¡Si, Se Puede!

During the pandemic, farm workers had no choice but to keep working long days in the hot sun to harvest the fruits and vegetables that fed our nation. The majority of farm workers in the U.S. are migrant workers, many of whom are undocumented, and who were unable to stay home. Blanca Arroyo, a farm worker in Monterey County California, kept working in the fields even when there was immense fear of bringing COVID home to her family. On today’s show, Blanca shares why this country needs to value the work she and her colleagues do every day, and reminds us all that she is essential in this country. Roundtable guests: Civil rights activist Dolores Huerta and Mónica Ramírez, founder of Justice for Migrant Women.

Learn more about Justice for Migrant Women: https://justice4women.org/ 

Learn more about the Dolores Huerta Foundation: https://doloreshuerta.org/ 

Episode Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UzYoWd5dgkoNvLweDIMVaIwAwtZRcFG8XfFCnVPKeM8/edit?usp=sharing

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Well, I TOLDO on Wilmer veld Rama, and I remember Raquel, Hey,
Wilmer happy Hispanic Heritage momth oh, yeah, it's happy. Hispanic
hearacter is not like the whole thing is not happy
Hispanic Heritage Month. Right, It's not like happy Thanksgiving, It's
like Hispanic Heritage Month. Right? Yeah? Yeah, right, Okay, how
do you I'm so curious? How do you spend it? Like?

(00:22):
You don't bake a turkey? Right? Yeah, I would say
I bake one turkey every single day for Hispanic Heritage Month?
Is it because it's nice and golden and brown? Exactly?
That's that's right. Well, how about we started in tradition
by speaking to some more amazing Latino women who have
literally changed history with the work they do. Yes, I

(00:45):
can't think of anything I'd rather do, And luckily that's
exactly what we have planned for today. So who are
our incredible guest today? Our essential worker this week is
Blanca Arroyo, who has been working on California farms for
over twenty years and who didn't stop working to feed
her family and yours when COVID hit. We were so
lucky to connect with her and learn what it's really

(01:07):
like out there working in the fields. I'm really excited
to share her story with all of you. Me too
and after blanket, story around table truly does not get better.
I mean, we're incredibly fortunate to have these beautiful visionaries
with us. We have Monica Ramidez, the founder and president
of Justice for Migrant Women, who advocates for farm workers
and essential workers across a variety of fields, and whose

(01:29):
open letter about the Me Too movement helped jump start
the Times app organization. Along with Monica, will speak with
the absolute legend, the Loris Guerta. It is nearly impossible
to sum up the lots impact on this country and
the world in such a short amount of time, but
we're going to try. Senora Guerta has been a labor

(01:51):
activists and civil rights leaders since the nineteen sixties, co
founding the National farm Workers Association with Sezat Jervis, organizing
the Delano grape Strike, working to pass numerous pieces of
legislation to ensure the basic human rights of migrant workers,
and at years old, she's still very much in the fight,
having found out that the lordes Wertha Foundation in two

(02:12):
thousand and two and my favorite bit of the Lodes trivia, however,
is that she is the originator of the culd to
action see zip see zepa. I think I put a
little too much sauce on that that you're supposed to yellow. Okay,
I still can't believe we get to talk to Senorata

(02:32):
and Monica. What a huge honor. They both gave us
incredible insight into the work that still needs to be
done on behalf of farm workers and immigrants, the unique
challenges these essential workers face these past two years, and
how we as a community can best support them. Honestly,
to say these individuals are heroes of mine is an
absolutely understatement. But before we get started this week, we're

(02:54):
doing something a little differently. Black Us spoke with us
in Spanish, so to honor her story, we'll be sharing
her words with you, first in Spanish and then afterwards
in English for all you lovely gringos out there. Well,
I'm excited to get to hear both versions, especially because
for us, I know for m R and I is
incredibly special to hear her voice in the language in

(03:15):
which she has lived her truth and the soul in
her voice. Really, there's just one more thing before we
get started. What did I forget? Well, you facilitated the
conversation with Blanca this week. Oh yeah, that's right. So
blanca story in Spanish starts right now. For English speakers,

(03:35):
you can find the English version of Blanca's interview at
twenty two minutes me numerous Blanca Roya Monterrey Um, California.
Then is the por comparatis historia tempo e espercon get

(04:00):
nesta conversations annual cemia contas person as castat casa l
field fruit para como dia typico parote Okay, only a

(04:27):
typical quatro lajolaaum and broccoli, lava and lafresa differentis um people,

(04:53):
the drava la fruitadora, the travajos de lanaque mocha versus
umtas and thes comos compos umar tamans, the hamstre persona,

(05:28):
the yes contra vajo baste familia, umravajo, trabaja razs lo

(05:48):
lo poco loca puelo, yes defici, the paraos relationes quantos
e m phil and says restamental no trestamente theo um

(06:30):
mamaana and says to a broccoli ram we deficitina it
to in Fancier Too, who went to with Saya Tomas
responsibility to Responsibility is the tar. It is the tar

(06:59):
to going off seven canop cancer la mainamatostra and loss
ndos stavn in like scila cancer main so yes movie

(07:23):
more intense so eraqi pensantolad and reliation definities experta in
loca u puels crevi lokario conquer hando equal process clar

(07:54):
um a broccoli is the gas um, the honest to
roa broccoli uh the panda cordo cortando, broccolia lo lo

(08:16):
orandolo broccole lostn um recoiendo los fractors caj grands pantas
del seva a lampakis wild cooler yea losest don intan
cambion is the es broccolivallova da Normalelava is the yeah

(08:46):
onlova um as Loquela Delava is the mata. There's with
um is a crust Masklava is the arel calquita pa

(09:09):
madures in n says um laela manana uh at va
latins card eraserlo ajaj cajone los cons personasa umaova es

(09:43):
c process of wine um Ela pressaa is the ente
waters personaslas yes it always so um loess and last
personas umos is the last personas and spice as Santo peroo,

(10:14):
the loquestes particular mente contravajo specificandemiaoque umms um qu in
mascomando vesque van tolductoda, casa Santa como, casa como ala

(10:46):
president Yola, the California and jo us to me m
or present semiemarque la comare ver gran rave um so

(11:20):
pero com susia senatraj pandemia commune, the Arios career on
the video Pandemia and pandemia with normal Companios is the
travas um and ka um pandemia, pandemiavajo arras and Dante

(11:58):
uh Arno en casa padres leny citations, King say the

(12:19):
the Trier and kobe a casados auna in nfield, k
companero those urcos no pere platicconeo no poet what if

(12:40):
you still comment, if you still porque the pass around problem,
laos no abat comas and supermercao is the rat utro

(13:01):
drama mask and hot Bristero dances and m philaja deferentee
geno atantas the boys removes a part of the esteconda
is the Mason and Frances to remove ante bastante critical

(13:31):
and no casion you know now. Casion is the genovia
cola in a persona the mis center. It's a persona
Dressma and Frances mirava to uh curnias um um no

(14:15):
nose feel um look at ramparts comed o lanka um
lo nadia peso proportion ar coma coma is totalment inacceptably

(14:47):
in a grand paridas welta hamaso hamas la c the
lso mama e m experiencetion. Okay, I will know the

(15:20):
momentos recursos pandemia protection personal con field cell proportional mascaria
protection personal. You know the principio um see uman love

(15:42):
gante will gets um nones some cara pero averquela is

(16:04):
the mascarita geograph is um your siste miss amilia too
is the la monica monica ramirez conciona persona in Los Angeles,
soo alien mistoria superstoria. Yes, the innando joosco flora resco

(16:37):
borrique um it's in Cravemonica is organiza saverga, monica and
agricolas A grand differences includes conchos, veria, neversio, guarantees, principio, protection, cambrios, necessario,

(17:09):
celeb umplou field uhane castros, santoo companeros come on and

(17:30):
then field tempo noe vorosvajo and says personas um yes
and my joris in Americo take varon um efermos pravajo.

(17:52):
The videos Migratorio andava okayano fil um by Loren came
the comos campaneros much personasahar and pandemia tia tian tarni

(18:20):
devidoar you know and no mandavana Usa and da um
your cvuna uda is the Grassi sala fonda on the
schervis rascias ask um perron naa and Hotel of essentials

(18:43):
I can California vesco um i used um alas worked
up for yourself savage and stand que los campesino us
okay republican almost legalist is a man of concerning me

(19:21):
and to sablanca contenta loiero nos agricola spitally essential yeah

(19:42):
yeaha seem to travel holiteralment and no potrian commerce. It
is expirac came in sage en sages harpa laproxcs uh

(20:07):
to trabajo to los los campesino, umca nothing not here
um ok so most um minimal size as ala delante

(20:29):
um conoso covajo, um k c c nots e k
scooches for the porto companeros not here um locando and

(20:51):
andriao and to viva um the travas um see ohon
companier of the necessary kat too porquetravos, ballets, blanca mil

(21:27):
mil grasses crashes per comparti storia por certan on estaero
lenbion um at porto mart tiamo the moment, substoria, grazia,

(21:52):
monica and rama. We'll be right back after this break.
Welcome back to Essential Voices. Blanca's English story starts now.
My name is Blanca Arroyo. I live in Monterey County
in the state of California. I've spent more than twenty
years working as a farm worker. Blanca, I just want

(22:16):
to thank you so much for speaking with me today,
for sharing your story, and for your time. UM. I
really hope that with this conversation you feel celebrated and
recognized for the work that you've done for so many years,
and that you were still doing during the pandemic when
so many people got to stay home. You were away

(22:37):
from home and away from your kids. You were working
in the fields harvesting the very fruits and vegetables that
we're feeding this country. So can you describe what a
typical work day looks like for you. On a typical day,
we get up at four thirty in the morning to
make lunch for ourselves and our children. Then we take
our kids to the babysitter and go to work. Work

(22:58):
starts at six and the more ng and goes until
four in the afternoon. We work on broccoli, grapes, strawberries,
all different types of work, but everything we do is
in the field. We harvest the fruit, we harvest the vegetables,
and then after our work we have to go and
pick up our children from the babysitter. It's difficult for

(23:19):
us too, because many times we're not with our kids
on days like their birthdays because we have to go
to work. It's also difficult because we leave them with
other people, like the babysitter, and they're the ones who
take our kids to school, not us, So it's really
hard work both in the fields and at home for

(23:41):
us mothers. I work because I don't want to be
a burden to the state. I don't want to be
a burden to the government. I want to be able
to thrive with my children, and I work to give
them everything that I possibly can. That sounds really really hard,
really difficult, but I imagine that your children take a

(24:04):
lot of pride in everything that you were able to
do for them. UM. And you know related to you
know your children, but more so your childhood. When did
you come to this country and how old were you
and also why did you start working as a farm worker. UM.
When I came, I was only fourteen years old. My

(24:27):
father came to the United States first and then I came.
But I thought I was going to school right Sadly,
that's not what happens. And I wanted to go to
school because I've always really liked school. But my mother
and my younger siblings stay behind. So I had to
go to work with my dad on the broccoli and

(24:49):
it was very difficult because I was so young that
sometimes I couldn't reach the machines. And when you start
working so hard at such a young age, your childhood,
your youth. It ends because you're taking on responsibilities that
weren't yours to take on. In that moment, I took

(25:12):
on the responsibility of working, and from that moment, this
mentality gets into your head of well, I came to
this country so work and so work, and because of this,
your own jeams they go away. Wow. That image that
you just shared, um, when you couldn't reach the machine,

(25:35):
that really sticks out to me. And it shows me
that during a time when most children were in school
in the United States, you were out working and you
could barely even reach the machines that you needed to work.
That's really very intense and it sounds like it was
difficult or maybe you know, disappointing um for you to

(25:55):
get here thinking that you were going to school when
you were actually coming here to work. That also really
sticks out to me. And since now it's been more
than twenty years since you've been working in the fields,
you're definitely an expert in what you do. Can you
describe what you do every day, what fruits and vegetables
you're working with, and what the harvesting processes like? Yeah? Sure, Look,

(26:20):
if you're working with broccoli, you first put your broccolee
cutting clothes on. Then you go to where you have
to to cut the broccoli. Then a big band passes
along and a machine goes in front of you, and
you have to be cutting, cutting, cutting the broccoli. And
then the woman go on top of the machines and
the men go below cutting the broccoli. And so that

(26:41):
broccoli it's getting picked up by huge tractors. Then the
broccoli goes to the packaging center or the cooler, and
there are other people there. They're packaging the broccoli. They
also take the broccoli and get it separated for salads.
So that's working at the broccoli. If you go to
work with grapes on a normal day, then you have

(27:03):
to clean the part of the grape that is sprouting.
You have to choose the shoots that each bush has.
Then it starts to grow more. You have to take
off the leaves, making room for each grape to take
in the heat it needs for some mature so ripen
right when you're working with grapes, people can go in
three in the morning to cut grapes. You have to

(27:26):
carry them more than twenty poundsunds that you have to
be carrying frequently. Then you empty it in barrels and
after you've already filled the barrels, the grapes get weighed.
After weighing them, they're moved to the winery. There are
other people there in the winery. Um, they're in charge

(27:48):
of perceiving the grapes and processing them until wine is made.
And UM, if you're working with strawberries, because I also
work with strawberries, it's the same as the grapes. You
also have to make sure you're only picking quality produce
because there are people who check the quality so that
it can pass and then you get paid. It's a lot, Yeah,

(28:12):
it's a lot. And all of that is done by
people like me, my colleagues, and other essential workers in
this country. It sounds like you do so many jobs
on any given day, even if you're only, you know,
doing one of the jobs that you mentioned, there's still
so many different components. Um, but is there anything that
you're particularly proud of related to your job that happened

(28:35):
specifically during the pandemic. I believe that we are all
proud of the work that we do, and even more
so when you see that all of the produce, all
the fruit, all the vegetables can be found in people's homes.
It goes from my house just like it goes to yours,

(28:56):
to your neighbors house. It even arrives at the as
an ince house California Vegetables. That's when you say, there's
my work, there's my How do I explain it? My
pride to be an essential worker? Wow? Um wow. It

(29:19):
gives me goose bumps to imagine that the food that
you harvested is being served to the president. That's really
a source of great pride and it's just incredible. So
from what you're saying, it sounds like work didn't really
slow down too much when the pandemic happened. But could
you describe what your days at work were like before
the pandemic and what daily changes occurred due to the pandemic.

(29:43):
But for the pandemic, everything was normal. You could get
your colleagues, you were working, um, your eight hours or
nine hours. After the pandemic, it was no longer like that.
After the pandemic, many of us lost our jobs because
there was no one who would take care of our children,

(30:05):
so we had to stay home at least one of
the parents. And my situation, uh, my oldest kids have
to take care of their younger siblings so that we
could go out to work, right, But there was this
fear that you can't even imagine, a fear of bringing

(30:29):
COVID home. We're faced with them in the fields that
you have to work with your partner two groups um
next to them. You can't be near them, you can't
talk to them, you can't grab your lunch with them,

(30:49):
you can't h It was difficult. It was very difficult
because after a week, I think maybe after two weeks,
there was a problem because there was no food in
the supermarket. This was another another trauma for us to endure,

(31:11):
and it was at the top of our minds for
us as mothers, what do you want to feed your children?
There's no more dinner for your kids at home. So
in the fields, the work was already different because there
were not as many hours for us to work. Later on,

(31:32):
there were a lot of fires and there was a
lot of smoke. So we had a year. I'll tell
you it was difficult, real difficult. On one occasion, on
one occasion, there was no more food in the refrigerator.

(31:57):
I no longer had food, and I called someone from
the child care center where I would drop off my child.
That person brought food to my house, to my table.
Thanks to her, I had food in a way I

(32:19):
felt that I had to go to work and nobody
recognized it. Nobody saw or appreciated it. And my children,
being citizens, they had to mm hmm suffer in a

(32:41):
certain way, deficiencies sometimes with food, with school because there
was no internet at home or with computers. It was
real hard, girl, It was very difficult what we want through.

(33:02):
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Blanca,
what you went through and what you experienced during the pandemic.
No one should have to go through that. And the
irony isn't lost. That you're a person who works so
hard to provide food for others, but that you and
your family didn't have food is just I mean, it's
just totally unacceptable and it's a huge disparity that must

(33:24):
not only be addressed but resolved. You should never have
to go through that again. Never, And even though I
just met you today, I'm so grateful that you've supported
your children despite how difficult it's been. They're so so
lucky to have you as a mom, and you're an inspiration.

(33:44):
Something that we haven't mentioned yet, which is related to
the obvious problem that at times you didn't have the
resources that you needed during the pandemic. Is personal protective equipment.
When you are working in the field, where you provided
with masks and other personal protective equip it. Well, look
at the beginning, Yes, they gave you on the masks,

(34:07):
they gave you the gloves. My employer, I will say,
they tried to help us. But the time came that
there were no masks, so um, we had to improvise. Us.
Woman here in Montegy County used hankerchiefs. We used hankerchiefs

(34:27):
to cover our faces, you know. But to see that
there was a big need for masks, many women improvised
and began to make their own masks. I think God
that my family received some masks from Senora Monics. She
got a person in Los Angeles designer or someone who

(34:51):
heard my story and sent some masks from my family
and from my parents who are older, and that I
appreciated it. I appreciate it so much because it was
a huge help. You know. Wow, it's amazing to hear
about Senora Monica and her organizing to get you masks

(35:13):
when you needed them. Knowing that there are people like
Monica who advocate for phone workers, it makes a huge
difference in fighting for your rights, even when those rights
should have been guaranteed from the start. And so, speaking
of this, what are some of the rights and protections
and changes that are necessary to honor, celebrate and respect
agricultural workers like yourself in this country? UM, for me,

(35:37):
for example, that our work be recognized, what we are
doing in the fields, and that people see that our
work is valuable. For me and my colleagues and people
like my mother, like my father, people who worked in
the field for a long time, their work was not valued.

(36:02):
So now those people are older and we're left without
health insurance. They stayed sick because they could no longer work,
because they were laid off from work, and due to
their immigration status, UM, they couldn't do anything. So I
don't want this to happen to me if I continue

(36:25):
working in the fields. I want to feel valued, no
matter how little myself or my colleagues have, because we
are the people who never stopped working when the pandemic started.
When the pandemic started, people still had fruit, they had vegetables,
they had me because we went out to work and

(36:51):
we did not have the right to receive help from
the government. No one's not help. Um. I did sieve
help thanks to Says Chaves Foundation and thanks to those
who helped us, the essential workers here in California. I
don't know about other states, but we received help, and

(37:15):
I think Senora because Mr Seal Chaves is no longer alive,
but they were concerned about us agricultural workers. What I
really really want is for people to see that we
are human. Let them see that we are not a

(37:35):
public burden. We're not. We are like all the people
who are in this country, whether here legally or illegally.
We are all equally important as human beings. More than anything,
we are human beings with feelings. We are essential in

(37:58):
this country. Wow, I have goose bumps again. That was
said so so powerfully. I could feel it and feel
your words in every bone in my body, and I
couldn't agree with you more. Every farm worker is vital
and essential to this country. And it's about time. It's
been time for people in this country to understand that

(38:18):
without you and your job, they literally couldn't eat. You're
an inspiration to the agricultural workers of the future. So
I just have one last question. What message or messages
would you like to leave for the next generation of
farm workers. My message would be, UM, that your work,

(38:40):
the work of all the farm workers, is recognized, and
don't be afraid to speak up. Don't be afraid to
state your rights, ask for your rights. We came to
this country to get ahead, UM, with our effort, with

(39:01):
our dedication at work. That if you come with a
goal of getting ahead, follow your goal, do not deviate.
And that if you have the opportunity to have your
voice heard by your colleagues, don't be afraid to speak up.
Don't be afraid to say, um, what is happening to

(39:26):
your team, what is happening in your work life? That
you speak up, whether it's to an employer or a coworker,
you speak up. If you see someone has a need
and then no one is helping, you can say, please
help my colleague. Don't be scared, because our voice counts.

(39:52):
We matter as people, We are people like everyone else
in this country. Blanca, thank you so so much for
being here with me today, for sharing your story and
for being just so honest and doing so Thank you.
Thank you for your time. I'm sending a huge hug
to you and your family. Thank you very much. Thanks

(40:14):
to you for taking the time to call me and
hear my story, and thanks to the whole team and
so the people fighting for rights like Senior A. Monica
and Sor and Mr Valderrama. Blanca is such an inspiration
to me, to her family, to all of us, and

(40:35):
she is literally responsible for feeding this country, even in
the moments when she herself didn't have food. Is mind
blowing to me that Blanca has work, and the work
of so many of our immigrants often goes and appreciated.
When these are the folks that keep our country up
and running. We literally couldn't survive without Blanca. That was

(40:56):
powerfully sed Walmer. I'm not sure I can follow that,
but it was an incredible honor to speak with Blanca
and learn about what she experienced throughout the pandemic. Something
that really sticks with me is when she told us
that when she came to the US, she was only
fourteen and she expected to go to school, but instead
she went out to work in the fields with her
dad and hasn't stopped in over twenty years. Blanca didn't

(41:19):
get to have what so many of us here in
the United States takes for granted. So I'm eternally grateful
to Blanca for feeding me and for her time. When
we get back from the break, we'll talk to Monica
Lamids of Justice for Migrant Women and iconic civil rights
activist The Lords Welt. Today. Our guests need no introduction,

(41:46):
but just in case, we're here today with iconic civil
rights activists Dolores Wuerta and with Monica Ramirez, the founder
of Justice for Migrant Women and Ola. Monica, I am
incredibly honored to be with you here today and I'm
so excited to hear your thoughts. Wilmer, take it away, Monica,

(42:07):
and thet is is. It is a beautiful experience to
have you here on our humble of stage. Going into
the clip that you heard. What are your reactions to
blanca story, and let's let's start with you. The lot
is well, it's been a really hard time for farm workers,
because Blanca was telling his first story, and it's even
been harder for some of the undocumented workers. And Blanca

(42:29):
didn't mention how many of the farm workers have gotten
sick from COVID and how many of them have actually
died because so many of our population they do have
these underlying conditions like diabetes, hypertension, obesity. In the set,
how many we have actually lots, and the fact that
they were not really given the protective equipment that they needed.

(42:53):
From the outset, there were many places where the farm
workers actually went on strike because they were not given
the preventative equipment that they needed. And there were cases
where the employers insisted that they come to work, and
not only in the fields, but also in the package
sheds where people are working right next to each other,
and they were told that they had to come back

(43:15):
to work, even though the workers didn't have masks or
the equipment there to be able to sirlize their hands
and then standing right next to each other. In her case,
Blanca did mention that the workers were told that they
had to be a part. And she also mentioned the
smoke that they've been having to in hell even right now,
you know, but the fires are like here in Current County,

(43:36):
all of the smoke that's coming from the fires, and
you can hardly see the sun right now because the
air quality is so polluted. So you can imagine what
the workers are having to go through in addition to
the heat. So here we have this heat that's a
hundred five hundred, six hundred seven. The temperatures have done
up two hundred nine hundred ten, so but the farm

(43:58):
workers have had to go through this here is just incredible.
And then the loss of income. Blanca mentioned that one
of their parents, in her case, she had to stay
home with the kids, so she had to have one
of the oldest children stay home with the children. So
immediately there has been a loss of income to these parents.
And one of the things that they does with the

(44:19):
foundation has been working on we're doing food banks almost
every weekend. A couple of months ago with the ten
food banks and one day we gave away like seventy
thousand pounds of food in one day, including eggs, fresh chickens, yogurt,
but other things that they usually don't get it at
the food bank. And the other thing too. Yes, it
was great that we have the Similars package. But there's

(44:41):
one benefit that the workers have and even undocumented people
can get, and this is the Child Tax Credit, which
is a check that comes into their home every single month.
And for our documented families, all they have to do
is follow income taxes, Okay, they can get a special
number is and documented and that money can come in

(45:02):
for their children. So in the work that we're doing,
you know, we're also doing outreach going door to door
getting people to get their vaccination appointments, and we make
the appointment for them and then we do the vaccine
clinics to make sure that they got their vaccines, you know,
And so we also give them a leaflet telling them
all of the resources that are available to them. If

(45:23):
you've got sick with COVID, you can apply or workers compensation,
and then the state has made housing available for people
that have been said from COVID. And we have a
call line also by the way that people can call
in if they need any information. So we're doing everything
that we can to try to make life easier for
the farm workers and other workers. Not this farm workers,

(45:43):
but we do live in these agricultural communities where most
of the farm workers lived. Thank you so much. You
just pointed out so many critical topics, and one thing
that strikes me especially is the information that you shared
regarding undocumented families filing income taxes so that they can
receive govern and support for their children. And I'm really
glad that you bring this up and bring it to

(46:03):
our listeners attentions so that they can spread the word
about this. And also it's just so totally amazing to
hear about what you and your foundation are doing to
be a big part of the solution for the severe
lack of protections that farm workers face. Um turning it
over to you, Monica, what are your thoughts on blanca story.

(46:24):
I think for me, one of the things that's so
hard to hear is just the trauma that people have
experienced throughout this and also the sense of isolation. You know,
when you just talking about the social distancing and the
fact that before people could talk to each other, they
could talk about what they were going through or just
about their daily lives, and all of a sudden that
wasn't possible because they had to be distance and then
eventually they had to leave the workforce. And there are

(46:46):
so many things that have been difficult for everyone during
the pandemic, But to think about folks like Blanca who
were working all day and then came home and there
wasn't food for her family, and then feeling completely alone
in this experience, Like I can't imagine how afraid the
families were in those moments. Blanca's decision to call the

(47:09):
local daycare, the local head start to ask for help,
I think that speaks to the importance of those community relationships.
But also it speaks to the fact that I think
Blanca probably wouldn't have called before, right that was like
a last resort, but at that moment, it was what
was required. And and that tells a different story about
our community that people don't often think about. They think

(47:30):
of our community as one that is always asking for help.
It's always trying to get something to get through a
difficult time. And I think blanca story points the fact
that she waited as long as she could because she
was trying to do everything she could in her power
to help provide for her families. And so I feel
like that's an important part of the conversation too, that
our community worked as long and as hard as they

(47:51):
possibly could to keep providing for this country, and they
didn't get the return on their work, and they got
to the point where they didn't have what they needed
and they weren't sure who to ask. And so I'm
hopeful out of this pandemic, one of the things that
we will all understand better is how can we better
support people? And it certainly starts with Congress. Congress needs

(48:13):
to make the changes to finally protect farm workers and
provide the rights that they always should have had, and
certainly state political leaders need to do the same. It
shouldn't be on organizations to fill the gaps where the
government has failed. But I'm hopeful that coming out of
this pandemic there will be constant support and resources so
that families like Blanca's will know that there's always a

(48:33):
net of support available for them. We'll be right back
after this break. Welcome back to Essential Voices, turning it
over to you the notice. You've dedicated your life to
incredible activism and organizing for so many civil rights causes,
which include farm worker and immigrant labor rights. But how
has a pandemic affected your and your foundations organizing and activism.

(48:57):
It's make it a lot more difficult. Starting with the census,
we know the census was going to be very very
important because the census is going to determine how the
different political lines are going to be drawn, mainly for
our congressional seats are assembly seats, so we had to
get out there and try to get as many people
to sign up for the Census. And so again because

(49:19):
of the fear what Donald Trump had been doing attacking immigrants,
especially Latinos, it was very difficult. So what we had
to end up doing is we combined the Sensus scattering
with our food banks. Okay, you want to get a
box of food, you got to sign up for the Census,
how about. So so we were able to get a
lot of people to sign up, and then of course
we had to do a lot of work on the

(49:40):
telephone because we didn't want our people to go outdoor
to door. We did end up having to go outdoor
to door to get people to sign up, but we
made sure that they had shields, they had plastic shields,
and they had masks, and they had gloves, and they
had all of the sanitizing the liquids that they needed.
So we were able to and of course, now the

(50:00):
samoakin Valley, for those of you that don't know, guess
what Latinos are the majority. Okay, before we were the
majority of minority. Well now we're just the majority. Period.
You've seen that in Texas. Now the Latinos are now
close to being the majority in Texas. Also so all
of that work that we had to do through zooms

(50:21):
and internet, mongcolle, going to flea markets, you know, every
place that people were at, churches, etcetera. It paid off
because now hopefully we can get some new districts that
are going to be drawn, we can get more progressives
and more Latinos elected. But the work has not been easy,
but we haven't stopped. Yeah, I mean, not being in

(50:43):
person I'd imagine it really does affect the organizing um,
not being able to be in someone's home and share
space together, getting to know one another in person um.
But despite this, you've continuously been advocating for progress and
fighting for the rights of so many folks. Each person
who has been organizing throughout the pandemic, whether it's on

(51:04):
your level, Dolores and Monica or the farm workers and
Blancas community, faced with drastic challenges during the pandemic. For Blanca,
one of these challenges was finding PPE, and we heard
her say that her employer was able to provide PPE
for a while, but then it became hard for for
the employer to find PPE. At that point, Monica, you

(51:25):
stepped in to provide PPE for Blanca and what were
some of the initiatives that you and Justice for Migrant
Women had been and are still working on to protect
farm workers and immigrants during the pandemic. Yeah. So, fashion
designer Mario Dilatory, he had been making masks for hospitals
in the l A area and his wife comes from

(51:47):
a farm worker family, and so they decided that they
needed to start making mass for farm workers because they
knew that the community needed them. So they actually reached
out to a friend, Antonio ta hitting Alcomispanic Caritage Foundation,
and said, we want to create this Mass for farm
Workers project, And then they approached us and I said,
will you partner with us on this project? So we
started building the Master farm Workers Project with them, and

(52:09):
we contacted the National Center for farm Worker Health the
health clinics to see if they would be a partner
to help with the distribution of the masks. And when
we made that call, we heard from them that the
health centers were actually having issues as well. They were
laying off outreach, that they didn't have the resources they needed,
and so rather than just being a distributor of the

(52:29):
mass that they needed to be beneficiaries as well. And
so that partnership came together and the masks were made
and distributed to farm workers in Ohio where we're based
and in different parts of the country. And then there
was a separate part of the initiative that was focused
on getting PPE masks and other items to the health
clinics in different parts of the country. That project kind

(52:51):
of evolved because our organization, Justice for Migrant Women, we
don't work only with farm workers, We also work with
migrant women workers and other in streets, and we started
hearing from other women that they too didn't have the PPE,
and in some cases they were talking about having to
pay a lot of money for the PPE, and they
did find it like price gouging was happening things of
that nature. And so the decision was made to take

(53:14):
the project that we created around masks for farm workers
and create masks for migrants, and with different partners, set
that project up and we began working with an organization
that was giving jobs to women in What the Maala,
and so the women and What the Mala started to
make the masks, and they were essentially making them for

(53:35):
their own neighbors, right because there are so many people
who are coming from Central America, and the masks started
being distributed along the border for the migrants who were
in the tent cities. You know, so we've seen that
it's many different workers, not just farm workers that need
PP and it couldn't be a one time deal because
you know, the masks, they have to watch them. They
can only watch them so many times before they disintegrate

(53:56):
or you know, they need to replace them, and so
we had to figure out how do we keep a
plenishing them. And it wasn't just our organization that was
doing that work. Many organizations around the country were making masks,
sowing mass creating masks and trying to figure out how
to continually fill that gap. And I think one of
the outcomes was that organically from the various stories that
we're being run on TV and into the newspaper, individuals

(54:20):
across the country started sewing masks, creating masks, sewing groups
and started sending them in or giving them the farm
workers in their local area. You know, there's still need.
We haven't closed the gaps, and now with the Delta variant,
we know that we need to figure out how to
get more resources into the community. But those projects at
least provided somewhat of a blueprint for us to be
able to work with and build off of. Earlier in

(54:42):
the conversation, you brought up hope and hearing you now
talk about how the various stories being run um on
TV and in the newspapers ignited folks all over the
country to start making masks for farm workers and their
local areas. It gives me a lot of hope that
shining a light on on farm workers and sharing farmworkers
stories will continue to inspire communities to band together and

(55:03):
continue to fight for farm workers rights and take an
active part in mutual aid when there's a lack of resources.
There's still a long way to go, but both you
and STA are instrumental in in creating change for farm workers. UM.
To that end, doors An analogy that Wilmer often likes
to make is about Mount Everest, and I'm going to
borrow it from him now. Um, Climbing Mount Everest is

(55:26):
an achievable goal, but it takes incredible resilience to do so.
I'd imagine standing at the foot of Mount Everest, looking
up and subboding to the top looks like the most
daunting goal. Um. So, for you, what is the Mount
Everest equivalent for your advocacy and organizing for farm worker rights. Well,
I think we're looking at it right now. I talked

(55:48):
about the Child Tax Credit, which is amazing because every
single family that has children under the age of sixteen
is getting a check every single month for every child
that they have. This is going to cut the child
poverty in half. And when I say that we're looking
at mob evers right now, it's called the three and

(56:11):
a half trillion dollar bill that President Biden is trying
to pass in the Senate. Okay, And that three and
a half trillion dollar bill, it includes pre college education,
it includes a universal childcare, it includes expanding healthcare. This
is amazing that we are looking at mob ever right now.
That we have a few politicians that are standing in

(56:33):
the late people like Christians sent them up from Arizona,
Joe Mansion, from West Virginia. They're the ones that are
standing in the way. And we've only got a couple
of weeks to be able to move those people. And
some of the congressman. So we've got Congressman in Texas,
Henry Quayat is one of them. He's been in the
Congress a long time. Well, he's coming out against the

(56:54):
three and a half trillion dollar human infrastructure bill. The
President Biden is trying to us and like Bernie Sanders said,
what good does it do you to build a bridge
so that people can sleep under it? Okay? You know, well,
we have so many homeless people, so we can make
it happen right now with the administration that we have

(57:15):
with President Biden, Vice President Camala Harris, our Congress from California.
So we need to make a big push right now.
And I just want to say to everybody you want
to do well, we're a big favorite. Okay, call people
that you know in other states. We're okay with our senators.
Find signing Patti up. But if you have friends over
there where you're at Monica in Ohio, Okay, you have

(57:38):
one good senator Uhat Brown Brown. I don't know about
the other one. But just put the heat on them
right now. Get a lot of emails into them, get
a lot of phone calls into them. And uh, all
of your people that you have, all of them are
on your list, you know, please beg them and tell them. Okay,
we've got to contact your senators right now, your U.

(57:58):
S senators, tell to push for the three and a
half tillion dollar infrastructure bill. Now didn't have tillion dollars
like a lot of money. But this is going over
ten years, okay, So when you talk about it going
over ten years, just got that much money. And the
other way that we don't have to have a Christien
and Manchiner to get rid of the filibuster, okay, And

(58:18):
that could happen as we debated right now as we
speak in the US Senate. The main thing is that
we have to understand that we have the power in
our hands to be will to do something about this.
And it only takes a few minutes to call your
senator and ask them to do the right thing to
pass that three and a half tillion infrastructure bill that
we need. And not ever at any time since the

(58:41):
Depression when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was our president, has been
been so great in our society. You know the fact
that we have so much poverty, but at the same
time we have so many billionaires and millionaires, okay, And
part of the infrastructure package is to make the millionaires
and the billionaires paid their taxes, okay, just the way

(59:03):
that everybody else does. So this is what we have
to do. And we can make it happen. So, yes,
that ideal, that role that we want is within our reach,
but we haven't right now. Right now we have a
window to do so, Monica, do you want to share
anything on that. I totally agree with everything that the
lottest is said, and I think that as we're making
these calls to our senators, we also need to be

(59:25):
asking them to support a citizenship bill for immigrant essential workers,
because it's been too long that our immigration system has
not served our community. It was made broken, it was
made not to function for certain groups of people, and
in order for things to actually be better for immigrants
across our country, we need a bill that would provide
them with citizenship. And if we can do right by

(59:47):
immigrant workers in our country, we can do right by
all workers. Absolutely agreed, Monica, to echo your words for
things to actually be better for immigrants in this country.
Our show aims to highlight that only take sharing one
person story to start changing the cultural narrative. And this
cultural narrative shift plays a part in making things better
in partnership with the necessity of bills to provide these

(01:00:10):
folks with citizenship and dozens and dozens of other rights
and guaranteed protections. With Wilmer working in the entertainment industry,
he gets to see firsthand how the media influences this
cultural narrative shift and how for so many folks that
have been marginalized and minoritized, the narrative is beginning to
slowly change slowly on screen. Um, I'd like to know

(01:00:31):
how you both envision this cultural narrative shift changing in
regards to farm workers and immigrant workers. The Lotus take
it away, Well, we have to understand that racism and
discrimination steps from slavery and the indigenous people where there
were slaves before they brought people in from Africa to
be the slave. So racism is a justification of having

(01:00:53):
people work hard to make other people rich, and this
is the way that you could justify it by and
discriminating against people, and most of them, of course, there's
been people of color. So we have to understand where
the brooks of racism are at and then how this
racism manifests itself. And it does manifest itself in looking
down on people who work with their hands, and of

(01:01:15):
course farm workers are the ones that are out there
doing that work. Is did the indigenous people and the
slaves that were brought in from Africa. So once we
understand that, and not only but it manifests itself in
the way the women are treated. It manifests itself in
the way the children are treated. So we can understand
where the roots of racism started and are perpetuated even

(01:01:36):
to the state. Then we realize why we have to
get rid of it and then not look down on
the people that pick our food, or the people that
clean our buildings, or people that work in restaurants. These
are the people that we have to really uplift, the
people that build our buildings and and these are the
people that keep society clean and safe, and they build

(01:01:57):
our society. So instead of looking down on bag of workers,
we need to respect them and we need to uplift them.
And we can't keep saying all of those in the
corporate world out there, you have got to pay your
for sure of taxes so that everybody can have a
good life, including the people that do the hardest work
of all that put the food on our table. Thank

(01:02:19):
you for sharing your thoughts to lotus Mont. What are
your thoughts about this? Well, I think that when it
comes to the narrative work, especially when it comes to
the Latin X community and the narrative working. We've heard
about the different reports that have come out about the
underrepresentation of the Latino X community and entertainment industry and
the way that the Latino community is being typecast. I

(01:02:40):
think that for the folks who are doing narrative shift work,
we've got to be very careful about how we approach
that conversation because what's happened in that conversation is exactly
what the lottest is talking about in terms of looking
down on certain groups of people. So when you read
the media articles about those reports, or even when you
read the reports, the conversation is about how the only

(01:03:03):
roles that are for the Latino community members are for
low paid workers, and they list the different jobs, and
when that conversation is playing out, the way it's been
playing out is that those are bad jobs, that those
aren't good jobs, so those are not worthy jobs, and
that those are not the jobs that we want to
have or that we want to play. And I think
that is a very dangerous conversation that we have unwittingly

(01:03:28):
taken on, and we need to say those are dignified jobs.
These jobs are absolutely dignified jobs, and we would play
those roles with pride. But our community also occupies other
space too, and we want to be represented in all
the spaces and all the professions. And so I think
that there's a whole body of work that's being developed
around narrative shift. And you know, Wilma, I know you've

(01:03:49):
been part of those conversations too, and I think it's
part of our responsibility to say to people, if you're
going to talk about the roles that we occupy, don't
talk about the roles of low paid workers as if
they are not good, because that is dangerous. And if
we're going to be pushing for the narrative to change,
we have to make sure that we're saying part of
the narrative change is that these are good, dignified jobs

(01:04:11):
that we should all be proud to hold, and we
owe these folks a debt of gratitude, and I think
we've got to start pushing on that side when it
comes to the narrative shift question. Incredibly well said Monica.
Thank you, so, when coming to the end of this
incredibly powerful conversation today, I'd like to take a moment
with you, if I may to ask you um in

(01:04:34):
your illustrious life as an organizer and activist. What are
one or two things that make you most proud that
you've been able to accomplish in the fight for civil rights. Well,
I mentioned some of the things that we were able
to win for farm workers, like an employment insurance, having
toilets in the fields that was a great, big one.

(01:04:54):
Having called drinking. A lot of perform workers they like
to organize that the Emdistry Bill at nineteen maybe so,
but we were able to get the two million farm
workers got their legalization status, and probably three or four
million of residents from the cities were able to get
their legal status in the country. I think the folks
that are listening to this podcast, they probably know somebody

(01:05:15):
in their family that got this. The fact that we
were able to get ballot in the Spanish language in California,
driver's licenses in the Spanish language, passing bills that if
you were a legal resident to the United States that
you can't get public assistance a genev the children, A
to the plyne aid to the disabled. These are all
bills that the Community Service Organization and the United farm

(01:05:37):
Workers that we were able to pass. And then we
were really instrumental in passing this bill. I mentioned a
little while ago that people over fifty years of age,
undocumented people can get healthcare. And so I mean just
passing these progressive laws and knowing that we can do
this and we can take what we have one here
in California that we can take it to the other states.

(01:05:59):
But we just got continue to just ask people to
be involved, be engaged. I know that Wolmer, you do
a lot of work with Voto Latino, you know, and
if we think just get all of our people to
get out there, become citizens, registered to vote, get engaged,
we're going to see our power manifest itself and the

(01:06:19):
people that we elect to congress, to our school boards,
to our state legislative. So we have a lot of
work to do, and so I think the thing I
most proud of it's just that I've been blessed to
be able to do all of this work. And we're
we're blessed to have you in our lives as a
mentored and as an inspiration. And uh, Monica, you carry
the torch for so much as well, and I appreciate

(01:06:41):
you too, And any last messages you'd like to send
anyone that you like to speak to in this moment. Well,
number one, don't forget. We need you to call your
friends in other states Monica, especially there in Ohio and
other places to call their senator so that we can
amend or get rid of the allibuster. Okay, that is

(01:07:02):
the priority right now. Said it is going back to
work there in the Washington and we kept it next
and we're right at the brink there, but we can
pass some of these laws. So this is actually crucial.
And if we want to learn more about our work,
the Lotus Work of Foundation, just go through the Lotus
Work up dot org. Okay, that's our website. The Lords
work the dot org and we welcome you to join

(01:07:24):
our movement. Well, I just want to thank you for
the invitation. This has been a really inspiring conversation, and um,
you know, I just hope that folks who are listening
remember that there are farm workers who are literally sustaining
them every day and in the states where they are,
they should find the organizations that are doing the work
and they should support them. They should support the workers

(01:07:46):
in their states, and the should support the organizations that
are helping the workers in their states. Because there's a
lot of work to be done across the country, and
there are people organizing all over the country around farmerkers rights.
And for our organization, we're based on how what we
do work in other states too, And if folks want
to learn more about us, they can look for us
at Justice the number four women dot r G beautiful

(01:08:10):
And as we close down the loads, can we get
a seesa? We absolutely, Yeah, just just say that everybody
out there, remember that you've got the power, but the
power is in our vote, okay, And all of us
have to become messengers. All of us have to become
organizers and talk to those people that are not getting
engaged and convinced them that we need them. So that happened.

(01:08:41):
Pouchiga Wilmer, how is it that in every episode I'm
rendered nearly speechless by our guests. I know I'm are
than I need to I need to catch my breath
because you grew up here in stories of the Lodes Werta,
and she is just as impressive, if not more so.
When you speak to her. You know the fact that

(01:09:02):
she is still so engaged and so passionate even at
nine makes her the definition of um. Hashtag goals. Isn't
not what the kids saying. Hashtag That's what I heard, Yeah,
hashtag goals. Indeed, and Monica is making a huge difference
for so many with the work that she does. She
absolutely saved lives with those mask initiatives, and her words

(01:09:24):
about shifting the narrative regarding essential workers have stuck with
me ever since we spoke me too. So next week
will continue to try follow Monica's example by speaking with
essential worker Liz Abuna, the owner of forty Acres fresh
Market in Chicago, followed by a round table with actress,
entrepreneur and investor Kisha and Napoleon and Pinky Cole, Atlanta

(01:09:45):
based entrepreneur and the creator of Slutty Vegan. Essential Voices
with Bloomer val Drama is produced by me M. R. Raquel,
Alison Shano, and Kevin Ratkowski, with production support from associate
producer Lillian Holman. Executive producers Wilmer Val Drama, Adam Reynolds,
Leo Clem and Aaron Hilliard. This episode was edited by M. R.

(01:10:07):
Raquel and Sean Tracy and features original music by Will Risotti.
Special thanks to this week's Essential Voice, Blanca Arroyo and
to our thought leaders, Do Lots Puerta and Monique Ramirez.
Special thanks to Sam Galarza who provided the English voiceover
component for Blanca story. Additional thanks to Mave Elder, Melanie Murray,

(01:10:28):
Amaranta Campos and Greg Dasa. This is a CLAIMER and
w V Entertainment production in partnership with I Heart Radios
Michael Dura podcast Network. For more podcasts from my Heart,
visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.