what has it been like to

623
00:34:44,640 --> 00:34:49,000
Speaker 1: lean back into your culture? Have you learned your language?

624
00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:51,480
Speaker 1: How have you built that community? Would it feel like

625
00:34:52,040 --> 00:34:56,520
Speaker 1: to stand up and do that job and then get

626
00:34:56,640 --> 00:34:57,600
Speaker 1: like the best award?

627
00:34:57,920 --> 00:35:00,319
Speaker 2: It to what I see, the.

628
00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:02,440
Speaker 1: Exact thing you were just talking about about how all

629
00:35:02,480 --> 00:35:06,120
Speaker 1: these pieces of you come back to connect. Does it

630
00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:09,759
Speaker 1: Does it feel like that from the inside? Does it

631
00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:10,719
Speaker 1: feel like a homecoming?

632
00:35:11,719 --> 00:35:14,000
Speaker 2: You know? I mean, here's the thing about homecomings.

633
00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:24,280
Speaker 3: Sometimes they're uncomfortable and that's okay, that's that's that's life.

634
00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:27,000
Speaker 3: So the journey with West Side Story was both highly

635
00:35:27,040 --> 00:35:31,879
Speaker 3: uncomfortable and cathartic and wonderful and shiny. It was all

636
00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:34,440
Speaker 3: of it. But I think the only way that I

637
00:35:34,600 --> 00:35:38,000
Speaker 3: was I did what I always do. Yeah, I came

638
00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:40,320
Speaker 3: to it authentically. It's like the very first day I

639
00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:43,120
Speaker 3: met Steven Spielberg, he was like, so, what do you

640
00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:44,560
Speaker 3: want me to know? And I was like, well, I

641
00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:46,920
Speaker 3: want you to know that I'm Afro Latina. I am

642
00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:51,239
Speaker 3: a black woman who is Hispanic. And he was like

643
00:35:52,120 --> 00:35:53,520
Speaker 3: and I was like, yeah, I know, I know, but

644
00:35:53,719 --> 00:35:57,279
Speaker 3: like it's real and and that if you were not

645
00:35:57,320 --> 00:36:00,200
Speaker 3: willing to, you know, explore that and the content because

646
00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:02,840
Speaker 3: of the making of your movie, then don't hire me.

647
00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:05,040
Speaker 2: That's what I said to him. And he just sort

648
00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:06,960
Speaker 2: of was like, thank you for your honesty.

649
00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:08,680
Speaker 3: And I was like, and I'm also going to tell

650
00:36:08,719 --> 00:36:10,760
Speaker 3: you that I did not grow up with Spanish spoken

651
00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:13,360
Speaker 3: in my home so I took it in high school.

652
00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:15,880
Speaker 3: I was pretty good at it, but like, this is

653
00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:17,480
Speaker 3: going to be work for me, and also my dad.

654
00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:19,239
Speaker 2: Is not in my life. And he was like, ah,

655
00:36:20,719 --> 00:36:21,319
Speaker 2: thank you for.

656
00:36:21,360 --> 00:36:24,880
Speaker 3: Your honesty, and I appreciate, Like I was always honest

657
00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:26,000
Speaker 3: about who I.

658
00:36:26,120 --> 00:36:28,759
Speaker 2: Was, you know, and who I am, Like there's no

659
00:36:28,840 --> 00:36:31,120
Speaker 2: need to not be for me.

660
00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:35,040
Speaker 3: But I went into it with like, this may not

661
00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:37,880
Speaker 3: be good enough for you, you know I was, And honestly

662
00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:39,400
Speaker 3: I was ready for you to be like it's not

663
00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:42,440
Speaker 3: like you're not you don't look like Rita Moreno, you

664
00:36:42,440 --> 00:36:43,640
Speaker 3: don't look like Cheter of Vera.

665
00:36:44,239 --> 00:36:46,839
Speaker 2: Your background is not good enough, you know.

666
00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:48,880
Speaker 3: I was ready to have all of those normal things

667
00:36:48,880 --> 00:36:53,480
Speaker 3: that I've thrown it in my face every traditionally, and

668
00:36:53,520 --> 00:36:56,200
Speaker 3: he didn't do that. And so from there on it

669
00:36:56,239 --> 00:37:00,600
Speaker 3: made it like it it gave me permission to continue

670
00:37:00,640 --> 00:37:02,520
Speaker 3: to bring the fullness of my identity to that job.

671
00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:05,439
Speaker 3: And so then when being the first openly queer woman

672
00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:08,400
Speaker 3: of color to win an Academy award was incredibly special

673
00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:14,200
Speaker 3: because every part of the process was that, like, I

674
00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:17,719
Speaker 3: never had to be anything but who I am, you know,

675
00:37:17,920 --> 00:37:19,839
Speaker 3: and if I had a thought I could share it.

676
00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:23,760
Speaker 2: You know, I'm opinionated. I share my opinion.

677
00:37:23,840 --> 00:37:25,640
Speaker 3: I believe I share my opinions in a way that

678
00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:27,560
Speaker 3: does not smack someone else down. That is not the

679
00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:30,080
Speaker 3: point of me sharing an opinion, but I share it

680
00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:35,120
Speaker 3: from the space of let's open up the opportunities, the horizons,

681
00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:37,399
Speaker 3: like maybe there are several different paths we could go down,

682
00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:41,080
Speaker 3: and if we commit to one without first considering these

683
00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:43,000
Speaker 3: other things, like what are we even doing?

684
00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:49,320
Speaker 9: Sometimes but it was wild and but the short answer

685
00:37:49,600 --> 00:37:54,600
Speaker 9: to your question was no, it didn't always feel good,

686
00:37:54,760 --> 00:37:55,279
Speaker 9: but it was.

687
00:37:56,440 --> 00:38:01,240
Speaker 2: The whole process was totally mine and it complete.

688
00:38:01,320 --> 00:38:04,000
Speaker 3: I got to completely embody and own it every step

689
00:38:04,040 --> 00:38:07,960
Speaker 3: of the way. So the uncomfortability I owned, the celebration

690
00:38:08,080 --> 00:38:10,280
Speaker 3: of it I owned. And you know, during that process,

691
00:38:10,360 --> 00:38:13,480
Speaker 3: I discovered I got to do some family digging and

692
00:38:13,800 --> 00:38:19,000
Speaker 3: my Hispanic roots come from sant Thorse, the little barrio's

693
00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:23,440
Speaker 3: outside of San Juan, though my father's family is from Santors.

694
00:38:23,640 --> 00:38:27,440
Speaker 2: Like I took the Spanish lessons I was and to.

695
00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:30,080
Speaker 3: Be honest, I'll be candid and like I'm I have

696
00:38:30,160 --> 00:38:31,080
Speaker 3: a musical ear.

697
00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:32,440
Speaker 2: My accent is good.

698
00:38:32,640 --> 00:38:35,520
Speaker 3: But like language, when you don't learn it from a

699
00:38:35,560 --> 00:38:39,320
Speaker 3: young age. It's use it or lose it, and it's hard.

700
00:38:39,840 --> 00:38:43,880
Speaker 3: And so I still get anxiety in Spanish speaking spaces

701
00:38:44,280 --> 00:38:46,719
Speaker 3: when I know what's being said and I can't think

702
00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:50,239
Speaker 3: quick enough to respond in Spanish, like it kills me

703
00:38:50,280 --> 00:38:51,879
Speaker 3: and I want to cry, and I turned into five

704
00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:54,760
Speaker 3: year old arid like isn't good enough. It's very hard

705
00:38:54,800 --> 00:38:59,440
Speaker 3: for me, But I still try well, and I think

706
00:38:59,600 --> 00:39:01,600
Speaker 3: that's important. Part is like you have to make the

707
00:39:01,640 --> 00:39:02,560
Speaker 3: effort well.

708
00:39:02,560 --> 00:39:05,239
Speaker 1: And what I hear you saying really is like you're

709
00:39:05,280 --> 00:39:10,040
Speaker 1: advocating for the fullness of yourself in yourself, and I

710
00:39:10,640 --> 00:39:13,759
Speaker 1: don't think it's accidental that you are such an advocate

711
00:39:13,840 --> 00:39:18,680
Speaker 1: for other people too. Like that passion to lean in,

712
00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:23,360
Speaker 1: you know, tracks for what we were just speaking about

713
00:39:23,760 --> 00:39:27,759
Speaker 1: with the ACLU, and like for you to be on

714
00:39:27,840 --> 00:39:30,640
Speaker 1: your journey and simultaneously want to go on a journey

715
00:39:30,680 --> 00:39:35,040
Speaker 1: for everyone, for us, for people's rights, like you sit.

716
00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:38,759
Speaker 1: You know today you're the newest voting rights ambassador for

717
00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:42,120
Speaker 1: the ACLU, and you mentioned they defend everybody. They do

718
00:39:42,520 --> 00:39:45,440
Speaker 1: all the good work, they make sure everybody has access

719
00:39:45,560 --> 00:39:49,399
Speaker 1: to the same rights. But we know that voting rights

720
00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:54,279
Speaker 1: in particular have been so under attack and what made

721
00:39:54,320 --> 00:39:56,520
Speaker 1: you want to jump into this? And is there like,

722
00:39:57,120 --> 00:39:59,719
Speaker 1: you know, being being the resident expert on this call, like,

723
00:40:00,320 --> 00:40:02,759
Speaker 1: is there a little overview you can give to our

724
00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:05,600
Speaker 1: friends who are listening at home, because I know that

725
00:40:05,680 --> 00:40:07,640
Speaker 1: so many people in my audience are like it feels

726
00:40:07,640 --> 00:40:08,839
Speaker 1: like everything keeps getting worse.

727
00:40:08,920 --> 00:40:09,640
Speaker 2: What do we do?

728
00:40:10,160 --> 00:40:13,000
Speaker 1: And you actually have some steps of things we can

729
00:40:13,120 --> 00:40:16,160
Speaker 1: really do to you know, be here for each other.

730
00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:19,320
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I mean I wanted to jump in because

731
00:40:19,320 --> 00:40:23,160
Speaker 3: I just felt like so my identity again sort of

732
00:40:23,239 --> 00:40:24,760
Speaker 3: like demanded it in a way.

733
00:40:24,840 --> 00:40:28,359
Speaker 2: And I care about people. I really do. Even once

734
00:40:28,400 --> 00:40:31,040
Speaker 2: I disagree with I still care about you. I want

735
00:40:31,080 --> 00:40:34,399
Speaker 2: you to have a good life, even if you don't

736
00:40:34,400 --> 00:40:35,000
Speaker 2: want that for me.

737
00:40:35,760 --> 00:40:38,520
Speaker 3: But it's like, I'm also passionate about young people, and

738
00:40:38,560 --> 00:40:41,319
Speaker 3: I feel like when I watch our you know, our

739
00:40:41,400 --> 00:40:41,879
Speaker 3: rights in.

740
00:40:41,840 --> 00:40:45,160
Speaker 2: General get like dwindled down, and it's it for me.

741
00:40:45,320 --> 00:40:46,919
Speaker 3: I look at it, and I'm like, you just trying

742
00:40:46,920 --> 00:40:49,319
Speaker 3: to put people in boxes and I'm so not here

743
00:40:49,360 --> 00:40:52,520
Speaker 3: for it. You want You're like, we've we've changed the

744
00:40:52,600 --> 00:40:56,280
Speaker 3: narratives so much to try and kind of keep people

745
00:40:56,320 --> 00:40:59,560
Speaker 3: small and keep them from asking questions and so for me,

746
00:40:59,680 --> 00:41:03,600
Speaker 3: the basis of my ambassadorship really starts there. It's like,

747
00:41:03,760 --> 00:41:06,759
Speaker 3: I don't think there's a single dumb question when it

748
00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:08,480
Speaker 3: comes to voting rights.

749
00:41:08,560 --> 00:41:11,280
Speaker 2: I think you should ask them all, even the ones.

750
00:41:11,040 --> 00:41:12,799
Speaker 3: That you're like, this may not have anything to do

751
00:41:12,840 --> 00:41:15,920
Speaker 3: with anything, but I'm gonna ask it, like I want

752
00:41:15,960 --> 00:41:21,040
Speaker 3: to sort of demystify that, you know, and just ask

753
00:41:21,120 --> 00:41:22,160
Speaker 3: the questions.

754
00:41:21,800 --> 00:41:26,720
Speaker 2: People may have and the ones that I have, also

755
00:41:27,200 --> 00:41:29,160
Speaker 2: knowing that I may not have.

756
00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:33,759
Speaker 3: The answer, but an organization like the ACLU probably does

757
00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:35,680
Speaker 3: and they can explain things like I.

758
00:41:35,680 --> 00:41:38,800
Speaker 2: Know, I was reading, you know, which is hard. Reading

759
00:41:38,800 --> 00:41:40,600
Speaker 2: the news is hard, or listening.

760
00:41:40,360 --> 00:41:44,279
Speaker 3: To it can be like debilitating and depressing. But I

761
00:41:44,320 --> 00:41:46,279
Speaker 3: was reading a lot of these you know, decisions that

762
00:41:46,320 --> 00:41:48,960
Speaker 3: were coming down from the Supreme Court, and I was like,

763
00:41:49,040 --> 00:41:52,280
Speaker 3: oh gosh, this is like so much and this language

764
00:41:52,320 --> 00:41:55,760
Speaker 3: is so like heavy and honestly makes me feel really dumb,

765
00:41:55,840 --> 00:41:58,520
Speaker 3: and everything in me just wants to like not read.

766
00:41:58,520 --> 00:41:59,360
Speaker 2: But I know I need to.

767
00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:03,400
Speaker 3: And so that's when I would like call up my girl,

768
00:42:03,880 --> 00:42:05,799
Speaker 3: just go over at the assau like what does this mean?

769
00:42:06,480 --> 00:42:08,000
Speaker 3: And she was like, oh, let me prefer you to

770
00:42:08,040 --> 00:42:10,840
Speaker 3: so and so and they can tell you. And I

771
00:42:10,920 --> 00:42:12,839
Speaker 3: was like, that's what we should be doing. Like when

772
00:42:12,840 --> 00:42:15,680
Speaker 3: these decisions come down that it's hard to understand.

773
00:42:16,320 --> 00:42:19,360
Speaker 2: I want to be like, hey, this thing happens, and

774
00:42:19,400 --> 00:42:20,120
Speaker 2: I'm pretty sure it.

775
00:42:20,080 --> 00:42:23,040
Speaker 3: Affects so and so in Arkansas, or this came down

776
00:42:23,040 --> 00:42:25,960
Speaker 3: from the eighth circuit course, and who does this effect?

777
00:42:26,280 --> 00:42:30,160
Speaker 3: And I want to ask those questions and see how

778
00:42:30,200 --> 00:42:33,399
Speaker 3: we can open up the conversation or at least make

779
00:42:33,520 --> 00:42:35,880
Speaker 3: the facts easier to digest.

780
00:42:36,680 --> 00:42:39,720
Speaker 2: And again, just remind folks there are no stupid questions.

781
00:42:39,760 --> 00:42:42,200
Speaker 3: But the only dumb questions or stupid questions are the

782
00:42:42,200 --> 00:42:44,439
Speaker 3: ones you don't ask and you don't try to find

783
00:42:44,480 --> 00:42:47,600
Speaker 3: the answer to. And so I'm sort of putting myself

784
00:42:47,719 --> 00:42:50,400
Speaker 3: in that space, you know.

785
00:42:50,719 --> 00:42:53,279
Speaker 2: And also I know you know all about that, because like, hell,

786
00:42:53,880 --> 00:42:55,479
Speaker 2: I have been an for a long long time.

787
00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:58,360
Speaker 1: Thank you. I look, I think we're all in this together.

788
00:42:58,400 --> 00:43:02,120
Speaker 1: And yes, it is so important as as we were

789
00:43:02,120 --> 00:43:04,200
Speaker 1: talking about earlier, like when you when you managed to

790
00:43:04,280 --> 00:43:06,759
Speaker 1: have a platform because of what you do, like you

791
00:43:06,840 --> 00:43:09,600
Speaker 1: got to do good with it. So when you talk

792
00:43:09,680 --> 00:43:11,640
Speaker 1: about all of the things that you know you've been

793
00:43:11,680 --> 00:43:13,840
Speaker 1: learning and the questions you've been asking of the folks

794
00:43:13,840 --> 00:43:17,759
Speaker 1: at the ACLU. We are in an election year, are

795
00:43:17,800 --> 00:43:21,279
Speaker 1: there any myths that you want to set straight or

796
00:43:21,360 --> 00:43:24,320
Speaker 1: any any fun facts you want to give to people.

797
00:43:24,520 --> 00:43:28,759
Speaker 2: Oh that's a really interesting question, you know what I think.

798
00:43:29,719 --> 00:43:32,000
Speaker 3: I think there there's the and this is a large

799
00:43:32,160 --> 00:43:34,160
Speaker 3: like a larger conversation, but I think a lot of

800
00:43:34,520 --> 00:43:37,279
Speaker 3: people are like, oh, well, the presidential election is the

801
00:43:37,280 --> 00:43:38,360
Speaker 3: only one that matters.

802
00:43:38,719 --> 00:43:39,000
Speaker 2: Now.

803
00:43:39,120 --> 00:43:41,279
Speaker 3: I know you've talked about this on your podcast and

804
00:43:41,320 --> 00:43:41,960
Speaker 3: like that's.

805
00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:44,160
Speaker 2: Not the truth. Yeah, it is so not the truth.

806
00:43:44,239 --> 00:43:48,840
Speaker 3: Like it doesn't matter it, it does not I'm not

807
00:43:48,840 --> 00:43:50,359
Speaker 3: here to tell you who to vote for it when

808
00:43:50,400 --> 00:43:52,359
Speaker 3: it comes to the presidential election, but I am here

809
00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:56,880
Speaker 3: to like remind you that, like anything that is like

810
00:43:57,040 --> 00:43:59,719
Speaker 3: important to your life whatever, you're showing up to the

811
00:43:59,719 --> 00:44:03,720
Speaker 3: pole four right, nine times out of ten, those local

812
00:44:03,760 --> 00:44:06,520
Speaker 3: elections are real important, my friends.

813
00:44:07,320 --> 00:44:09,920
Speaker 2: And we don't think of that because what's in the

814
00:44:10,040 --> 00:44:10,879
Speaker 2: news so.

815
00:44:11,000 --> 00:44:14,719
Speaker 3: Often is these bigger, these bigger elections.

816
00:44:14,760 --> 00:44:16,160
Speaker 2: And so that's part of it.

817
00:44:16,280 --> 00:44:21,000
Speaker 3: I mean that just reminding people that, like it takes

818
00:44:21,080 --> 00:44:25,400
Speaker 3: work to be a voter. Voting is not easy, and

819
00:44:25,480 --> 00:44:28,960
Speaker 3: the institutions that surround us don't make it easier for us.

820
00:44:29,680 --> 00:44:33,960
Speaker 3: It does take time, effort and planning. For the longest time,

821
00:44:34,040 --> 00:44:37,160
Speaker 3: even myself, I don't even know how to find the

822
00:44:37,400 --> 00:44:40,520
Speaker 3: correct websites for certain things like how do I find

823
00:44:40,600 --> 00:44:41,920
Speaker 3: people's platforms?

824
00:44:41,960 --> 00:44:44,360
Speaker 2: Like what is even on my ballot? And then I

825
00:44:44,400 --> 00:44:46,319
Speaker 2: did find resources like I am a voter.

826
00:44:46,440 --> 00:44:49,239
Speaker 3: But you have to do that work and you have

827
00:44:49,320 --> 00:44:53,400
Speaker 3: to want to to to have your voice heard. And

828
00:44:53,480 --> 00:44:56,160
Speaker 3: the reality is it does matter. It really does matter,

829
00:44:56,480 --> 00:44:58,799
Speaker 3: and it matters more in election years like this year.

830
00:44:59,600 --> 00:45:00,640
Speaker 3: Every year it matters.

831
00:45:00,640 --> 00:45:01,480
Speaker 2: But when you have so.

832
00:45:01,600 --> 00:45:05,919
Speaker 3: Many they ticket items on the ballot, if you don't

833
00:45:05,920 --> 00:45:06,520
Speaker 3: show up and.

834
00:45:06,520 --> 00:45:09,480
Speaker 2: Vote, then for me, I'm just like that, then we're

835
00:45:09,480 --> 00:45:12,200
Speaker 2: not we're not seeing the fullness of our democracy.

836
00:45:12,840 --> 00:45:18,279
Speaker 3: Yeah, take hold and again because I vote, it in

837
00:45:18,320 --> 00:45:21,120
Speaker 3: my mind is my own personal opinion. Now I can

838
00:45:21,160 --> 00:45:24,160
Speaker 3: reserve the right to really criticize my country, like I

839
00:45:24,239 --> 00:45:27,239
Speaker 3: will go ham at her Yes because I showed up

840
00:45:27,280 --> 00:45:27,840
Speaker 3: to vote.

841
00:45:27,960 --> 00:45:29,880
Speaker 2: Yes, because I did my part.

842
00:45:31,560 --> 00:45:38,240
Speaker 1: And now for our sponsors. The way I think about

843
00:45:38,280 --> 00:45:42,319
Speaker 1: it too, is like voting is a it's a relationship.

844
00:45:42,640 --> 00:45:44,120
Speaker 2: You know, that's nice.

845
00:45:44,320 --> 00:45:46,880
Speaker 1: Like democracy to me is a verb, like love is

846
00:45:46,920 --> 00:45:50,799
Speaker 1: a verb. It is an action an action. It is

847
00:45:50,960 --> 00:45:54,440
Speaker 1: so important to take that action because your entire life

848
00:45:55,480 --> 00:45:59,080
Speaker 1: is governed by policy. Your experience, the roads you drive on,

849
00:45:59,200 --> 00:46:01,440
Speaker 1: whether or not they have potholes, whether or not kids

850
00:46:01,800 --> 00:46:04,719
Speaker 1: have you know, healthy schools, whether or not people can

851
00:46:04,760 --> 00:46:08,920
Speaker 1: go to the doctor. It is all designed by policy,

852
00:46:08,960 --> 00:46:11,440
Speaker 1: and so we have to show up and exercise our

853
00:46:11,520 --> 00:46:15,279
Speaker 1: right so that we can have a healthier relationship to

854
00:46:15,400 --> 00:46:19,319
Speaker 1: life in this country. Yes, and that is the thing,

855
00:46:19,400 --> 00:46:22,759
Speaker 1: Like when people talk about feeling discouraged or things feel dangerous,

856
00:46:22,840 --> 00:46:26,080
Speaker 1: or like this election matters so much because it will

857
00:46:26,080 --> 00:46:28,480
Speaker 1: decide the future of the Supreme Court, and we already

858
00:46:28,520 --> 00:46:30,160
Speaker 1: saw how that went in the last one that didn't

859
00:46:30,160 --> 00:46:33,400
Speaker 1: go so well. Like, people are being harmed by the

860
00:46:33,440 --> 00:46:37,160
Speaker 1: outcomes of these events, and if we want to undo

861
00:46:37,200 --> 00:46:39,279
Speaker 1: that harm, we have to show up and vote like

862
00:46:39,320 --> 00:46:42,960
Speaker 1: we love each other and this country.

863
00:46:43,120 --> 00:46:44,840
Speaker 2: That to me is the part I think.

864
00:46:45,080 --> 00:46:48,200
Speaker 3: You know I've had personally, you know, I've had some

865
00:46:48,320 --> 00:46:52,240
Speaker 3: slightly uncomfortable conversations with members of my family.

866
00:46:52,800 --> 00:46:55,279
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's it's it's tough.

867
00:46:55,120 --> 00:46:59,440
Speaker 3: When you do come to someone who doesn't necessarily believe

868
00:46:59,440 --> 00:47:04,640
Speaker 3: that they're vot vote actually speaks for their families as well,

869
00:47:04,719 --> 00:47:05,840
Speaker 3: or members of their families.

870
00:47:05,840 --> 00:47:08,960
Speaker 2: Like, your vote isn't always necessarily just for you, it's

871
00:47:09,000 --> 00:47:12,120
Speaker 2: for your neighbor, you know, it's for someone you love.

872
00:47:12,440 --> 00:47:14,880
Speaker 3: Like you know, I am a queer woman of color

873
00:47:15,080 --> 00:47:16,560
Speaker 3: and my family members are white.

874
00:47:16,600 --> 00:47:19,320
Speaker 2: But every time they cast a vote, and like, just remember,

875
00:47:19,719 --> 00:47:23,000
Speaker 2: vote for me, I'm going to vote for you.

876
00:47:23,160 --> 00:47:26,239
Speaker 3: I'm going to vote so that your your your identity,

877
00:47:26,440 --> 00:47:29,480
Speaker 3: your wants and needs are encompassed in mind, you know,

878
00:47:29,840 --> 00:47:34,200
Speaker 3: are encompassed in my vote, But am I encompassed in yours? Like?

879
00:47:34,239 --> 00:47:37,440
Speaker 3: And that's hard because there's there's the rights of the individual,

880
00:47:37,520 --> 00:47:39,200
Speaker 3: and then we also have to look at the rights

881
00:47:39,200 --> 00:47:39,720
Speaker 3: of the whole.

882
00:47:40,440 --> 00:47:43,799
Speaker 2: And again, I've heard you talk about this a.

883
00:47:43,760 --> 00:47:47,360
Speaker 3: Lot, Like it's not a pie guys, more rights for

884
00:47:47,400 --> 00:47:49,160
Speaker 3: me doesn't mean there's less rights for you.

885
00:47:49,680 --> 00:47:53,360
Speaker 1: It just means the rights get bigger, bigger.

886
00:47:54,320 --> 00:47:57,360
Speaker 3: Yeah, creating more equity meets creating more pie.

887
00:47:57,280 --> 00:48:01,160
Speaker 2: Ye, Like Merrol and I love pie. You want everybody

888
00:48:01,239 --> 00:48:01,799
Speaker 2: to have it.

889
00:48:02,600 --> 00:48:05,759
Speaker 1: So for our friends who also love pie, should we

890
00:48:06,840 --> 00:48:09,080
Speaker 1: should we tell them where they can begin, because to

891
00:48:09,120 --> 00:48:11,000
Speaker 1: your point, it can be hard to start the journey.

892
00:48:11,080 --> 00:48:13,799
Speaker 1: So would you recommend, like, yeah, you know, the ACLU

893
00:48:13,880 --> 00:48:19,320
Speaker 1: on Instagram is ACLU Nationwide. Everybody maybe should go there first.

894
00:48:19,960 --> 00:48:22,680
Speaker 3: Yes, I do think that the ACLU if you, like,

895
00:48:23,200 --> 00:48:27,000
Speaker 3: if you aren't sure where you stand, right, if you're

896
00:48:27,160 --> 00:48:30,279
Speaker 3: just interested in learning, the ACLU provides a breadth of

897
00:48:30,320 --> 00:48:33,799
Speaker 3: information on breadth of topics, right. Yeah, and again it

898
00:48:34,040 --> 00:48:37,840
Speaker 3: is non partisan. So this is literally about human rights.

899
00:48:37,920 --> 00:48:43,040
Speaker 3: It's about your rights for all or all. And that's

900
00:48:43,080 --> 00:48:45,600
Speaker 3: why I think there's such a great place to start.

901
00:48:45,640 --> 00:48:48,280
Speaker 2: If you really are not here for.

902
00:48:48,280 --> 00:48:50,759
Speaker 3: Like, I'm blue, I'm red, why don't you just be

903
00:48:51,239 --> 00:48:55,680
Speaker 3: try being first? The AL Nationwide is a great place

904
00:48:55,719 --> 00:48:59,120
Speaker 3: to start. Their Instagram account is honestly one of my

905
00:48:59,160 --> 00:49:04,400
Speaker 3: favorite things to and yes, because obviously we're dealing with

906
00:49:04,480 --> 00:49:06,759
Speaker 3: facts and things that are happening in real time all

907
00:49:06,800 --> 00:49:10,160
Speaker 3: across our country. Sometimes it can't be depressing, but it's

908
00:49:10,160 --> 00:49:13,560
Speaker 3: informative and it's always hopeful. There's always hope because knowledge

909
00:49:13,600 --> 00:49:14,000
Speaker 3: is power.

910
00:49:14,560 --> 00:49:16,600
Speaker 1: Yes, and I love that.

911
00:49:16,320 --> 00:49:16,919
Speaker 2: That makes sense.

912
00:49:17,440 --> 00:49:20,959
Speaker 3: And also vote dot org like if as far as

913
00:49:21,000 --> 00:49:24,839
Speaker 3: like just process, if you need to check to see

914
00:49:24,840 --> 00:49:28,040
Speaker 3: if you're registered, little the basic one, twos and threes,

915
00:49:28,160 --> 00:49:30,719
Speaker 3: everything you need to know to vote vote.

916
00:49:30,800 --> 00:49:33,279
Speaker 1: I love that or I am a voter, yes, and

917
00:49:33,400 --> 00:49:36,560
Speaker 1: I will say to our friends at home, you can look.

918
00:49:36,600 --> 00:49:38,399
Speaker 1: I don't like a lot of text messages. I don't

919
00:49:38,440 --> 00:49:41,320
Speaker 1: like a lot of emails. Like too much. Communication is

920
00:49:41,360 --> 00:49:46,080
Speaker 1: the bane of my existence. So I helped UH organize

921
00:49:46,080 --> 00:49:47,920
Speaker 1: that I am a voter chatbot because I was like,

922
00:49:47,960 --> 00:49:50,000
Speaker 1: if it texts me all the time, I'll be furious.

923
00:49:50,000 --> 00:49:53,479
Speaker 1: And it's partially my organization. You can text the word

924
00:49:53,600 --> 00:49:57,279
Speaker 1: voter from anywhere in the country to two six seven

925
00:49:57,400 --> 00:50:01,640
Speaker 1: nine seven voter vot er and it will give you

926
00:50:01,640 --> 00:50:05,279
Speaker 1: your updated info on registering. You can make sure you're registered,

927
00:50:05,520 --> 00:50:08,800
Speaker 1: and it will send you a text reminder before the election,

928
00:50:08,960 --> 00:50:11,520
Speaker 1: remind you of where you're going, where your polling place

929
00:50:11,640 --> 00:50:14,520
Speaker 1: is in case it's changing. It is like the best

930
00:50:14,960 --> 00:50:19,000
Speaker 1: amount of information with the least amount of being bothered possible,

931
00:50:19,440 --> 00:50:21,920
Speaker 1: So go online and then also send a text and

932
00:50:21,920 --> 00:50:26,279
Speaker 1: we will make sure you are covered, because we want

933
00:50:26,280 --> 00:50:30,160
Speaker 1: everybody to have more pie. Now, my dear, you are

934
00:50:30,200 --> 00:50:33,360
Speaker 1: obviously spending this year being a voting rights ambassador for

935
00:50:33,360 --> 00:50:37,080
Speaker 1: the ACLU. You are working to defend American democracy. You

936
00:50:37,120 --> 00:50:41,080
Speaker 1: are out here advocating for people and reminding people of

937
00:50:41,120 --> 00:50:44,640
Speaker 1: the ways we can be better, deeper, more aware of

938
00:50:44,680 --> 00:50:48,799
Speaker 1: each other. And I know people are like and where

939
00:50:48,840 --> 00:50:51,480
Speaker 1: else can I see her? Like, I got a lot

940
00:50:51,520 --> 00:50:54,080
Speaker 1: of questions about you, like what's next in your career?

941
00:50:54,120 --> 00:50:57,040
Speaker 1: Where are you going? People are like they're just desperate

942
00:50:57,200 --> 00:51:00,440
Speaker 1: for more of you and your voice and all that are.

943
00:51:01,680 --> 00:51:06,040
Speaker 2: Oh that's really sweet. You know. Well, I'm currently in Winnipeg, Canada.

944
00:51:06,680 --> 00:51:07,680
Speaker 2: Make it a movie.

945
00:51:08,800 --> 00:51:10,760
Speaker 1: Yeah, you are in a cold place.

946
00:51:11,800 --> 00:51:12,239
Speaker 2: I am.

947
00:51:12,560 --> 00:51:15,600
Speaker 3: I am, but hey, I'm still paying attention to what's

948
00:51:15,719 --> 00:51:17,160
Speaker 3: going on in the country.

949
00:51:17,360 --> 00:51:20,400
Speaker 2: Yes, so that's that's the other thing. It's like, I

950
00:51:20,480 --> 00:51:21,120
Speaker 2: take it off.

951
00:51:22,120 --> 00:51:25,000
Speaker 3: I take it very seriously, like it's a responsibility to

952
00:51:25,160 --> 00:51:28,920
Speaker 3: like like a pay attention read anyways.

953
00:51:28,600 --> 00:51:31,200
Speaker 2: But yes, I'm I'm I'm working after.

954
00:51:31,160 --> 00:51:34,680
Speaker 3: You know, the entertainment industry was on strike for like

955
00:51:35,120 --> 00:51:38,840
Speaker 3: what felt like an eternity for absolutely every person involved,

956
00:51:39,200 --> 00:51:42,680
Speaker 3: and so I really wanted to work this year, and

957
00:51:42,760 --> 00:51:44,799
Speaker 3: I'm very grateful to have opportunity.

958
00:51:44,880 --> 00:51:48,440
Speaker 2: So I'm doing just that at the moment. But I've

959
00:51:48,480 --> 00:51:54,080
Speaker 2: got some things up my sleeve. Okay, she might be.

960
00:51:54,040 --> 00:51:56,239
Speaker 3: Doing your girl might be doing some things, might be

961
00:51:56,320 --> 00:51:58,840
Speaker 3: taking some big swings, trying some new things.

962
00:51:59,080 --> 00:52:00,839
Speaker 1: Okay, I'm very excited to hear what they are when

963
00:52:00,840 --> 00:52:01,320
Speaker 1: it's time.

964
00:52:02,160 --> 00:52:04,800
Speaker 2: When it's time, I mean, that's the name of my game.

965
00:52:04,880 --> 00:52:09,520
Speaker 3: Though, like I when it becomes formulated to me, that's

966
00:52:09,560 --> 00:52:11,919
Speaker 3: when I don't want to do it because I don't

967
00:52:12,000 --> 00:52:14,920
Speaker 3: like doing the same thing twice. Every show I did

968
00:52:14,960 --> 00:52:17,400
Speaker 3: on Broadway for ten years was different. None of them

969
00:52:17,440 --> 00:52:23,000
Speaker 3: were the same. And I'm really grateful that I seem

970
00:52:23,080 --> 00:52:27,160
Speaker 3: to have a path in this new facet of the

971
00:52:27,280 --> 00:52:31,400
Speaker 3: industry that is allowing me to do that. I'll be honest,

972
00:52:31,400 --> 00:52:33,680
Speaker 3: it's not always easy. Sometimes you really got to go

973
00:52:33,760 --> 00:52:37,439
Speaker 3: in there and like advocate for yourself in a way

974
00:52:37,440 --> 00:52:39,640
Speaker 3: that's like, yes, see me for this part. I know

975
00:52:39,719 --> 00:52:42,359
Speaker 3: it doesn't make sense, it doesn't have to, but let

976
00:52:42,400 --> 00:52:43,080
Speaker 3: me try.

977
00:52:44,880 --> 00:52:46,640
Speaker 1: Just look, I have a hunch.

978
00:52:46,920 --> 00:52:49,560
Speaker 3: Just look, I just have a hunch, Like my gut

979
00:52:49,640 --> 00:52:53,320
Speaker 3: is telling me. You'll be pleasantly surprised. So it's really

980
00:52:53,360 --> 00:52:57,000
Speaker 3: a lot of that. And I'm this is my year

981
00:52:57,320 --> 00:53:00,680
Speaker 3: of I said to myself at the beginning of the year.

982
00:53:01,239 --> 00:53:04,359
Speaker 3: If the energy is not electric, I do not want it.

983
00:53:05,520 --> 00:53:08,479
Speaker 3: So that's my sort of like guiding light, and I'm

984
00:53:08,520 --> 00:53:12,360
Speaker 3: following that and so everything I do right now feels

985
00:53:12,480 --> 00:53:16,520
Speaker 3: very creatively stimulated. And while that did not answer the

986
00:53:16,600 --> 00:53:19,160
Speaker 3: question of what am I doing next and where is

987
00:53:19,160 --> 00:53:22,280
Speaker 3: it coming beyond making where's it going beyond making movies?

988
00:53:22,560 --> 00:53:24,839
Speaker 3: I can tell you I'm very excited about the things

989
00:53:24,840 --> 00:53:27,760
Speaker 3: I have in front of me and sensibly terrified because

990
00:53:29,680 --> 00:53:34,200
Speaker 3: when you take on bigger things and it is scary.

991
00:53:34,400 --> 00:53:36,359
Speaker 3: But I do scary things every day, and I think

992
00:53:36,440 --> 00:53:38,680
Speaker 3: that's what makes life magical.

993
00:53:39,120 --> 00:53:39,399
Speaker 9: You know.

994
00:53:40,280 --> 00:53:44,719
Speaker 1: So my favorite question to ask everyone is the following,

995
00:53:44,760 --> 00:53:47,360
Speaker 1: And I wonder if if maybe that's part of the answer,

996
00:53:47,440 --> 00:53:52,520
Speaker 1: is that it works around like courage and fear. When

997
00:53:52,960 --> 00:53:55,360
Speaker 1: when you look out at the year ahead of you,

998
00:53:57,040 --> 00:53:58,640
Speaker 1: what feels like you're work in progress.

999
00:54:00,400 --> 00:54:03,680
Speaker 3: I mean, the wholeness, my whole being is a work

1000
00:54:03,680 --> 00:54:09,960
Speaker 3: in progress. That's the work in progress. And here's why

1001
00:54:09,960 --> 00:54:12,920
Speaker 3: I say that is, you know, I think it's fairly

1002
00:54:12,960 --> 00:54:15,760
Speaker 3: well documented that my life changed very quickly.

1003
00:54:17,000 --> 00:54:19,560
Speaker 2: The West Side Story absolutely changed my life.

1004
00:54:19,600 --> 00:54:22,200
Speaker 3: And then even though I had worked for ten years

1005
00:54:22,760 --> 00:54:26,160
Speaker 3: on Broadway, that was the thing that suddenly people knew

1006
00:54:26,200 --> 00:54:30,839
Speaker 3: about me, right, And I think the work in progress

1007
00:54:30,880 --> 00:54:35,160
Speaker 3: for me is having the courage to own this new identity,

1008
00:54:35,480 --> 00:54:39,879
Speaker 3: part of my identity, and to really dig in and.

1009
00:54:39,800 --> 00:54:41,480
Speaker 2: See how far I can go with it.

1010
00:54:42,000 --> 00:54:44,799
Speaker 3: You know, it's like there's a part of me that

1011
00:54:44,840 --> 00:54:48,000
Speaker 3: feels like I've only scratched the surface of this area

1012
00:54:48,080 --> 00:54:52,560
Speaker 3: of my life, this part of my creativity, and every

1013
00:54:52,640 --> 00:54:56,919
Speaker 3: day it is a work in progress to not let

1014
00:54:56,960 --> 00:55:05,279
Speaker 3: the fear of platform, criticism of failure get in the

1015
00:55:05,280 --> 00:55:07,800
Speaker 3: way of that. You know, So it does take courage

1016
00:55:08,120 --> 00:55:10,840
Speaker 3: to like it takes. It takes courage to pursue magic.

1017
00:55:11,400 --> 00:55:16,120
Speaker 1: Oh really good God, Yes, that Like if I were

1018
00:55:16,160 --> 00:55:19,480
Speaker 1: Oprah in the audience at Harpo, I'd be like, tweet it.

1019
00:55:19,840 --> 00:55:22,120
Speaker 1: That's a tweeted moment for sure, but that.

1020
00:55:22,280 --> 00:55:23,200
Speaker 2: It's so good.

1021
00:55:23,920 --> 00:55:26,760
Speaker 1: It takes its strige to pursue magically.

1022
00:55:28,160 --> 00:55:30,440
Speaker 2: It does, and it looks different for everybody.

1023
00:55:30,600 --> 00:55:34,440
Speaker 12: But that's also why I think, you know, part of

1024
00:55:34,480 --> 00:55:38,160
Speaker 12: this work and this year and my ambassadorship with the

1025
00:55:38,200 --> 00:55:41,080
Speaker 12: a c l U, it takes courage to pursue the

1026
00:55:41,120 --> 00:55:45,560
Speaker 12: magic of making space for everyone.

1027
00:55:44,480 --> 00:55:47,560
Speaker 2: And for allowing everyone to be heard. It is courageous

1028
00:55:47,560 --> 00:55:48,320
Speaker 2: because it's.

1029
00:55:48,160 --> 00:55:54,520
Speaker 3: Hard to please, right, It's so hard to please everyone,

1030
00:55:54,760 --> 00:55:57,799
Speaker 3: and that is that is a reality.

1031
00:55:58,120 --> 00:56:02,759
Speaker 2: But I think the endeavor to allow everyone the opportunity

1032
00:56:02,880 --> 00:56:07,360
Speaker 2: to live a beautiful life and to be heard that

1033
00:56:07,520 --> 00:56:08,560
Speaker 2: is a life well lived.

1034
00:56:09,920 --> 00:56:14,480
Speaker 1: Yeah, and she drops the mic at the end and

1035
00:56:14,560 --> 00:56:20,120
Speaker 1: the lights come on. My god, thank you that was beautiful.

1036
00:56:21,280 --> 00:56:22,800
Speaker 2: Thank you beautiful.

1037
00:56:22,800 --> 00:56:24,719
Speaker 3: Thank you for having me, thank you for letting me

1038
00:56:24,840 --> 00:56:27,239
Speaker 3: share and for talking with me. I just think you're

1039
00:56:27,280 --> 00:56:30,839
Speaker 3: so You're so smart, and you're so inspiring.

1040
00:56:30,920 --> 00:56:36,240
Speaker 2: I love look. Oh my god, I just your everything.

1041
00:56:36,840 --> 00:56:38,759
Speaker 1: You're everything. I can't wait for us to go to

1042
00:56:38,840 --> 00:56:40,320
Speaker 1: a play together. Added to the list.

1043
00:56:40,960 --> 00:56:43,520
Speaker 2: Added to the list, Annie, Yes.

1044
00:56:43,480 --> 00:56:44,360
Speaker 1: What a dream do you?

1045
00:56:44,440 --> 00:56:45,279
Speaker 2: Thank you for doing this?

1046
00:56:46,120 --> 00:56:49,320
Speaker 1: No, by the way, tell me, I'm ready, let's go.

1047
00:56:48,600 --> 00:56:52,880
Speaker 1: I I so appreciate you taking the time today, especially

1048
00:56:52,880 --> 00:56:56,040
Speaker 1: because I know you're on location and it is a

1049
00:56:56,080 --> 00:56:58,879
Speaker 1: lot to show up and offer like you know, your

1050
00:56:58,920 --> 00:57:01,120
Speaker 1: heart and your thoughts and your journey to feel in

1051
00:57:01,120 --> 00:57:04,120
Speaker 1: such an authentic way. So thank you for doing that

1052
00:57:04,160 --> 00:57:06,520
Speaker 1: in the midst of like a job that you know

1053
00:57:06,800 --> 00:57:10,680
Speaker 1: has you in the tundra. It's it's no small effort,

1054
00:57:10,680 --> 00:57:11,799
Speaker 1: and I appreciate it.

1055
00:57:11,880 --> 00:57:14,320
Speaker 2: Oh, it's my honestly, my pleasure. I was honored to

1056
00:57:14,360 --> 00:57:14,720
Speaker 2: be asked.

1057
00:57:14,719 --> 00:57:17,200
Speaker 3: I'm always happy to speak with you.

1058
00:57:17,000 --> 00:57:18,000
Speaker 2: You're likewise.

1059
00:57:18,320 --> 00:57:20,960
Speaker 1: I can't wait come home. Let's go see some shows.

1060
00:57:21,480 --> 00:57:23,520
Speaker 2: Let's go see shows. Oh my gosh, yes, there's so

1061
00:57:23,600 --> 00:57:24,400
Speaker 2: many to see.

1062
00:57:24,720 --> 00:57:28,000
Speaker 5: Okay, I've just turned into like twelve years old.

1063
00:57:28,160 --> 00:57:32,960
Speaker 2: You're like, it's time, it's time. You can't take the

1064
00:57:32,960 --> 00:57:34,640
Speaker 2: Broadway out of the girl. You really can't.

1065
00:57:35,000 --> 00:57:37,800
Speaker 1: Oh all right, my dear, you have an amazing rest

1066
00:57:37,840 --> 00:57:41,600
Speaker 1: of your day. Thank you, Thanks Darling, You appreciate you.