August 16, 2024 • 49 mins
Dramos deep dives into trending stories including Kamala Harris and Latino voters, Trumps plans for immigration and Jenna Ortega on not being "Latino enough".
https://apnews.com/article/trump-mass-deportations-latino-voters-ec64f85e3633c9c7a8a247eaf9feb64f
https://fiercebymitu.com/entertainment/jenna-ortega-on-being-latina/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
I love talking about talk. There we go, I said,
you live in life as a ringo, where you question
where you fit in at the time you mingle, they
say you do this would none of that.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Yes, hello, and welcome to another episode of Life as
a Gringo.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
I am dramas, of course, and it is well, it's.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Not exactly Thursday. I am late on the podcast today.
I had some technical difficulties yesterday and I by the
time I got it figured out, I couldn't record the podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
I had no time, So I apologize getting it in late.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I've been on like a very tight tight schedule these
last few weeks. And yeah, so there's like a little
room for for eric, small margins for for error, if
you will. And unfortunately, because of technical difficulties, I couldn't
get this out on time. So here we are, and
(01:07):
I apologize, but I refused to not let the episode
go up and to not do the episode regardless of setbacks. Accountability, folks, Accountability.
With that said, man, we are going to talk about
Kamala Harris and the Latino vote. We will talk about
Donald Trump and his plans for mass deportations if he
(01:32):
is elected president. We'll also get into one of the
favorite topics, like the basis of this podcast, right, not
feeling Latin enough, And there was an article with Jenna Ortega,
the actress, talking about the idea of.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Not feeling like she was.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Enough, and also on a positive side of things, she's
been taking the power into her own hands to ensure
or to at least try to sure more Latin representation
in places like Hollywood. So just amazing, amazing stuff. So
we'll talk about her and Army Hint this segment and quickly,
is anybody else over like the summer? You're just like
(02:12):
you've had it with the summer. And I know that's like,
you know, check back in with me in like mid
November when I'm just freezing my ass off here on
the East Coast. But I just I don't know, man,
And this summer, I feel like it's so hard to
just like stay on track and keep your shit in order.
(02:32):
And I feel like I say that every time, and
then you know, it's like my excuse for like why
things have gotten away from me.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
But but yeah, the summer is just a lot, man.
There's so much.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
I think, there's so much going on, and it's hard
to be disciplined maybe I'm gonna put it back on
myself here, but yeah, the summer, I'm kind of over it.
I'm ready to kind of for everybody to crawl back
into their cave and I can just go back to
being slightly anti social and and just you know, I
think that's where I'm the most comfortable. But on a
(03:05):
positive side things, I'm actually I'm going to celebrate this
for a second.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Por again, I nobod it's a Thursday trends, but bear
with me here.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
I did like finish the main parts of my book Pitch,
so the book I've been writing. So now I'm in
the process of like the next stage of trying to
get a book agent and working through that type of stuff.
So yeah, I'm just celebrating my little win right here,
because that was like one of the big projects I've
(03:33):
been working on. Like obviously I'm not done as far
as like all that needs to be done for it
to actually get it into hopefully being published, but you know,
I did like the harder grunt work of sitting down
writing pages for it and organizing thoughts and ideas together
and just getting it to a point now where it's
just like okay, sending emails and doing a little bit
(03:53):
of research and things like that. So I'm excited about
that more so because hopefully it just alleviates some of
the like crazy work I've been having to put in,
and like I feel like whenever you have these big projects,
it makes me sort of have to like put things
to the side, Like I haven't been very active on
social media and things like that because I just got
(04:14):
to keep my head down. So I just want to
celebrate that out loud, celebrate myself for a second here. Now,
with that said, let's talk about some of the nonsense
the bs from this last week. In a segment called
for the people in the back say a lot of.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
The people in the say a lot of the people
in the.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
And not for nothing, I'm just gonna prev it's been
like a slow news week, which I think is a
good thing, right. I feel like there hasn't been any
crazy thank God, tragedies or just wild things, you know
at the forefront of like the headlines aside from this
should show that this upcoming election is so yeah, I guess,
you know, no news is good news, I guess to
(05:06):
a degree.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Thoughts and prayers with everybody.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
I'm just going off the coffee of thoughts and prayers
everybody who has family who's in the Caribbean and they've
been dealing with the hurricane.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
And my parents are in Puerto Rico right now.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
And even though the hurricane was only a Category one,
when when it touched down to Puerto Rico, I know
they were expressing was it was still like super scary,
So I know it's I think it's hitting Bermuda and
it's gone up to a category two if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
So definitely, my my thoughts in prayers for anybody.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Who's family is possibly in the midst of dealing with
that hurricane. Now, talking about us and this upcoming election
and Kamala Harris, I'm reading in article I was playing
for a couple of articles NBC News and they talk
(05:57):
about how Harris is making gains in Latin voter support, but.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Many are still in play, they say.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Latino voters and leaders say they are enthusiastic about Kamala
Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee, but for her to
win their crucial support, they want to know where she
stands on issues like the economy, immigration, and education. Vanessa
Cruz Nicols and assistant professor of political science at Indiana University, says,
Harris has considerable potential to appeal to Latino voters, but
(06:26):
it's going to have to win over independence and those
planning not to vote in the November election. Quote, She's
got some work to do reintroduce herself, let people know
where she stands on a.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Variety of issues.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Cruse said she will have to work aggressively to appeal
to voters, especially young Latino voters who are even more nonpartisan,
more willing to either sit out an election or vote
for a third party candidate. What's sticking out to me
as I read this those planning not to vote in
the November election. I want to choose my words carefully
(07:06):
here because I don't want genuinely don't.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Want to judge anybody.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
I really, you know, like as I always try and
when I try and touch, you know, topics that not
to sound redundant, are touchy, or speak on topics that
are are touchy. I want to make sure that like
I'm operating from what is my goal with this conversation,
(07:35):
And my goal with this conversation is too energize or
to remind people of how important and how much of
a privilege it is to be able to vote in
this country, and my goal is for you to actually
understand that and be motivated to go vote right and
(07:56):
me shaming you for not me shaming you for potentially
not voting is not, you know, line with that, But
I think it's really important to really recognize that privilege. Man, Like,
there are so many people who are you know, have
been going for years. I'm sure many of us know
people who have gone through the process for years of
trying to become a citizen and fighting for years and
(08:17):
spending money and doing all these different things just so
they can have that right to vote. And if you
are born with that or you have that privilege and
you're choosing to not do so, it's you know, it's
really a shame, you know. And I'm not saying everybody
has to be, you know, hyper fixated in politics and
(08:40):
all these different things, but it affects your life. I mean,
you know, obviously the president, but locally as well. I
think it's important to you know, especially with the Internet,
you can spend an hour of time just doing some
research on some of the options that are available to
you as far as political candidates and be relatively informed
(09:02):
on who's in line with what you believe and who's
not right, and then show up and listen.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
I get it. I don't want to.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Have to wait in line or or you know, my
time is incredibly precious to me. I understand it. Well,
we're all juggling a lot of different shit, but again,
like this affects our lives, This affects generations to come.
This is a privilege that so many people have fought
and some people have died for for us to be
able to go and cast our vote. I mean, particularly
(09:32):
as people of color. It's like this was a system
that was not design with us in mind.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Right.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
They didn't want us to be able to have the
privilege of voting. So that's why it's even more important
for us to show up. You know, there's really no
excuse to not do so, you know, I think, you know,
one of the greatest I guess things I've saw growing
up where it's not even like a question. My parents
(09:58):
participated in every single election. I can remember them dragging
me as a little kid and us at times having
to wait you know, hours in in the bronx or
whatever it was, or what felt like hours. Probably wasn't
that long to go vote, you know, after after school,
me not wanting to be there at all, and and
them making it a point to do so, you know,
(10:21):
and and to to come out of work, you know,
and and go and stop there, no matter how tired
they were, to to make sure their vote was being cast.
You know, this is pre being able to mail in
your vote, which obviously it makes it even more you know,
makes it even more convenient for us and gives us
a little to no excuse to vote, you know.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
And and I also.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
You know, I think it's important to understand the issues
and and you know, do your research on these candidates,
like they're they're talking about. I like that they're challenging
Kamala to clarify her stance on a lot of issues.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
But my personal take is also there's this isn't a
normal election.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
There's so much on the line here, you know, so
many dangerous what ifs if Donald Trump is elected once again.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
To me, it's.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
It's democracy, you know, versus fuck a potential dictatorship if
he's elected again. You know, we've seen what happens here.
I think it's interesting to me that that's not enough
for people to be motivated and have their voice heard.
And I think what we have to recognize is there's
no perfect candidate, right And I know one of the
(11:42):
bigger issues, particularly with my generation and younger, is the
US support of Israel and in turn the interpreted support
of the atrocities that we've also seen going on with
the people of Palestine. And I guess that I understand
that you are trying to make a point by sort
(12:05):
of holding your vote hostage and just being angered by
what you feel like is you know, conducive or contributing
to a genocide of particular people and a colonize people.
And I understand that resonates to so many people and
Puerto Ricans. I think I've really taken on this cause
(12:27):
a lot I've seen and that's all well and good,
and I salute you for taking a stance and fighting
for what you believe is you know, a human rights issue,
which which obviously is I mean, I've seen some of
the videos and things of that nature from the war
over there.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
But.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
You can't do so at the expense of the place
that you call home. Like I get it, and I
respect the passion for this, But if we don't have
a country ourselves to go back to after this election.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
What good is your protest? Really? I think, you know,
we have to sort of.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
This is and I think this is just like an
analogy for life. I don't even mean to get so
deep into it, but I just think it's interesting.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Right.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
I talk a lot about like nuance, and I think
nuance is something it's so fucking crucial to us to
be able to look at the world. And I don't
say this as like somebody who's holier than thou that
has it all figured out, is the smartest person in
(13:45):
the room. But one thing I will give myself credit
for is I do my best to not look at
things as black and white, and I try to assess
from every angle, like what happens if I make this
decision right?
Speaker 1 (14:00):
What are the.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Consequences that are going to happen? What are the reactions
that are going to happen?
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Right? If I look at a particular situation.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
I try to do my best to Okay, I know
how I emotionally feel about this, but what is also
the real world sort of application of this and again
repercussions or responses to it? And I understand how emotionally
(14:30):
you might feel like the Biden Harris administration has not
done enough to protect the Palestinian people. They've done too
much in aiding the Israeli government by you know, weapons
(14:51):
and things of that nature. And I completely understand the
rationale and the sort of just emotion and anger that
comes along with it from that perspective.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
But again, this isn't a normal election here. The person
running on the Republican ticket is a monster. He's a divisive,
narcissist who will destroy.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Anything and anyone to get what he wants. And we
saw that before he was even president. I mean, fuck,
he bankrupted the city of Atlantic City. Basically, he was
ripping people off of New York with real estate. He's
a shady practitioner and that's how he's operated. He doesn't
give a fuck about these people that he's speaking to
his base.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
They're just the target that was easiest for him to galvanize.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
And if you're a person of color, you've seen the
way he talks about us.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
I mean, what is a black job?
Speaker 2 (16:00):
He like the idea of of Oh, immigrants are taking
black jobs. Let's break that down right. The stereotype of
immigrants is that they are taking the the sort of
you know, the jobs at immigrants work. This is the stereotype.
Are the menial jobs, right that nobody else wants to work.
(16:22):
That is the stereotype of immigrants. They're the farmer, the
farm workers. They are the the the house you know, cleaners.
They are the the people working behind the scenes in
a kitchen somewhere, right, working for for for low income.
So though they're not they're not fresh off you know,
fresh coming into this country and and taking jobs as doctors. Right,
(16:47):
So when he says immigrants are taking black jobs, what
is he saying to black people? Black people, the jobs
that you guys are meant to have are these menial jobs.
That's what he's talking about. That's racist as fuck that
black jobs a are Like, what the fuck does that
(17:08):
even mean? But b if immigrants are taking black jobs,
and the stereotype is that immigrants are working the worst
jobs possible known demand, that means that the jobs that
are designated for black people in this country, in Trump's mind,
are the worst of the worst jobs. Right, He's not
saying black jobs as doctors, lawyers. No, immigrants are taking
(17:28):
black jobs. Again, the stereotype is immigrants are working the
worst of the worst jobs, because again, if there are
illegal immigrants coming over here, they don't have the paperwork
to work the best of the best jobs.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Right. So he's showing you his racism right there. And
then the way he speaks.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
About immigrants, calling us a rapist, you know, and murderers
and violent criminals right and blaming the violence and crime
in this country on illegal immigrants, right, blanket statement right
there that brown people, Latinos who are immigrating to his
country are coming here to enact violence and to commit crimes.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Meanwhile, he's a fucking convicted felon himself. That is what's
on the ticket.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
And then you look into the Project twenty twenty five,
that's just everything right.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
And he's the way he stacked the Supreme Court with
three extreme, extreme conservative judges that are doing his bidding,
that are willing to give him presidential immunity so he
could do whatever the fuck he wants to do if
he is president. The writing is on the wall right there,
write him saying Christians, we need you to come out
(18:35):
and vote, and this will be the last time you
have to do. So what does that mean?
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Sure you can fucking interpret it as anything you want to,
but the fact that it's even open to interpretation of
the fact that we may never have to vote again.
That's enough for me to say, hey, this person is
a danger to our country as a whole. And I
understand if the current administration, which Kamala Harris is a
part of, is not doing all that you feel like
they should be doing as far as the comf in
(19:00):
Israel and Palace line, I understand you being angry about that.
But unfortunately, the reality is, and this is where nuance
comes into play, being able to look at it from
all angles, the reality is, this is not a normal election.
The other candidate does not want democracy as we know it.
So you can not vote in protest. You can vote
(19:23):
for Trump in protests. You can vote for an independent
candidate in protest. But guess what, at the end of
the day, that is only going to potentially make your
quality of life even worse. And that means the country
as a whole even worse, and that means the world
as a whole even worse. If you're not happy about
how the US is handling that conflict, again, I understand it.
(19:45):
But what happens when we become a country who is
completely in decline under the ruling of a racist, want
to be dictator who is again stops at nothing for
his own self, fe feeling prophecies. That's what's on the ticket.
That's what you have to begin to realize. I'm not
saying you have to be fucking happy about it.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
I get it.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
But again that's where nuance comes into play. And sometimes
the decisions that we have to make are not always
the ideal ones, but they're the ones again that have
to be made. You have to pick, and it's again
it's not always going to be picking from the best
of the best. It's not always going I'm not saying
not denigrating Kamalo's qualifications.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
I think she's very qualified.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
But again, from the angle of you feel like this
administration has not done enough in X, Y and Z.
On the other side of things, unfortunately, is literally a
fucking crazy person. And that's that's the real decision that
has to be made here and how you have to
be looking at things. And again, it's not fun, it's
(20:48):
not ideal, but this is a multi layered situation we
find ourselves in and you can't just be so laissez
fair about it.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
And that's my take on all of that. Now I
got off tangent here.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
I'm going to quickly discuss, you know, the idea of
Latin voters, right and in this article getting back to it.
They say, the nation's largest minority group, which is Latinos
nineteen point five percent of the total population according to
the twenty twenty census, Latinos form a key voting block
in what's shaping up to be a tight presidential election. Harris,
(21:23):
the daughter of immigrants, has won the backing of influential
Latino groups, and some feel her success hinges on emerging
young Latino voters. Maria Theresa, the president of Voting Latino,
says harris jumping into the race has sparked a quote
coalescing of the community in focus groups that the organization
started after President Joe Biden announced he would drop out
(21:43):
of the race.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
More than half of young Latinos who initially said they
were voting for a third party said they were shifting
to vote for the Democratic Party. This is according to Mariam,
and she.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Says, quote, there's no path to the White House without
specifically the young Latino vote. Our path to a different
direction of this country is through young people. Now more
than sixty and ten Latino voters supported Biden twenty twenty,
according to AAP vote cast, and thirty five percent supported
former President Donald Trump. Whoever, a July poll from the
(22:15):
Associated Press RC Center for Public Affairs Research found that
only about four and ten Latinos said they were somewhat
or very optimistic about the future of the Democratic Party,
and about one quarter of them said the same about
the Republican partyment. According to the same survey, Hispanic adults
are divided in their opinions on Harris, with forty four
percent holding a favorable view and forty three percent holding
(22:38):
an unfavorable view, but about half of Hispanic adults said
they would be satisfied with Harris as the Democratic nominee,
up from fifteen percent earlier in July. Who oh my god,
a breath. I'm daring through that because I feel like
I too much time on that tangent. But listen, it's
(23:01):
not This isn't an ideal situation.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
I get it.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
But truthfully, though I am excited about Harris, I fuck
with her, I really do.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
And also like.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Certain you know, topics that are important to me, abortion
and and all the women's rights to choose and all
these things, like she's in support of that, right, this
this sort of backwards thinking that Donald Trump has has
tried to instill, where he's taking us back into this
hateful place, Like you have to realize that's what's on
the ticket. You know, the polarization that that led to
(23:32):
women's right to choose being taken away, book burning, you know,
fucking the biography of bartal Clemente being taken out of
you know, schools in Florida, and things.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Of that nature.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Like all of this is is under the polarization that
was created by Donald Trump that then fueled the worst
people in this country to feel empowered to bring their
white supremacist ideals to life. That that's really what we're
working with and another four years of him would only
(24:03):
empower and make them that much stronger and that much
bolder in their hate. And that's what we have to
understand is on the ticket right now. And again I'm
not saying it's perfect. I'm not saying you have to
you know, smile and skip, you know your way.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Through the you know the polls. But that's just where
we are unfortunately.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
So yeah, get out there and vote, and I'm actually
gonna touch on something Donald Trump has said recently about
putting mass deportations kind of as like this focal point
in his campaign.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
But we'll first take a quick break and then we'll
be right back.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
All right, We are back, and I'm pulling from a
couple of different articles here from usnews dot Com as
well AP News, and they talk about how Trump has
with his messaging sort of put mass deportations at the
forefront of his campaign. You had signs at the Republican
(25:01):
National Convention that said, quote mass deportation now, and Donald
Trump pledged to expel millions of migrants in the largest
deportation program in American history.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Now.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Trump, when he was pressed for specifics on his plan
in an interview with Time magazine this year, he suggested
he would use the National Guard and possibly given the military,
to target between fifteen million and twenty people, even though
because obviously Donald Trump loves to exaggerate numbers, even though
the government estimated in twenty twenty two there were about
eleven million migrants living in the.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
US without permanent legal permission.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
Now Trump has pledged to quote immediately stop the invasion
of our southern border and end illegal immigration.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
As part of the plan.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
He says he would immediately direct US Immigration and Customs
Enforcement to undertake the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.
He would target people who are legally living in the
United States but harbor quote Jie hottest sympathies, and revoke
the student visa of those who espouse anti American and
anti Semitic.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Views in a bid to security.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
By the way, anti American views what a loose fucking
form of terminology. And this is where you have to
begin to like read between the lines, because this is
what the.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Right loves to do.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
You have a criticism of the US government, you are
automatically anti American, even though it's baked in our constitution.
Like the founding fathers wanted you to be able to
critique your government. That's what separated us from a dictatorship, right.
But in today's day and age, you have a critique
of the American government, you are anti American. And by
the way, that's what makes things like they're so scary,
(26:48):
because that is a very broad terminology. They're going to
call you anti American. You because you post a critique of,
you know, the US government, and now you're all of
a sudden you're labeled as having quote jihadist sympathies.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Again, this is a shit that's on the ticket right now.
This is what we're voting for now.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
In a bid to secure the US Mexico border, Trump
says he will move thousands of troops currently stationed overseas
and shift federal agents, including those at the Drug Enforcement
Administration and FBI, to immigration enforcement.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
He also wants to build more of the border wall.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
Trump wants to reimpose his travel band that originally targeted
seven Muslim majority countries and expanded to quote keep radical
Islamic terrorists out of the country end quote in the
wake of the Hamasa attack on Israel. He's pledged to
put in place quote ideological screening for immigrants his aim
bar quote dangerous lunatics, haters, biggests, and maniacs, as well
(27:43):
as those who empathize with radical Islamic terrorists and extremists.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
Again, all of this stuff is open to interpretation.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
I mean, we've seen this in this country where everybody
was being accused of being a communist at one point,
right when there was the Cold War, and you know,
people were, you know, wrongfully. This is like the Salem
witch trials all over again, burning people at the stake
because they're being accused of witchcraft right now, moving on,
he said to deter migrants, he has said he would
(28:16):
end birthright citizenship using an executive order that would introduce
a legally untested interpretation of the fourteenth Amendment. The order
would prevent federal agencies from granting automatics and automatic citizenship
to the children of people who are in the use illegally.
It will require that at least one parent be a
US citizen or lawful permanent resident for their children to
(28:36):
be eligible for passports, social Security numbers, and other benefits.
I mean, a lot of the audience that listens to
this podcast, many of us are products of immigrants, right again.
This is somebody who is targeting the places that we
(28:57):
come from, the people that we love, and to me,
it's like, well, how do you I'm going to rephrase
my statements.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
I don't want to be judging.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
I'd be curious to see you hear a lot of
the rhetoric coming from him. As Latinos, how are you
able to support this person and make excuses for it?
You know, it's just, yeah, we are are targeted by
this person's hate. And again it bleeds itself into the street.
(29:28):
I mean, it bleeds itself into people proposing bills where
you can you know, shoot to kill migrants to step
on your property, you know, in crossing the border.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
And then it leads people to.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
Talking about how they can't wait to move to that
state so they can kill my like it dehumanizes people,
you know, and again like, yeah, the immigration is nuanced,
right and obviously the system in place as it stands
right now is is not ideal and not effective. But
(30:07):
you don't have to spew hate and blame all of
your problems on a specific group of people that that
is just causing chaos and again causing more hatred towards
people that look like you and I. And again this
is these are things that are on the ticket. It's
it's somebody using hate and fear as a means to
(30:28):
gain the support of of of people and those who
already have that deep rooted hate of people of color,
they're they're feeling empowered and boldened to you know, showcase
it and speak about it and live a life of
shit just racism, you know. So yeah, that's it, That's
(30:53):
that's what's going on. On the positive side of things.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
Let's let's get into general or take up her conversation
around not being enough, but also what she's doing in Hollywood,
which is amazing.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
What does that far me hit that segment. But first
we'll take a quick break and then we'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
All right.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
So Jenna Ortega actress. She's the star of the Netflix
show Wednesday.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
She is also in the I.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Think the last two screen movies. I want to say
she's a big star.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Obviously. She's also in the remike of Beeldice that's coming out.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
And she had a article in a Variety talking about
something that obviously is passion, you know, a passion of
mine to speak about. It is the premise of this podcast,
but the idea of not being Latin enough. Right in
the article, she says, oftentimes you're just not good enough
because I wasn't born in a Spanish speaking country. I
(32:00):
know people have a hard time connecting with me, she
said in the article. I'm reading a breakdown of it
from r metwo dot com where they say Ortega herself
has a hard time dealing with her lack of knowledge
in her mother's first language, saying, quote, I'm so jealous.
Every time I hear my mom speak perfect Spanish, she said, Yep.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
Relatable, relatable. I obviously my dad just fucking let that
shit fly. My mom too. But my dad it's his
first language, and my mom.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Is actually very good at I have to give her credit,
and she's self taught. But but my dad, you know,
when we be in Puerto Rico, I hear him speaking
to people back home, family, whatever it might be, and
he's just like in his element doing it. I'm like, man,
I wish I wish it flowed that naturally for me.
Mew mom like stuttering my way through through practical sentences.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
But hey, I'm getting better. I gotta get myself credit now.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
According to the Pew Research Center, while most US Latinos
speak Spanish, not all do. Twenty four percent of all
Latino adults say they can only carry a conversation on
in Spanish.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
A little or not at all.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
On the other hand, among third or higher generation Latinos,
sixty five percent say they cannot carry on a conversation
in Spanish. Furthermore, about half of US Latinos who don't
speak Spanish have been shamed because of it, according to
the Pew Research center. Around fifty four percent of Latinos
(33:27):
who say they speak no more than a little Spanish
say another Latino has made them.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Feel bad about it. Yep.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
Now General Ortega can count herself among the latter quote.
I think there's a part of me that carries a
bit of shame. For a second, I was almost nervous
to speak about my family's background because I feel like
I was made to feel like it wasn't valid, and
I think it's just super interesting.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
You know, there's a there's a lot of like anxiety
that comes along with them.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
For me personally, my experiences, there was always a lot
of anxiety that would come along when I would find
myself sort of having to be two things.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
There's anxiety came along when I found myself having.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
To be the sole representation for like Latinos, when if
I was the only one in the room. This happened
a lot in the breakfast club, which obviously it's a
big platform. Oftentimes you're live on a microphone with millions
of people listening. That's going to be anxiety inducing in general.
But it definitely was something I was like almost felt
(34:37):
like a phony, you know, like like I wasn't qualified
to be the Latin representation. And then on the flip
side of it, at times when I find myself amongst
other Latinos and we're kind of having these conversations, like
you know, mixed group of people or whatever, I almost
feel like I have to prove myself as being being
(35:00):
like knowledgeable, you know, and and like trying to impress
them almost right, And yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
It's exhausting.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
Obviously an exhausting experience because you sort of get out
of your own body and you're in your in your
head and it's like you're trying to be perfect and
figure out the perfect thing to say to you know,
get the co sign and the validation and and and
all these different things, and like that's just an exhausting
(35:29):
way to live. And you know, and as it's as
somebody who tries to preach authenticity and living authentically, yeah,
I almost at times feel like a hypocrite when I
find myself falling into that. Now it happens less and
less because I've found sort of comfort and I've I've
adapted an identity that is uh personal and authentic to me.
Speaker 1 (35:55):
You know, And in those moments where.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
Other Latinos might try to shame me, it doesn't sting
as much. Uh, you know, I can I you know,
feel comfortable sort of standing up for myself or laughing,
laughing it off genuinely, where in the past I might
have been like trying to defend myself but almost like uh,
in a way of seeking their validation, you know, whereas
(36:26):
now I'm like, I'm all right with you, you know,
calling me, you know, fake Latino or making fun of
me because I can't speak it, you know, fluently, or
I might not be like an amazing salsa dancer or
something like that. So like I'm I'm okay with that,
You're not Like it doesn't it doesn't cut to the core.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
Like it used to, I guess, is what I'm trying
to say.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
But but it's uh, yeah, man, I think and that
that's a part of all of our our journey.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
I think. I think what I've sort of.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
Come to terms with or how I compartmentalize it in
my head is yeah, I'm never going to be the
person who is just like the stereotypical Latino. And I
don't mean that a bad way, but like who's you know,
rattling off Spanish without thinking about it and you know,
(37:26):
has like all of these deep cultural memories and it
is just like this fucking encyclopedia for like unspoken Latin
cultural you know, fucking moments or whatever it might be,
right like I might have to you know, I'm I'm
gonna be the person that you know, second guess is
(37:47):
Spanish and is constantly learning more about his culture and
constantly has to ask questions and is going to have
to have refreshers of certain cultural things, be it food,
be it whatever. And I think I've gotten to a
place of like I'm okay with being that person, and
(38:09):
I don't feel less than being that person, and I
know that I have a place in this community as
that person. And that's the way that I compartmentalize it
now where I think before I did everything I could
to try and fit and check every box of what
it meant to be Latin enough, you know, and come
across as as that, and now I'm sort of just
(38:34):
okay with with at times fumbling my way through it
because that's my authentic story. And as we you know,
read in articles like this one where they break down
some of the statistics.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
That's a lot of our people's stories.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
And I don't it doesn't make a I think to
me that is a part of Latin culture at least
you know American Latinos you know, or or I'm sure
you know, I know people who listen to this or
in Europe things like that.
Speaker 1 (39:00):
Insert whatever makes sense for you. But those are us
who didn't necessarily grow up.
Speaker 2 (39:06):
In our motherland where our parents or grandparents are from.
You know, we are going to sort of have this otherness.
But again, to me, that's a part of what it
means to be Latino. There's a sector of our community,
a large portion of it, that does exist in that otherness,
and it's authentically us, and it's authentically Latino because you know,
(39:28):
that's who we are.
Speaker 1 (39:30):
And I think that's where I am mentally.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
I think that's where it seems like somebody like Jenna
Ortega is getting to as well, where you no longer
sort of have the shame about it, and you no
longer fear speaking about it because you feel like peoplere
gonna call you out, but instead you embrace who you
are and you do your part unapologetically. And that's what
she's doing now with some of these projects which I
(39:53):
wanted to salute her for and in the article. They say,
after fighting for the opportunity to work alongside producers during
the first season of when Jenna Ortaga finally wears the
hat during the second season, At first, it was a
matter of creative concerns. Quote, I think it's naturally to
be fearful of signing your life away and wanting some
sort of agency, or wanting confirmation that your voice would
be heard. She said, I'm aware of my position as
(40:14):
an actor, but I know that I'm not in charge.
But I think someone like Wednesday, who is in every scene,
it only makes sense for that person to be that
involved in what's going on behind the scenes because she's
on screen every second of the project. And they say,
now with a second wave of fame and visibility, she's
(40:37):
executive producing three films.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
Woof Good for her Man Beetlejuice will hit theaters this fall,
which I guess she was ep on the long awaited
season of Wednesday on the Horizon for twenty twenty five.
Jenna Ortaga knows there's a lot more to do.
Speaker 2 (40:51):
She says, quote, I would love to be able to
craft stories that show how powerful Latinos can be.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
And this is the goal right here, right Well, first,
and foremost. In the article, they say that Wednesday is
recognized probably as the most stream show in Netflix history,
so bigger than like Stranger Things, And I think I
can't remember the other one that was that was big,
not Hunger Games, it Squid Games. So that's a beautiful,
(41:22):
beautiful thing.
Speaker 2 (41:23):
And again, I think this is what happens when you
begin to I don't want to say accept who you are.
I think love who you are, right, And when you
say I'm not going to allow other people to define me,
and I know that I'm a member of this community
and I have a place here and I'm gonna do
(41:43):
what I can to help my community, right, And I
think this is you know, obviously she's doing a much
larger level, but this is what I arrived to when
it came to life as a Dingo right where it
was like, I love my community, I want to do
so much for it, but I'm not doing it at
(42:05):
a fear of being called out for not being Latino enough,
for not being a real Latino.
Speaker 1 (42:12):
And you sort of.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
Get to a place and even like zooming out, it's like,
how ridiculous is that. By the way, I have a
potential opportunity to help a community to do my part
to bring awareness and speak to my community, but I'm.
Speaker 1 (42:31):
Not going to do so because of the backlash I'm
getting from my community. From that same community like that,
it's ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (42:43):
And I'm not critiquing her or anybody because I went
through that as well, But in retrospect, it's so ridiculous
that I'm going to allow the bullshit of other people
and their old world ideas to stop me from helping people.
And that's what you have to get to a point
to it being like, listen, I know I'm going to
(43:04):
get people hating on me. I know I'm going to
get people telling me it's not my place, but fuck them, Like,
those people.
Speaker 1 (43:13):
Are part of the problem. They're why we are being
held back, why we're more isn't being done within our
community because they're the gatekeepers, right. I feel I get
this critique on TikTok and when I post views by
Puerto Rico, people all shut up. You live in the States.
You can't talk about it. Bro. I'm trying to help.
Speaker 2 (43:28):
I'm trying to bring awareness to what's going on the island,
and you are more concerned with where I grew up
rather than like the positive work that I'm trying to
do here, you're a part of the problem. You're literally
trying to silence people who are trying to help, who
are doing the work. And that's what would happen with
somebody like General Ortega if she didn't, if she gave
(43:50):
into that pressure of not being enough, there wouldn't be
a Latina executive producing three movies that are supposed to
hit theaters. There wouldn't be a Latino who's probably going
to end up putting Latinos in jobs that they wouldn't
have otherwise been in, or bringing Latino stories to the
(44:12):
screen authentically, and that's important work. But again, it may
have never happened if she came to the criticism that
comes from, you know, just not being born in the
place that your parents were, or your Spanish or whatever
it is. And it's like, Bro, she's about to do work,
or is doing work that is going to help so
many people in our community beyond what any of us
(44:34):
are even capable of comprehending, because you don't know what
who's watching these things and becoming inspired and goes on
to create something like and to think that.
Speaker 1 (44:42):
We wouldn't have that.
Speaker 2 (44:46):
Solely because some haters wanted to try to tell this
girl who she was, or tell any of us who
we are. It's just that's crazy and ridiculous to me.
So salute to her for doing the work. Now, with
that said, let's tie up thing we talked about today
in a neat little boat in a segment we call conclusion.
Speaker 1 (45:00):
Still time for comp.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
All right, So, I know I started saying it was
like a slow news week, and I just went off
on a tangent about a bunch of things. But yeah,
Latino votes and Harris and Trump and all that.
Speaker 1 (45:19):
I mean again, Nuance ain't nothing to be perfect.
Speaker 2 (45:27):
It's never the perfect candidate is never, unfortunately an ideal
situation when most things in life you got to kind
of roll what you have. And again, what's what's happening
here on the ticket? And again it sounds like I
want to make it a point. I'm not speaking like
Harris isn't qualified. I think she's amazing. But for those
(45:48):
on the fence and have issues, I get it. But
like Nuance, again, what is the alternative you not participating
what happens? Potentially it makes your life and the life
of millions and millions of other people that much worse
and potentially generations to come, and that's what we have
to be thinking about.
Speaker 1 (46:06):
So show up to vote. I mean that's really my
greatest statement.
Speaker 2 (46:10):
And yeah, this whole thing with not being Latin enough
and this conversation like stop can we stop twenty twenty four?
Speaker 1 (46:17):
Stop stop with the nonsense? I'd like again it like
it blows my mind to think.
Speaker 2 (46:28):
People might not do the great work that they're doing,
like general take up putting is going to be eping
stuff again potentially wanted to put people in power from
our community to think that a bunch of gatekeepers are
more concerned with as nine rules as what makes you
(46:49):
quote unquote Latin enough or enough. They're more concerned with
that than actual real life issues or places that we
could be improved upon. That Like, that's the that literally
will never blow my mind and not stop what won't
it will never stop.
Speaker 1 (47:09):
Blowing my mind.
Speaker 2 (47:13):
Gatekeepers are concerned with like just so much bullshit and
as a result, hold back progression.
Speaker 1 (47:21):
That's that's literally the world we live in.
Speaker 2 (47:22):
And it's not just obviously in like the Latin community
or this topic at hand, Like let that be a
lesson for anything that you want to do that seems
different or seems crazy to people, Like if it were
up to the gatekeepers, we'd have the same shit over
and over and over and over again, rinse, repeat, rents repeat.
That's not how progress happens. These people are obsessed with
(47:43):
familiarity and comfortability, and that's just not how greatness happens.
That's not how change occurs these people. It's like you
cut your nose off to spite your face type of shit. Right,
y'all are worried about who's a real.
Speaker 1 (47:56):
Puerto Rican Meanwhile.
Speaker 2 (47:58):
You're bashing those who might actually have plans to help
your life be exponentially better, you know. That selfish me
talking about reactions that I get like that's crazy, you know,
and again like there's enough of.
Speaker 1 (48:11):
Us who feel this way that this is a real thing.
We are real members of the community.
Speaker 2 (48:18):
We have a place to participate, Like the gatekeeping shit
is so stupid to me. And salute to everybody doing
the work to kind of break free of those chains,
because that's they are the chains that hold us back
from our greatness and hold us back from progressing as
a community, as a culture.
Speaker 1 (48:31):
So that's that. With that said, thank y'all so much
for tuning in. Thank you for your patience.
Speaker 2 (48:37):
I know I got this out a little later than usual,
but I appreciate y'all and I will catch you on
Tuesday with a brand new episode.
Speaker 1 (48:45):
So then stay safe, we'll talk soon. Life as a
Good in Goo is a production of the micro Thura
podcast Network and iHeartRadio
I love talking about talk. There we go, I said,
you live in life as a ringo, where you question
where you fit in at the time you mingle, they
say you do this would none of that.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Yes, hello, and welcome to another episode of Life as
a Gringo.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
I am dramas, of course, and it is well, it's.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Not exactly Thursday. I am late on the podcast today.
I had some technical difficulties yesterday and I by the
time I got it figured out, I couldn't record the podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
I had no time, So I apologize getting it in late.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I've been on like a very tight tight schedule these
last few weeks. And yeah, so there's like a little
room for for eric, small margins for for error, if
you will. And unfortunately, because of technical difficulties, I couldn't
get this out on time. So here we are, and
(01:07):
I apologize, but I refused to not let the episode
go up and to not do the episode regardless of setbacks. Accountability, folks, Accountability.
With that said, man, we are going to talk about
Kamala Harris and the Latino vote. We will talk about
Donald Trump and his plans for mass deportations if he
(01:32):
is elected president. We'll also get into one of the
favorite topics, like the basis of this podcast, right, not
feeling Latin enough, And there was an article with Jenna Ortega,
the actress, talking about the idea of.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Not feeling like she was.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Enough, and also on a positive side of things, she's
been taking the power into her own hands to ensure
or to at least try to sure more Latin representation
in places like Hollywood. So just amazing, amazing stuff. So
we'll talk about her and Army Hint this segment and quickly,
is anybody else over like the summer? You're just like
(02:12):
you've had it with the summer. And I know that's like,
you know, check back in with me in like mid
November when I'm just freezing my ass off here on
the East Coast. But I just I don't know, man,
And this summer, I feel like it's so hard to
just like stay on track and keep your shit in order.
(02:32):
And I feel like I say that every time, and
then you know, it's like my excuse for like why
things have gotten away from me.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
But but yeah, the summer is just a lot, man.
There's so much.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
I think, there's so much going on, and it's hard
to be disciplined maybe I'm gonna put it back on
myself here, but yeah, the summer, I'm kind of over it.
I'm ready to kind of for everybody to crawl back
into their cave and I can just go back to
being slightly anti social and and just you know, I
think that's where I'm the most comfortable. But on a
(03:05):
positive side things, I'm actually I'm going to celebrate this
for a second.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Por again, I nobod it's a Thursday trends, but bear
with me here.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
I did like finish the main parts of my book Pitch,
so the book I've been writing. So now I'm in
the process of like the next stage of trying to
get a book agent and working through that type of stuff.
So yeah, I'm just celebrating my little win right here,
because that was like one of the big projects I've
(03:33):
been working on. Like obviously I'm not done as far
as like all that needs to be done for it
to actually get it into hopefully being published, but you know,
I did like the harder grunt work of sitting down
writing pages for it and organizing thoughts and ideas together
and just getting it to a point now where it's
just like okay, sending emails and doing a little bit
(03:53):
of research and things like that. So I'm excited about
that more so because hopefully it just alleviates some of
the like crazy work I've been having to put in,
and like I feel like whenever you have these big projects,
it makes me sort of have to like put things
to the side, Like I haven't been very active on
social media and things like that because I just got
(04:14):
to keep my head down. So I just want to
celebrate that out loud, celebrate myself for a second here. Now,
with that said, let's talk about some of the nonsense
the bs from this last week. In a segment called
for the people in the back say a lot of.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
The people in the say a lot of the people
in the.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
And not for nothing, I'm just gonna prev it's been
like a slow news week, which I think is a
good thing, right. I feel like there hasn't been any
crazy thank God, tragedies or just wild things, you know
at the forefront of like the headlines aside from this
should show that this upcoming election is so yeah, I guess,
you know, no news is good news, I guess to
(05:06):
a degree.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Thoughts and prayers with everybody.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
I'm just going off the coffee of thoughts and prayers
everybody who has family who's in the Caribbean and they've
been dealing with the hurricane.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
And my parents are in Puerto Rico right now.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
And even though the hurricane was only a Category one,
when when it touched down to Puerto Rico, I know
they were expressing was it was still like super scary,
So I know it's I think it's hitting Bermuda and
it's gone up to a category two if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
So definitely, my my thoughts in prayers for anybody.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Who's family is possibly in the midst of dealing with
that hurricane. Now, talking about us and this upcoming election
and Kamala Harris, I'm reading in article I was playing
for a couple of articles NBC News and they talk
(05:57):
about how Harris is making gains in Latin voter support, but.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Many are still in play, they say.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Latino voters and leaders say they are enthusiastic about Kamala
Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee, but for her to
win their crucial support, they want to know where she
stands on issues like the economy, immigration, and education. Vanessa
Cruz Nicols and assistant professor of political science at Indiana University, says,
Harris has considerable potential to appeal to Latino voters, but
(06:26):
it's going to have to win over independence and those
planning not to vote in the November election. Quote, She's
got some work to do reintroduce herself, let people know
where she stands on a.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Variety of issues.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Cruse said she will have to work aggressively to appeal
to voters, especially young Latino voters who are even more nonpartisan,
more willing to either sit out an election or vote
for a third party candidate. What's sticking out to me
as I read this those planning not to vote in
the November election. I want to choose my words carefully
(07:06):
here because I don't want genuinely don't.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Want to judge anybody.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
I really, you know, like as I always try and
when I try and touch, you know, topics that not
to sound redundant, are touchy, or speak on topics that
are are touchy. I want to make sure that like
I'm operating from what is my goal with this conversation,
(07:35):
And my goal with this conversation is too energize or
to remind people of how important and how much of
a privilege it is to be able to vote in
this country, and my goal is for you to actually
understand that and be motivated to go vote right and
(07:56):
me shaming you for not me shaming you for potentially
not voting is not, you know, line with that, But
I think it's really important to really recognize that privilege. Man, Like,
there are so many people who are you know, have
been going for years. I'm sure many of us know
people who have gone through the process for years of
trying to become a citizen and fighting for years and
(08:17):
spending money and doing all these different things just so
they can have that right to vote. And if you
are born with that or you have that privilege and
you're choosing to not do so, it's you know, it's
really a shame, you know. And I'm not saying everybody
has to be, you know, hyper fixated in politics and
(08:40):
all these different things, but it affects your life. I mean,
you know, obviously the president, but locally as well. I
think it's important to you know, especially with the Internet,
you can spend an hour of time just doing some
research on some of the options that are available to
you as far as political candidates and be relatively informed
(09:02):
on who's in line with what you believe and who's
not right, and then show up and listen.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
I get it. I don't want to.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Have to wait in line or or you know, my
time is incredibly precious to me. I understand it. Well,
we're all juggling a lot of different shit, but again,
like this affects our lives, This affects generations to come.
This is a privilege that so many people have fought
and some people have died for for us to be
able to go and cast our vote. I mean, particularly
(09:32):
as people of color. It's like this was a system
that was not design with us in mind.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Right.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
They didn't want us to be able to have the
privilege of voting. So that's why it's even more important
for us to show up. You know, there's really no
excuse to not do so, you know, I think, you know,
one of the greatest I guess things I've saw growing
up where it's not even like a question. My parents
(09:58):
participated in every single election. I can remember them dragging
me as a little kid and us at times having
to wait you know, hours in in the bronx or
whatever it was, or what felt like hours. Probably wasn't
that long to go vote, you know, after after school,
me not wanting to be there at all, and and
them making it a point to do so, you know,
(10:21):
and and to to come out of work, you know,
and and go and stop there, no matter how tired
they were, to to make sure their vote was being cast.
You know, this is pre being able to mail in
your vote, which obviously it makes it even more you know,
makes it even more convenient for us and gives us
a little to no excuse to vote, you know.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
And and I also.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
You know, I think it's important to understand the issues
and and you know, do your research on these candidates,
like they're they're talking about. I like that they're challenging
Kamala to clarify her stance on a lot of issues.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
But my personal take is also there's this isn't a
normal election.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
There's so much on the line here, you know, so
many dangerous what ifs if Donald Trump is elected once again.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
To me, it's.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
It's democracy, you know, versus fuck a potential dictatorship if
he's elected again. You know, we've seen what happens here.
I think it's interesting to me that that's not enough
for people to be motivated and have their voice heard.
And I think what we have to recognize is there's
no perfect candidate, right And I know one of the
(11:42):
bigger issues, particularly with my generation and younger, is the
US support of Israel and in turn the interpreted support
of the atrocities that we've also seen going on with
the people of Palestine. And I guess that I understand
that you are trying to make a point by sort
(12:05):
of holding your vote hostage and just being angered by
what you feel like is you know, conducive or contributing
to a genocide of particular people and a colonize people.
And I understand that resonates to so many people and
Puerto Ricans. I think I've really taken on this cause
(12:27):
a lot I've seen and that's all well and good,
and I salute you for taking a stance and fighting
for what you believe is you know, a human rights issue,
which which obviously is I mean, I've seen some of
the videos and things of that nature from the war
over there.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
But.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
You can't do so at the expense of the place
that you call home. Like I get it, and I
respect the passion for this, But if we don't have
a country ourselves to go back to after this election.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
What good is your protest? Really? I think, you know,
we have to sort of.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
This is and I think this is just like an
analogy for life. I don't even mean to get so
deep into it, but I just think it's interesting.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Right.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
I talk a lot about like nuance, and I think
nuance is something it's so fucking crucial to us to
be able to look at the world. And I don't
say this as like somebody who's holier than thou that
has it all figured out, is the smartest person in
(13:45):
the room. But one thing I will give myself credit
for is I do my best to not look at
things as black and white, and I try to assess
from every angle, like what happens if I make this
decision right?
Speaker 1 (14:00):
What are the.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Consequences that are going to happen? What are the reactions
that are going to happen?
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Right? If I look at a particular situation.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
I try to do my best to Okay, I know
how I emotionally feel about this, but what is also
the real world sort of application of this and again
repercussions or responses to it? And I understand how emotionally
(14:30):
you might feel like the Biden Harris administration has not
done enough to protect the Palestinian people. They've done too
much in aiding the Israeli government by you know, weapons
(14:51):
and things of that nature. And I completely understand the
rationale and the sort of just emotion and anger that
comes along with it from that perspective.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
But again, this isn't a normal election here. The person
running on the Republican ticket is a monster. He's a divisive,
narcissist who will destroy.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Anything and anyone to get what he wants. And we
saw that before he was even president. I mean, fuck,
he bankrupted the city of Atlantic City. Basically, he was
ripping people off of New York with real estate. He's
a shady practitioner and that's how he's operated. He doesn't
give a fuck about these people that he's speaking to
his base.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
They're just the target that was easiest for him to galvanize.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
And if you're a person of color, you've seen the
way he talks about us.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
I mean, what is a black job?
Speaker 2 (16:00):
He like the idea of of Oh, immigrants are taking
black jobs. Let's break that down right. The stereotype of
immigrants is that they are taking the the sort of
you know, the jobs at immigrants work. This is the stereotype.
Are the menial jobs, right that nobody else wants to work.
(16:22):
That is the stereotype of immigrants. They're the farmer, the
farm workers. They are the the the house you know, cleaners.
They are the the people working behind the scenes in
a kitchen somewhere, right, working for for for low income.
So though they're not they're not fresh off you know,
fresh coming into this country and and taking jobs as doctors. Right,
(16:47):
So when he says immigrants are taking black jobs, what
is he saying to black people? Black people, the jobs
that you guys are meant to have are these menial jobs.
That's what he's talking about. That's racist as fuck that
black jobs a are Like, what the fuck does that
(17:08):
even mean? But b if immigrants are taking black jobs,
and the stereotype is that immigrants are working the worst
jobs possible known demand, that means that the jobs that
are designated for black people in this country, in Trump's mind,
are the worst of the worst jobs. Right, He's not
saying black jobs as doctors, lawyers. No, immigrants are taking
(17:28):
black jobs. Again, the stereotype is immigrants are working the
worst of the worst jobs, because again, if there are
illegal immigrants coming over here, they don't have the paperwork
to work the best of the best jobs.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Right. So he's showing you his racism right there. And
then the way he speaks.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
About immigrants, calling us a rapist, you know, and murderers
and violent criminals right and blaming the violence and crime
in this country on illegal immigrants, right, blanket statement right
there that brown people, Latinos who are immigrating to his
country are coming here to enact violence and to commit crimes.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Meanwhile, he's a fucking convicted felon himself. That is what's
on the ticket.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
And then you look into the Project twenty twenty five,
that's just everything right.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
And he's the way he stacked the Supreme Court with
three extreme, extreme conservative judges that are doing his bidding,
that are willing to give him presidential immunity so he
could do whatever the fuck he wants to do if
he is president. The writing is on the wall right there,
write him saying Christians, we need you to come out
(18:35):
and vote, and this will be the last time you
have to do. So what does that mean?
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Sure you can fucking interpret it as anything you want to,
but the fact that it's even open to interpretation of
the fact that we may never have to vote again.
That's enough for me to say, hey, this person is
a danger to our country as a whole. And I
understand if the current administration, which Kamala Harris is a
part of, is not doing all that you feel like
they should be doing as far as the comf in
(19:00):
Israel and Palace line, I understand you being angry about that.
But unfortunately, the reality is, and this is where nuance
comes into play, being able to look at it from
all angles, the reality is, this is not a normal election.
The other candidate does not want democracy as we know it.
So you can not vote in protest. You can vote
(19:23):
for Trump in protests. You can vote for an independent
candidate in protest. But guess what, at the end of
the day, that is only going to potentially make your
quality of life even worse. And that means the country
as a whole even worse, and that means the world
as a whole even worse. If you're not happy about
how the US is handling that conflict, again, I understand it.
(19:45):
But what happens when we become a country who is
completely in decline under the ruling of a racist, want
to be dictator who is again stops at nothing for
his own self, fe feeling prophecies. That's what's on the ticket.
That's what you have to begin to realize. I'm not
saying you have to be fucking happy about it.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
I get it.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
But again that's where nuance comes into play. And sometimes
the decisions that we have to make are not always
the ideal ones, but they're the ones again that have
to be made. You have to pick, and it's again
it's not always going to be picking from the best
of the best. It's not always going I'm not saying
not denigrating Kamalo's qualifications.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
I think she's very qualified.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
But again, from the angle of you feel like this
administration has not done enough in X, Y and Z.
On the other side of things, unfortunately, is literally a
fucking crazy person. And that's that's the real decision that
has to be made here and how you have to
be looking at things. And again, it's not fun, it's
(20:48):
not ideal, but this is a multi layered situation we
find ourselves in and you can't just be so laissez
fair about it.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
And that's my take on all of that. Now I
got off tangent here.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
I'm going to quickly discuss, you know, the idea of
Latin voters, right and in this article getting back to it.
They say, the nation's largest minority group, which is Latinos
nineteen point five percent of the total population according to
the twenty twenty census, Latinos form a key voting block
in what's shaping up to be a tight presidential election. Harris,
(21:23):
the daughter of immigrants, has won the backing of influential
Latino groups, and some feel her success hinges on emerging
young Latino voters. Maria Theresa, the president of Voting Latino,
says harris jumping into the race has sparked a quote
coalescing of the community in focus groups that the organization
started after President Joe Biden announced he would drop out
(21:43):
of the race.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
More than half of young Latinos who initially said they
were voting for a third party said they were shifting
to vote for the Democratic Party. This is according to Mariam,
and she.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Says, quote, there's no path to the White House without
specifically the young Latino vote. Our path to a different
direction of this country is through young people. Now more
than sixty and ten Latino voters supported Biden twenty twenty,
according to AAP vote cast, and thirty five percent supported
former President Donald Trump. Whoever, a July poll from the
(22:15):
Associated Press RC Center for Public Affairs Research found that
only about four and ten Latinos said they were somewhat
or very optimistic about the future of the Democratic Party,
and about one quarter of them said the same about
the Republican partyment. According to the same survey, Hispanic adults
are divided in their opinions on Harris, with forty four
percent holding a favorable view and forty three percent holding
(22:38):
an unfavorable view, but about half of Hispanic adults said
they would be satisfied with Harris as the Democratic nominee,
up from fifteen percent earlier in July. Who oh my god,
a breath. I'm daring through that because I feel like
I too much time on that tangent. But listen, it's
(23:01):
not This isn't an ideal situation.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
I get it.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
But truthfully, though I am excited about Harris, I fuck
with her, I really do.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
And also like.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Certain you know, topics that are important to me, abortion
and and all the women's rights to choose and all
these things, like she's in support of that, right, this
this sort of backwards thinking that Donald Trump has has
tried to instill, where he's taking us back into this
hateful place, Like you have to realize that's what's on
the ticket. You know, the polarization that that led to
(23:32):
women's right to choose being taken away, book burning, you know,
fucking the biography of bartal Clemente being taken out of
you know, schools in Florida, and things.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Of that nature.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Like all of this is is under the polarization that
was created by Donald Trump that then fueled the worst
people in this country to feel empowered to bring their
white supremacist ideals to life. That that's really what we're
working with and another four years of him would only
(24:03):
empower and make them that much stronger and that much
bolder in their hate. And that's what we have to
understand is on the ticket right now. And again I'm
not saying it's perfect. I'm not saying you have to
you know, smile and skip, you know your way.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Through the you know the polls. But that's just where
we are unfortunately.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
So yeah, get out there and vote, and I'm actually
gonna touch on something Donald Trump has said recently about
putting mass deportations kind of as like this focal point
in his campaign.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
But we'll first take a quick break and then we'll
be right back.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
All right, We are back, and I'm pulling from a
couple of different articles here from usnews dot Com as
well AP News, and they talk about how Trump has
with his messaging sort of put mass deportations at the
forefront of his campaign. You had signs at the Republican
(25:01):
National Convention that said, quote mass deportation now, and Donald
Trump pledged to expel millions of migrants in the largest
deportation program in American history.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Now.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Trump, when he was pressed for specifics on his plan
in an interview with Time magazine this year, he suggested
he would use the National Guard and possibly given the military,
to target between fifteen million and twenty people, even though
because obviously Donald Trump loves to exaggerate numbers, even though
the government estimated in twenty twenty two there were about
eleven million migrants living in the.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
US without permanent legal permission.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
Now Trump has pledged to quote immediately stop the invasion
of our southern border and end illegal immigration.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
As part of the plan.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
He says he would immediately direct US Immigration and Customs
Enforcement to undertake the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.
He would target people who are legally living in the
United States but harbor quote Jie hottest sympathies, and revoke
the student visa of those who espouse anti American and
anti Semitic.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Views in a bid to security.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
By the way, anti American views what a loose fucking
form of terminology. And this is where you have to
begin to like read between the lines, because this is
what the.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Right loves to do.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
You have a criticism of the US government, you are
automatically anti American, even though it's baked in our constitution.
Like the founding fathers wanted you to be able to
critique your government. That's what separated us from a dictatorship, right.
But in today's day and age, you have a critique
of the American government, you are anti American. And by
the way, that's what makes things like they're so scary,
(26:48):
because that is a very broad terminology. They're going to
call you anti American. You because you post a critique of,
you know, the US government, and now you're all of
a sudden you're labeled as having quote jihadist sympathies.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Again, this is a shit that's on the ticket right now.
This is what we're voting for now.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
In a bid to secure the US Mexico border, Trump
says he will move thousands of troops currently stationed overseas
and shift federal agents, including those at the Drug Enforcement
Administration and FBI, to immigration enforcement.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
He also wants to build more of the border wall.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
Trump wants to reimpose his travel band that originally targeted
seven Muslim majority countries and expanded to quote keep radical
Islamic terrorists out of the country end quote in the
wake of the Hamasa attack on Israel. He's pledged to
put in place quote ideological screening for immigrants his aim
bar quote dangerous lunatics, haters, biggests, and maniacs, as well
(27:43):
as those who empathize with radical Islamic terrorists and extremists.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
Again, all of this stuff is open to interpretation.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
I mean, we've seen this in this country where everybody
was being accused of being a communist at one point,
right when there was the Cold War, and you know,
people were, you know, wrongfully. This is like the Salem
witch trials all over again, burning people at the stake
because they're being accused of witchcraft right now, moving on,
he said to deter migrants, he has said he would
(28:16):
end birthright citizenship using an executive order that would introduce
a legally untested interpretation of the fourteenth Amendment. The order
would prevent federal agencies from granting automatics and automatic citizenship
to the children of people who are in the use illegally.
It will require that at least one parent be a
US citizen or lawful permanent resident for their children to
(28:36):
be eligible for passports, social Security numbers, and other benefits.
I mean, a lot of the audience that listens to
this podcast, many of us are products of immigrants, right again.
This is somebody who is targeting the places that we
(28:57):
come from, the people that we love, and to me,
it's like, well, how do you I'm going to rephrase
my statements.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
I don't want to be judging.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
I'd be curious to see you hear a lot of
the rhetoric coming from him. As Latinos, how are you
able to support this person and make excuses for it?
You know, it's just, yeah, we are are targeted by
this person's hate. And again it bleeds itself into the street.
(29:28):
I mean, it bleeds itself into people proposing bills where
you can you know, shoot to kill migrants to step
on your property, you know, in crossing the border.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
And then it leads people to.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
Talking about how they can't wait to move to that
state so they can kill my like it dehumanizes people,
you know, and again like, yeah, the immigration is nuanced,
right and obviously the system in place as it stands
right now is is not ideal and not effective. But
(30:07):
you don't have to spew hate and blame all of
your problems on a specific group of people that that
is just causing chaos and again causing more hatred towards
people that look like you and I. And again this
is these are things that are on the ticket. It's
it's somebody using hate and fear as a means to
(30:28):
gain the support of of of people and those who
already have that deep rooted hate of people of color,
they're they're feeling empowered and boldened to you know, showcase
it and speak about it and live a life of
shit just racism, you know. So yeah, that's it, That's
(30:53):
that's what's going on. On the positive side of things.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
Let's let's get into general or take up her conversation
around not being enough, but also what she's doing in Hollywood,
which is amazing.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
What does that far me hit that segment. But first
we'll take a quick break and then we'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
All right.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
So Jenna Ortega actress. She's the star of the Netflix
show Wednesday.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
She is also in the I.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Think the last two screen movies. I want to say
she's a big star.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Obviously. She's also in the remike of Beeldice that's coming out.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
And she had a article in a Variety talking about
something that obviously is passion, you know, a passion of
mine to speak about. It is the premise of this podcast,
but the idea of not being Latin enough. Right in
the article, she says, oftentimes you're just not good enough
because I wasn't born in a Spanish speaking country. I
(32:00):
know people have a hard time connecting with me, she
said in the article. I'm reading a breakdown of it
from r metwo dot com where they say Ortega herself
has a hard time dealing with her lack of knowledge
in her mother's first language, saying, quote, I'm so jealous.
Every time I hear my mom speak perfect Spanish, she said, Yep.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
Relatable, relatable. I obviously my dad just fucking let that
shit fly. My mom too. But my dad it's his
first language, and my mom.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Is actually very good at I have to give her credit,
and she's self taught. But but my dad, you know,
when we be in Puerto Rico, I hear him speaking
to people back home, family, whatever it might be, and
he's just like in his element doing it. I'm like, man,
I wish I wish it flowed that naturally for me.
Mew mom like stuttering my way through through practical sentences.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
But hey, I'm getting better. I gotta get myself credit now.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
According to the Pew Research Center, while most US Latinos
speak Spanish, not all do. Twenty four percent of all
Latino adults say they can only carry a conversation on
in Spanish.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
A little or not at all.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
On the other hand, among third or higher generation Latinos,
sixty five percent say they cannot carry on a conversation
in Spanish. Furthermore, about half of US Latinos who don't
speak Spanish have been shamed because of it, according to
the Pew Research center. Around fifty four percent of Latinos
(33:27):
who say they speak no more than a little Spanish
say another Latino has made them.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Feel bad about it. Yep.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
Now General Ortega can count herself among the latter quote.
I think there's a part of me that carries a
bit of shame. For a second, I was almost nervous
to speak about my family's background because I feel like
I was made to feel like it wasn't valid, and
I think it's just super interesting.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
You know, there's a there's a lot of like anxiety
that comes along with them.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
For me personally, my experiences, there was always a lot
of anxiety that would come along when I would find
myself sort of having to be two things.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
There's anxiety came along when I found myself having.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
To be the sole representation for like Latinos, when if
I was the only one in the room. This happened
a lot in the breakfast club, which obviously it's a
big platform. Oftentimes you're live on a microphone with millions
of people listening. That's going to be anxiety inducing in general.
But it definitely was something I was like almost felt
(34:37):
like a phony, you know, like like I wasn't qualified
to be the Latin representation. And then on the flip
side of it, at times when I find myself amongst
other Latinos and we're kind of having these conversations, like
you know, mixed group of people or whatever, I almost
feel like I have to prove myself as being being
(35:00):
like knowledgeable, you know, and and like trying to impress
them almost right, And yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
It's exhausting.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
Obviously an exhausting experience because you sort of get out
of your own body and you're in your in your
head and it's like you're trying to be perfect and
figure out the perfect thing to say to you know,
get the co sign and the validation and and and
all these different things, and like that's just an exhausting
(35:29):
way to live. And you know, and as it's as
somebody who tries to preach authenticity and living authentically, yeah,
I almost at times feel like a hypocrite when I
find myself falling into that. Now it happens less and
less because I've found sort of comfort and I've I've
adapted an identity that is uh personal and authentic to me.
Speaker 1 (35:55):
You know, And in those moments where.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
Other Latinos might try to shame me, it doesn't sting
as much. Uh, you know, I can I you know,
feel comfortable sort of standing up for myself or laughing,
laughing it off genuinely, where in the past I might
have been like trying to defend myself but almost like uh,
in a way of seeking their validation, you know, whereas
(36:26):
now I'm like, I'm all right with you, you know,
calling me, you know, fake Latino or making fun of
me because I can't speak it, you know, fluently, or
I might not be like an amazing salsa dancer or
something like that. So like I'm I'm okay with that,
You're not Like it doesn't it doesn't cut to the core.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
Like it used to, I guess, is what I'm trying
to say.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
But but it's uh, yeah, man, I think and that
that's a part of all of our our journey.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
I think. I think what I've sort of.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
Come to terms with or how I compartmentalize it in
my head is yeah, I'm never going to be the
person who is just like the stereotypical Latino. And I
don't mean that a bad way, but like who's you know,
rattling off Spanish without thinking about it and you know,
(37:26):
has like all of these deep cultural memories and it
is just like this fucking encyclopedia for like unspoken Latin
cultural you know, fucking moments or whatever it might be,
right like I might have to you know, I'm I'm
gonna be the person that you know, second guess is
(37:47):
Spanish and is constantly learning more about his culture and
constantly has to ask questions and is going to have
to have refreshers of certain cultural things, be it food,
be it whatever. And I think I've gotten to a
place of like I'm okay with being that person, and
(38:09):
I don't feel less than being that person, and I
know that I have a place in this community as
that person. And that's the way that I compartmentalize it
now where I think before I did everything I could
to try and fit and check every box of what
it meant to be Latin enough, you know, and come
across as as that, and now I'm sort of just
(38:34):
okay with with at times fumbling my way through it
because that's my authentic story. And as we you know,
read in articles like this one where they break down
some of the statistics.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
That's a lot of our people's stories.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
And I don't it doesn't make a I think to
me that is a part of Latin culture at least
you know American Latinos you know, or or I'm sure
you know, I know people who listen to this or
in Europe things like that.
Speaker 1 (39:00):
Insert whatever makes sense for you. But those are us
who didn't necessarily grow up.
Speaker 2 (39:06):
In our motherland where our parents or grandparents are from.
You know, we are going to sort of have this otherness.
But again, to me, that's a part of what it
means to be Latino. There's a sector of our community,
a large portion of it, that does exist in that otherness,
and it's authentically us, and it's authentically Latino because you know,
(39:28):
that's who we are.
Speaker 1 (39:30):
And I think that's where I am mentally.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
I think that's where it seems like somebody like Jenna
Ortega is getting to as well, where you no longer
sort of have the shame about it, and you no
longer fear speaking about it because you feel like peoplere
gonna call you out, but instead you embrace who you
are and you do your part unapologetically. And that's what
she's doing now with some of these projects which I
(39:53):
wanted to salute her for and in the article. They say,
after fighting for the opportunity to work alongside producers during
the first season of when Jenna Ortaga finally wears the
hat during the second season, At first, it was a
matter of creative concerns. Quote, I think it's naturally to
be fearful of signing your life away and wanting some
sort of agency, or wanting confirmation that your voice would
be heard. She said, I'm aware of my position as
(40:14):
an actor, but I know that I'm not in charge.
But I think someone like Wednesday, who is in every scene,
it only makes sense for that person to be that
involved in what's going on behind the scenes because she's
on screen every second of the project. And they say,
now with a second wave of fame and visibility, she's
(40:37):
executive producing three films.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
Woof Good for her Man Beetlejuice will hit theaters this fall,
which I guess she was ep on the long awaited
season of Wednesday on the Horizon for twenty twenty five.
Jenna Ortaga knows there's a lot more to do.
Speaker 2 (40:51):
She says, quote, I would love to be able to
craft stories that show how powerful Latinos can be.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
And this is the goal right here, right Well, first,
and foremost. In the article, they say that Wednesday is
recognized probably as the most stream show in Netflix history,
so bigger than like Stranger Things, And I think I
can't remember the other one that was that was big,
not Hunger Games, it Squid Games. So that's a beautiful,
(41:22):
beautiful thing.
Speaker 2 (41:23):
And again, I think this is what happens when you
begin to I don't want to say accept who you are.
I think love who you are, right, And when you
say I'm not going to allow other people to define me,
and I know that I'm a member of this community
and I have a place here and I'm gonna do
(41:43):
what I can to help my community, right, And I
think this is you know, obviously she's doing a much
larger level, but this is what I arrived to when
it came to life as a Dingo right where it
was like, I love my community, I want to do
so much for it, but I'm not doing it at
(42:05):
a fear of being called out for not being Latino enough,
for not being a real Latino.
Speaker 1 (42:12):
And you sort of.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
Get to a place and even like zooming out, it's like,
how ridiculous is that. By the way, I have a
potential opportunity to help a community to do my part
to bring awareness and speak to my community, but I'm.
Speaker 1 (42:31):
Not going to do so because of the backlash I'm
getting from my community. From that same community like that,
it's ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (42:43):
And I'm not critiquing her or anybody because I went
through that as well, But in retrospect, it's so ridiculous
that I'm going to allow the bullshit of other people
and their old world ideas to stop me from helping people.
And that's what you have to get to a point
to it being like, listen, I know I'm going to
(43:04):
get people hating on me. I know I'm going to
get people telling me it's not my place, but fuck them, Like,
those people.
Speaker 1 (43:13):
Are part of the problem. They're why we are being
held back, why we're more isn't being done within our
community because they're the gatekeepers, right. I feel I get
this critique on TikTok and when I post views by
Puerto Rico, people all shut up. You live in the States.
You can't talk about it. Bro. I'm trying to help.
Speaker 2 (43:28):
I'm trying to bring awareness to what's going on the island,
and you are more concerned with where I grew up
rather than like the positive work that I'm trying to
do here, you're a part of the problem. You're literally
trying to silence people who are trying to help, who
are doing the work. And that's what would happen with
somebody like General Ortega if she didn't, if she gave
(43:50):
into that pressure of not being enough, there wouldn't be
a Latina executive producing three movies that are supposed to
hit theaters. There wouldn't be a Latino who's probably going
to end up putting Latinos in jobs that they wouldn't
have otherwise been in, or bringing Latino stories to the
(44:12):
screen authentically, and that's important work. But again, it may
have never happened if she came to the criticism that
comes from, you know, just not being born in the
place that your parents were, or your Spanish or whatever
it is. And it's like, Bro, she's about to do work,
or is doing work that is going to help so
many people in our community beyond what any of us
(44:34):
are even capable of comprehending, because you don't know what
who's watching these things and becoming inspired and goes on
to create something like and to think that.
Speaker 1 (44:42):
We wouldn't have that.
Speaker 2 (44:46):
Solely because some haters wanted to try to tell this
girl who she was, or tell any of us who
we are. It's just that's crazy and ridiculous to me.
So salute to her for doing the work. Now, with
that said, let's tie up thing we talked about today
in a neat little boat in a segment we call conclusion.
Speaker 1 (45:00):
Still time for comp.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
All right, So, I know I started saying it was
like a slow news week, and I just went off
on a tangent about a bunch of things. But yeah,
Latino votes and Harris and Trump and all that.
Speaker 1 (45:19):
I mean again, Nuance ain't nothing to be perfect.
Speaker 2 (45:27):
It's never the perfect candidate is never, unfortunately an ideal
situation when most things in life you got to kind
of roll what you have. And again, what's what's happening
here on the ticket? And again it sounds like I
want to make it a point. I'm not speaking like
Harris isn't qualified. I think she's amazing. But for those
(45:48):
on the fence and have issues, I get it. But
like Nuance, again, what is the alternative you not participating
what happens? Potentially it makes your life and the life
of millions and millions of other people that much worse
and potentially generations to come, and that's what we have
to be thinking about.
Speaker 1 (46:06):
So show up to vote. I mean that's really my
greatest statement.
Speaker 2 (46:10):
And yeah, this whole thing with not being Latin enough
and this conversation like stop can we stop twenty twenty four?
Speaker 1 (46:17):
Stop stop with the nonsense? I'd like again it like
it blows my mind to think.
Speaker 2 (46:28):
People might not do the great work that they're doing,
like general take up putting is going to be eping
stuff again potentially wanted to put people in power from
our community to think that a bunch of gatekeepers are
more concerned with as nine rules as what makes you
(46:49):
quote unquote Latin enough or enough. They're more concerned with
that than actual real life issues or places that we
could be improved upon. That Like, that's the that literally
will never blow my mind and not stop what won't
it will never stop.
Speaker 1 (47:09):
Blowing my mind.
Speaker 2 (47:13):
Gatekeepers are concerned with like just so much bullshit and
as a result, hold back progression.
Speaker 1 (47:21):
That's that's literally the world we live in.
Speaker 2 (47:22):
And it's not just obviously in like the Latin community
or this topic at hand, Like let that be a
lesson for anything that you want to do that seems
different or seems crazy to people, Like if it were
up to the gatekeepers, we'd have the same shit over
and over and over and over again, rinse, repeat, rents repeat.
That's not how progress happens. These people are obsessed with
(47:43):
familiarity and comfortability, and that's just not how greatness happens.
That's not how change occurs these people. It's like you
cut your nose off to spite your face type of shit. Right,
y'all are worried about who's a real.
Speaker 1 (47:56):
Puerto Rican Meanwhile.
Speaker 2 (47:58):
You're bashing those who might actually have plans to help
your life be exponentially better, you know. That selfish me
talking about reactions that I get like that's crazy, you know,
and again like there's enough of.
Speaker 1 (48:11):
Us who feel this way that this is a real thing.
We are real members of the community.
Speaker 2 (48:18):
We have a place to participate, Like the gatekeeping shit
is so stupid to me. And salute to everybody doing
the work to kind of break free of those chains,
because that's they are the chains that hold us back
from our greatness and hold us back from progressing as
a community, as a culture.
Speaker 1 (48:31):
So that's that. With that said, thank y'all so much
for tuning in. Thank you for your patience.
Speaker 2 (48:37):
I know I got this out a little later than usual,
but I appreciate y'all and I will catch you on
Tuesday with a brand new episode.
Speaker 1 (48:45):
So then stay safe, we'll talk soon. Life as a
Good in Goo is a production of the micro Thura
podcast Network and iHeartRadio
Host
DJ Dramos
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