June 20, 2024 • 51 mins
Dramos deep dives into trending stories from the week including a near tragedy at a Bad Bunny concert, Latino's having the highest likelihood of dying at work, the role we all play in society, Latine brands supporting Pride Month and more!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Love me talking about talk here we go. He said,
you live in life as a gringo, where you question
where you fit in every time you mingle, they say
you do this with not life. Yes, hello, and welcome
to another episode of Life as a Gringo. I am dramas,
(00:26):
of course, and it's Thursday, so it means time for
our Thursday Trends episode Flying Solo. On today's show. I
had a couple of guests that I was trying to
get on the show, just scheduling didn't work out. It's
just one of those weird weeks and it happens. But
there's a lot to talk about. I'm just gonna stick
to the stories. No asking being gone today the show,
and I've been slacking when it comes to that. I
(00:46):
I didn't really finalize what I wanted to talk about
until I kind of sat down. That's my own fault,
so I apologize, promise I'll do better next week. But
wait to get into a few things that are really
interesting that happened recently, or conversations that are happening. You
had won a really scary story here in Arizona where
(01:07):
an Arizona man, I should say, actually had plans to
commit a mass shooting in Atlanta at a Bad Bunny concert,
So we'll talk a bit about that. I mean, it's
politically motivated, really scary stuff. Thankfully, you know, I'll let
(01:29):
you know, you know ahead of time that thank well,
obviously you know, if it wasn't the news yet, but
thankfully this plan was spoiled by the FEDS, the FBI,
But really scary stuff. We'll also talk about how Latinos
are far more likely to die on the job. And
also I kind of wanted to expound upon a discussion
that I was having on social media at DJ Dramos
(01:50):
you want to follow me on Instagram and just sort
of talking about how it's all of our jobs to
do something right. And I know I've said this it's
a million and one times, but I wanted to to
keep sort of discussing it and specifically talking about from
the lens of all that's going on in Puerto Rico.
(02:11):
There is a massive blackout that happened for the entire island,
and it's just sort of more of the same of
what's been going on, and they're just a couple of
things I wanted to sort of touch on in regards
to that I think apply it to anybody living life
in any way. But sort of responding some of the
(02:31):
pushback I've gotten about people saying it's not the job
of a celebrity, it's the job of politician, all these
different things, and I think this specific example of what's
going on in Puerto Rico, what continues to happen, is
a great, I think teachable moment of what potential solutions
could be out there if we begin to start thinking
(02:53):
outside of the norm. So that's why I want to
touch on a bit and then on me hint that segment.
It is Pride Month, so I want to lebrate a
few brands that are Latin owned brands that are supporting,
you know, Pride Month, that we can all sort of
show love to this month. Will that farm you hint
this segment. But first let's against the nonsense the bs
and we'll do it in a segment we call for
(03:14):
the people in the back, say a lot for the
people in the say a lot of the people in
the say a lot of the people. All right, let's
start in Atlanta, where there was a really just disgusting
(03:40):
plan for a mass shooting at a Bad Bunny concert.
So in Arizona man allegedly wanted to gun down black
people at in Atlanta Bad Bunny concert in an attempt
to spark a race war ahead of the presidential election.
According to federal oral prosecutors, Mark Adams Paredo, fifty eight
(04:03):
years old, was indicted on Tuesday, nearly a month after
he was arrested. So he was arrested a month ago.
The charges just came out and now it's starting to
get headlines. But he was indicted over the alleged plot,
and he planned to murder as many black people as
he could with semi automatic rifles that he had bought
(04:23):
through cash deals or trades to avoid detection from gun regulators.
He was outed after a source he'd recruited to participate
in the massacre notified FBI agents, leading to a month
long investigation that ended after he attempted to recruit an
undercover agent to join the mass shooting. According to an
affidat it obtained by NBC News quote, Preto believes that
(04:44):
martial law will be implemented shortly after the twenty twenty
four election, and that a mass shooting should occur prior.
This is what the source told the FBI in Phoenix,
according to the Abba, David adding that quote, he was
ready to kill a bunch of people. Now you already
know my views on guns and the cancer that they
(05:11):
are to our society, and this is another example. I mean, listen,
Thank god this man was dumb enough to try and
recruit others to help him out. But if he wasn't,
this might have actually happened. Think about it. He was
(05:34):
able to get semi automatic rifles through cash deals or trades,
so he was able to go undetected. The only reason
why anybody was even on his ass was because he
was actively trying to recruit people and somebody ratted him out.
And that's incredibly scary, right to think how close or
(05:59):
like the margin of error that is there. What if
that person did not rat him out? Right? What if
that person was just as fucking crazy as him. What
if he decided he was going to do this by
himself and never even started recruiting. These are scary, scary prospects, right,
(06:23):
And thank god it played out the way that it did,
but it could have been a very different story, and
a very tragic one. And I think again, as we
continue to sort of beat a dead horse at this point.
It's political extremism, right. It is people who have drank
(06:52):
the kool aid by the gallon at this point, right,
And they're so invested in all that Trump has started
that it's as if there's no going back, right. And
(07:15):
I'm like, I pause for a second there, because I'm like,
I hate to be pessimistic on things, but it's like,
how do you talk sense into these people? Right? You
can't anybody that is willing to go to this extreme
(07:36):
to hurt innocent people for the sake of their political
and racist agenda, There's probably no getting through to them, right.
And I guess the only real thing you can do
with stories like this one is sort of just point
(08:00):
out what Donald Trump has created in this country. And
obviously racism existed before him, it's going to exist long
after him. But all these sort of conspiracy theories about
martial law and the outbreak of violence after the election,
(08:23):
and like these these sort of end of world ideas, right,
end of day's ideas that there's going to be this
civil war in this country and we're not going to
have a country to go back to if Donald Trump
doesn't win this election, essentially, right, and that there's going
(08:54):
to be you know, mass hysteria in the streets and
violence and like you said, martial law. Essentially, these really
extreme conspiracy theories. It creates a perfect storm for people
(09:17):
who are obviously already not well in the head to
then get activated to do crazy shit like this. And
then when you have a country that has been very
lax on guns and doesn't seem to want to do
anything about them, this guy can go ahead and make
(09:37):
cash purchases or trades and go undetected. Again, the only
reason we're even talking about this, the only reason he's
arrested was because he went and ran his mouth to
other people. That's fucking scary, and it speaks to the
importance of voting because the ideas on the right are
(10:09):
getting more and more extreme. The idea and the poison
that they're putting in people's head of like we're at
war basically is activating the worst people. And that's what
(10:32):
we have to be mindful of. That's why this election
is so important. That's why I Donald Trump does in
fact win the election, which is a possibility, it's only
going to empower and embolden people like this even more.
You know, who knows where this goes from there so scared.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news and
I never want to use fear tactics or anything like that.
(10:54):
But this is what's going on. This is what's out there,
and people are buying into the idea of they're being
so much chaos, political chaos, and this country being you know,
in turmoil and all these things that like they're running
(11:15):
and coming up with crazy schemes based off of these
conspiracy theories. Right, Like this guy is believing that after
the twenty twenty four election, there's going to be martial law.
Just I don't I literally don't even have like, you know,
(11:37):
real things to sort of respond to, Like I don't,
I don't, I just I just like can I don't
have a real opinion anymore. It's just things like this
make me sad at this point. And by the way,
martial law, just anybody that isn't familiar with the concept,
martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military
rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers.
(12:00):
So his belief system is that we basically aren't gonna
have any rights after the twenty twenty four election, and
the military is going to be in charge. Basic democracy
is over. And I mean, maybe he's half right if
Trump actually does win the election, but again, just scary
fucking stuff, man, scary stuff. Moving on, Latinos are far
(12:21):
more likely to die in the job. Depressing as well.
Now this is an article from Project Bulso and I'm
reading from their social media as like an Instagram posts
they had posted about but they said when a three
hundred foot container ship destroyed Baltimore's Francis Scott Keybridge, six
people died. All were construction workers, and all were Latino.
(12:41):
The tragedy is indicative of a much larger trend in
the US, wherein Latino employees are far more likely to
work and die in more dangerous environments than their counterparts
in other racial and ethnic groups. According to a study
conducted by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of
Industrial Organizations, than two hundred and forty eight Latinos died
(13:02):
on the job in twenty twenty two, sixty percent of
whom were immigrants. The group with the second highest risk
of death at work was black employees seven hundred and
thirty four of seven hundred and thirty four of whom
died in the same year, Latino's rate of death increased
twenty four percent over the previous decade. And now they're
saying one of the most important contributing factors to these
(13:24):
horrible statistics is that Latinos are far more likely to
work and hazardous underregulated sectors. By far, the most dangerous
trade is construction, which accounts for thirty one percent of
all Latino deaths at work. Approximately thirty percent of the
US construction workforce is Latino, though in states like Texas
and Florida that number is sixty one percent and thirty
seven percent, respectively. Texas and Florida are also at the
(13:46):
forefront of banning protective measures for outdoor workers. Both states
recently passed laws nullifying local ordinances mandating water and shade
breaks for employees in construction, grounds, maintenance, and agri culture.
These two sectors reported the third sixty seven workers and
fourth forty third forty three workers highest Latino death rates.
(14:08):
And I'm stuttering that last sentence because I'm like, I
want to just go in. I'm not here to spread
conspiracy theories, but let's talk about this. States like Texas
and Florida, which have been very outspoken about their anti
immigrant beliefs, have put forth measures banning protective have put
(14:35):
forth I'm sorry, I have put forth bans on protective
measures for outdoor workers. Let's logically, let's put our thinking
cap on for a second here, right. Protective measures for
outdoor workers so measures put in place to protect the
(15:01):
lives of those who are vulnerable, especially in places like
Texas and Florida where it's incredibly hot to work outside
and dangerously hot. Right and by the way, we're this
whole week, we're in a heat wave in the New
York City area. Right. There's been all kinds of like
(15:24):
warnings about it, and we're at like ninety something degrees
in the middle of summer. In places like Florida and Texas,
that's the norm, right, But we're being told this week,
you know, like take care of ourselves, don't be outside
too long, keep your pets indoors, all the above, right,
(15:46):
air quality alerts. These people in Texas and Florida have
to work in these conditions for months at a time. So,
logically speaking, in a country that cares about people in
society as human beings, we want to keep people safe. Right, then,
(16:14):
would you want to ban protective measures, like, what's the
logic book behind banning protective measures. It's one of two things,
because there's no normal, healthy, rational explanation for wanting to
(16:37):
ban protective measures, which by the way, include mandating water
and shade breaks for employees, basic things. It's hot, you
need water, you need breaks, you need to get out
of the sun for a little bit. There's no again,
logical reason to ban these things, so the reasons have
(17:00):
to be far more sinister, unfortunately, and it's one of
two things. Either you are doing this for the big
companies that are behind these construction projects, these ground maintenance
and agriculture, because it means they can work their employees
for far more hours straight and theoretically produce more right,
(17:23):
which then helps them and their profits. Or the other
side of that coin is you know that these are
jobs heavily worked by immigrants, by brown people, and you've
already put on display you're disdained for immigrants, So this
(17:44):
is another means of punishing and dehumanizing immigrants. Those are
your only two options, and to be quite honest, it's
probably a combination of the two. And again the fact
that dude, why isn't this front page news. The fact
(18:09):
that states are trying to ban protective measures for workers
who are working in extreme conditions. There's something incredibly sinister
at play, and again it is politicians playing political games
(18:35):
at the expense of the lives of people. And I
know the other side because I'm already thinking, like I
post this clip on Instagram. The reaction, well, if they
didn't come here illegally, this wouldn't be a problem. That's
your first instinct. Your first instinct is another human being
(19:00):
is suffering and could suffer, but the government is trying
to not do anything to protect them from suffering, and
your first instinct is to say, well, they shouldn't be
here in the first place, even if that is your
(19:22):
political ideology. As a human being, your first instinct should
say this is fucking wrong. Regardless of what I feel
about immigration. I'm a human being first, so I should
be able to, first and foremost look at that, regardless
of what side of the eyle I fall on, and
(19:44):
say that's not right. You're putting lives at risk unnecessarily.
There's literally no reason to justify it. But we live
in a world where your political ideology supersedes your humanity,
and that's that's normal. People will go on social media
(20:07):
and publicly let you know that they have no shame
in that right. I think I posted and talked about
in Arizona, they were trying to pass a bill where
people can you know, legally like gunned down people crossing
the border over their property, and you had people publicly
(20:32):
coming out and saying, I got to move to Arizona.
You're you're talking about wanting to move somewhere so that
you can take another human being's life legally. We've gotten
to the point of extremism where our political ideology, our
(20:52):
political you know, affiliation supersedes the fact that we're a
human being first, and that's a scary fucking place to be.
And moving on in this article, they say Latinos in
general and Latino immigrants specifically are frequently maligned for quote
stealing jobs. However, Luestrahante is often forced to take the
most dangerous work no one else wants to do, and
(21:14):
our disproportionate number of workplace debts is just the most
heartbreaking indicator of that fact. And another great point. They're
taking their jobs or taking our jobs. I don't see
many of you lining up to go work in the
field in these extreme conditions. That's why those jobs are
(21:40):
available to them. Or corporations that are refusing to pay
a fair wage, that's why those jobs are available to them,
because unfortunately this is a means to an end, they
have very few other options. It's it's just, you know, again,
(22:03):
the lack of humanity will never cease to amaze me. Genuinely. Hey,
maybe that's something I need to get over. But I
also feel like I feel like the day that it
it doesn't bother me, means I've become cold and dead
inside and like lack all the humanity that I'm accusing
these people of not having. But it is frustrating. Now
(22:27):
we'll take a quick break here and then we'll be
right back. All right, we are back, and I want
to just touch on something quickly. I had posted a
couple of things I was, you know, last week. I
was like driving home. I was about to get in
the car, and I was like, who was I even doing?
(22:49):
I was? I was in It was in New York,
and I went to an event and I was like
stopped and grab some pizza and I was just like
sitting outside eating and I was going through my phone
and I kept seeing these posts about Puerto Rico, and
there was just a massive blackout that literally the entire
island lost power overnight basically, and this is a frequent
(23:09):
problem happening throughout the islet of Puerto Rico. They've privatized
the electricity to a company called Luma, who is price
gouging people but also providing subpar service, and it's affecting
the quality of life of people. I mean, you've had
people dying from this, you know, because they're you know,
on respirators or whatever it might be. The power goes
(23:30):
out and unfortunately they don't have a generator, they can't
afford it, and the electricity they need to survive is
not there. Right, people have lost loved ones and at
the very least, you know, obviously not its extreme, but
people also their personal property getting damaged by power surges, right,
(23:51):
and the power constantly going on and off. We have
a family home in Puerto Rico and we've lost thousands
of dollars in air conditioners and TVs and other electronics
because the power surges that happen, We lose power and
then it comes back on to the point that now
you know, when no one is there, we shut the
power off completely for the entire house to try to
avoid this problem. Right, and again, compared to death, that's nothing.
(24:14):
What I'm saying is the people of Puto Ricar are suffering.
And if you don't have money to replace these things,
it is a big deal, right if you do lose
your air conditioner, if you you know, lose the one
television you have in the house, Like, these are things
that shouldn't happen to people, especially when they're paying higher
prices for their electrical building. We are here in the States,
(24:35):
but being provided a subpar service, right, So my sort
of vantage point on this because the government, unfortunately is
corrupt and obviously somebody's getting a kickback somewhere to allow
this to happen, right, because they do have like a
trade Commission, a consumer athins, consumer affairs boarder I'm fucking
(24:58):
up the name, but basically a board that's supposed to
oversee making sure that companies aren't taking advantage of their consumers, right,
consumers from the island. Nobody is doing anything right. Nobody
is saying what is going on that we're paying this
much money but the service is that awful. Nobody is
trying to hold them accountable for nobody's doing anything basically right.
(25:21):
Nobody is looking into this. Obviously there's some corruption happening
at a higher level. And my vantage point is always this,
in a utopian, perfect, amazing society, yes, the government would
do its job and they would be the ones that
we have to report to as far as like, hey,
what's going on, you need to fix this. But here
in the real world, unfortunately, they're not doing all that
(25:44):
they can do. They're not causing a stink the way
they should with this company Luma. So I take the
perspective of what are our resources as regular people, as citizens,
as descendants of a place like Puerto Rico. Our greatest
resource is the fact that we actually have a surplus
(26:04):
of people like the Bad Bunnies of the world, or
the dead Yankees or whomever, that are extremely wealthy, well
connected and have gigantic platforms, right, And there's so much
power within that, And I always lean on why not
have these people who have been blessed, especially somebody like
(26:26):
Bad Bunny with a generational level of influence. He holds
the island of Puerto Rico on the palm of his hand. Basically,
I want more from him. Because I want this is
a unprecedented blessing to have that much influence, and it's
a waste if it only happens via music, right, or
(26:48):
if it's you know, these very short term solutions of
charities and things like that. There's so much power that
this man holds and I would love to see him
step up to the play. And for me, this is
tough love. This isn't a you know, I'm not shitting
(27:09):
on this human being. I think he's done a lot
more than probably any other artist. But for me, you
can't go to the protest, you can't speak up and
then also be like, oh, but I'm an artist. I'm
not a politician, So that's my excuse to fall back.
You've already put yourself out there as an activist, right.
If that wasn't the case, then you can be a
(27:31):
Mark Anthony or a Jennifer Lopez who for the most
of their career stays out of these things and they
just put out music and they truly are just artists
at the end of the day. Right, But for somebody
that bad bunny, you've already begun to put yourself out
there as somebody who cares about what happens on the island.
On top of that, you mean more of the island
(27:53):
than these people do to me. You have a responsibility, right,
and I think all of us responsibility in general. If
you believe in God, you believe that we're all God's children,
that means that we're all brothers and sisters essentially right
in God. So just like if your brother or sister
(28:17):
in the real sense came to you and we're in trouble,
you'd probably rush to help them, we also need to
have some level of empathy in a similar fashion to
all of those around us, understanding that we're all you know,
basically the other side of the coin. We're all connected
in some sort of way. I talk about this a
(28:37):
lot like we're a tribe, we're a neighbor. Doesn't matter
if we believe in God or not. Like we're all
connected the fucking fish in the ocean. We're all sharing
this thing called planet Earth together. All of us are connected.
Everything we do affects something else on this planet, right,
The carbon monoxide from us driving cars and all these things,
(28:58):
and you know the emissions that are have Like that,
we're all affecting the quality of life for the animals
and the natural resources in this planet right, we're destroying it. Basically,
we all have an effect on child, whether we want
to admit it or not. We're all in this together. Therefore,
to me, it's all of our jobs to want to
help and make things better when we can with what
(29:19):
we have, and certain people have a lot, right. So
for me, it's like I look at these things and
I'm like, how do we as the people fight back
if the powers that be are not doing their jobs?
You know? And this is my proposal. I'm just going
to throw this out there into the universe because I
also called I was like, where are the lawyers who
(29:40):
want to get creative and figure out what we can do?
Because yes, Luma has a contract with Puerto Rico to
be the service provider, right, and that's what they're doing.
And there's a lot of you know, red tape involved
in all these things. But if we want them out,
then you have to hit them where it hurt. These
corporate companies, the only guy that they answer to is
(30:03):
green It's money. So I was listening to this podcast
the other day and they were talking about gun violence
and the families of like Sandy Hook, who had that
horrific mass shooting that happened at the elementary school in Connecticut. Now, obviously,
the government, and I'm using this as an example the government.
(30:23):
Our government has not done enough when it comes to
gun safety, gun violence. So while they're not doing anything,
these parents have banded together and are filing class action
lawsuits against the gun manufacturers. Right. So there's two different
ones going on right now by the same lawyer. Or
one happened, one settled one in Connecticut that was connected
(30:45):
to the Sandy Hook shooting. He's now gone to uvall Day,
Texas and they're filing a similar lawsuit. But basically, the
gun industry, unlike most other consumer industries, doesn't have to
answer for the carnage that happens as a result of
their products being you know, of their products, right. Car companies,
like if I'm driving a car and god forbid it
were to blow up, they would have a liability like
(31:08):
you know, whatever, Honda if something happened with the car.
Gun companies don't have a similar liability. They're off the
hook because of laws. But what this lawyer did was
he got creative, and I believe gun companies can't advertise
similar to like how cigarette companies can't advertise, but what
gun companies have been doing. And I might be conflating
(31:28):
the two stories, but essentially the argument that was being
made here was the gun that was used in the
Sandy Hook shooting was actually a gun that was found
in the game Call of Duty. And what he was
able to trace back was the gun manufacturer actually paid
to get that gun in the game Call of Duty.
(31:51):
And the kid who the person who did the shooting
in Sandy Hook was an avid player of the game
of Call of Duty. So the correlation he made was
that gun company was actually marketing to this person, and
as a result, since they're not supposed to be marketing,
they are responsible for what that person went out and did.
(32:12):
Essentially right, he was able to make some sort of correlation.
I'm giving you, like a very abridged version of it.
You can look into this yourself if you want. I
think the podcast is it The Daily I think it's
a dailier's the Washington Post podcast. One of them did
like an in depth episode about it. You can listen
to it. But basically, they got creative with this lawsuit
(32:34):
and they ended up, you know, settling out of court
that they got there's a payout. Now he's going to
do the same thing in You've all date. But the
point being this, you hit these companies where it hurts
if the government is not stepping in right in this case,
it's when it comes to guns. You hit the companies
directly where it hurts, in their pockets. You try to
you bleed them drive financially because they don't want that's
that's literally the worst case scenario for them. So my
(32:57):
argument is when you have a company like Luma and
Puerto Rico, if people like Bad Bunny or Daddy Yankee
or whomever created a fund where they each said, we're
gonna put X amount of dollars into a people's fund,
and with that fund, we now hire attorneys to create
(33:18):
all types of lawsuits against this company, Luma, with the
intention of we're going to bleed them dry until they
tap out and say enough is enough. We need to
get out of here. It's not worth it for us anymore.
And that is the power that these celebrities have because
they can fundraise, they have money themselves, and they have
(33:38):
connections and a way of getting the message out there
to millions and millions of people around the world. And
I'm sorry, but when you have a platform, you have
a responsibility. You can accept it or not, but you
have a responsibility. If you want to be a good
(34:01):
human being, you do what you can. That's my point
of view on all of these different things. And I think,
and I even went to even further where I was
talking about just different examples. I throw out there, Bad
Bunny has a deal with Adidas. He has a sneaker
(34:22):
coming out. It's called the San Juan Sneaker. San Juan
is a capital of Puerto Rico. My suggestion is, Okay,
you have Adidas making money off of our culture. I'm
not gonna say exploiting, but sure, why not say to Adidas, hey,
(34:43):
since we're doing a sneaker literally called the San Juan Sneaker,
why don't you guys do some sort of charitable effort
for the people of San Juan something. And I brought
up the fact that there have been it's like forty
four percent of public schools in Perto Rico closed in
two thousand and seven. I said, here's an idea. If
I was on Bad Bunnies team, how about Adidas opens
(35:06):
a school in San Juan or renovates an existing one.
How amazing would that be forever? It's a win win
for everybody involved. It's great pr and press for Adidas.
Bad Bunny is doing right by his people. The people
of sam Juan are getting something in return for their
culture being used for profit. And let's Adidas and put
Bad Bunny gonna sell a hell of a lot of
(35:26):
sneakers and it's a tax right off for Adidas at
the end of the day. It's literally it's I mean shit,
it's a marketing scheme. It's a commercial. Use your commercial
budget for that. You film it, you document, it's the
greatest commercial you could ever ask for. Why is it
that Bad Bunny or someone on his team is not
thinking that way? Again, this is low effort stuff. We're
(35:51):
talking about company, a company that's worth, however, many billion dollars,
probably a celebrity who's worth millions and millions and millions,
tens of millions of dollars. This is very low effort
for people like them, and the mere fact that they're
not thinking that way is what bothers me. Why is
your head not immediately going there with all that you have?
(36:16):
And again I use him as an example because he's
the most glaring example. He's the best example we have,
but it is a societal issue and it's obvious by
the people that sort of run to defend why he
doesn't have to get involved because you have people from
Puerto Rico in my comments, like, you know, defending him,
(36:38):
and it's like, man, you would benefit from what I'm saying.
I had somebody say to me, you know how much
money he's brought to the local economy with the concerts
he does. Bro, you understand he's not playing those concerts
for free. Yes, the local economy is making money from
that with parking and you know, the venue and everything
that comes along with it travel. Guess what, bad Bunny
(37:02):
is making a ton of money off of those ticket sales,
the merchandise and everything in between. Like we're letting people
off the hook and acting as if they're doing like
we pretend people are doing us a favor. Meanwhile they're
lining their pockets. Like at the same time, what are
we talking about? Think bigger, demand more, want more, want better?
Why are we accepting the bare minimum? Yes, he has
(37:25):
done a tremendous amount of bringing awareness for the island
of Puerto Rico, but he could do more. Right it's
an election year. Somebody like bad Bunny could get a
sit down with President Biden. I'm sure the Biden administration
would love this shit to try to get the Latino
vote behind them. Get a sit down and say, hey,
(37:47):
what are we doing about the infrastructure in Puerto Rico?
The blackouts that have been happening. This is a massive problem.
Bring attention on an international level. Get Biden to try
to commit to some sort of plan. Call out the
government and that company at the highest level in front
of the President of the United States. Why is somebody
(38:09):
like him not thinking that way? It's the same like
people are obsessed with celebrity, even politicians. It's the world
that we live in, So why not use that celebrity
for good, right? Somebody like Kim Kardashian proved this when
she sat down with Donald Trump and had that woman exonerated. Bro,
once you're at a certain level of celebrity status and access,
(38:30):
you just appearing somewhere is a tremendous asset to so
many people. Again, even the President of the United States.
Why is nobody thinking that way? Dude? I have all,
like all the access in the world. If I was
Bad Bunny I'm thinking, what can I do with this moment,
(38:51):
because it's not gonna last forever. If I truly give
a fuck about my people, how can I now take
advantage of it? Right? And again, he's done a lot.
But we live in a very self serving society, and
this is why people like Bob Marley are revered, right
because Bob Marley wasn't necessarily a materialistic person. He was
(39:15):
somebody who spoke about the underdogs, who put on concerts
for love and unity right, trying to bring both sides
together in Jamaica during a very violent time in the country.
He was somebody who didn't want to flaunt his wealth
because he was understanding that he had a bigger purpose
(39:36):
here than being some celebrity. And that's why he's revered
as if I'm not mistaken, almost like a prophet in
Rastafarian culture. I'm sorry, but I want more. If you've
been blessed with so much and you care about the
(40:00):
world and your fellow man, I expect you to do more.
Because there are people on the ground, boots on the ground,
doing shit with absolutely no resource whatsoever other than word
of mouth. You should be participating. We all should be participating.
In some sort of way. By the way, I'm putting
(40:23):
my money where my mouth is because it's easy for
me to sit behind this microphone and say these things.
Right today, I'm actually going to go to a rally
that's happening outside of the United Nations in New York
City for Puerto Rican Independence. So I'm trying to get
involved in trying to do what I can do as well.
I don't want to be somebody who just sits here
and talks. I think we all have a part to
play about the things that we care about. Now, with
(40:45):
that said, on some positivity for me hint this segment.
But first we'll take a quick break and then we'll
be right back. All right. So it is Pride lun
(41:06):
very very special and important time of year for people
to feel seen, to feel safe, to understand that they
can be whoever they are and not feel shame about
it and not feel like their life or safety is
at risk. Right. I'm actually going to be djaying the
Pride March in New York City on Sunday, June thirtieth.
(41:29):
I'll be there on iHeartRadio float. So if you're around,
you know, wave to me. I'll be over there. Djaying,
but we Are Me Too did a really great sort
of compilation of Latin brands and entrepreneurs who are helping
celebrate Pride Month and are part of the LGBTQ plus community.
And I'm just gonna shout out a few of them.
(41:49):
So you have a brand called I love this name
a tribe called Queer, which is a Los Angeles based
community organization focusing on empowering by Pick Bypoc. I was
fuck up that word Bypock and LGBTQ plus communities. They
aim to create safe spaces and affirm identities through mental wellness,
art education, and more. I absolutely love this so much.
(42:10):
I think that's what a great a great calling, mental
wellness and all these things. A tribe called Queer. I'll
put the link to this article in the show notes
so you can go ahead and follow them. Alex at
their Instagram is just a tribe called Queer. If you
want to follow, you have Scary Good Coffee. It is
an LGBQQ LGBTQ plus own brand. They say they're realizing
(42:31):
that the coffee industry lacks of inclusivity and representation, especially
for women and minorities. Nancy Alvarez established scary good coffee
to deliver fresh, complex coffee to homes. Absolutely just love
to see this. Now you have j z D, which
is a company founded by Jen and Barrow, which is air.
(42:58):
That's their names, Jen and Vero, and they started a
lifestyle brand in twenty sixteen to celebrate Latina culture and
community empowerment. Started with the iconic pink Latina Power Tea,
symbolizing the strength and representation of Latinas everywhere They're saying.
Despite initial struggles, the brand grew through its strong community
focus and leveraging social media to connect and expand. They
(43:20):
create products that resonate with cultural roots and stories, ensuring
their community's input in every launch. Today, j ZD is
a thriving Latina owned, queer Latino owned business dedicated to
celebrating kultura and empowering individuals by reminding them of their
inherent power and ancestral support. Love that there's so many
(43:40):
brands on this list, I mean I can't read all
of them. Actually, big shout out to one of the
ones I have here, Cocoa and Breezy Eyewear. Coco and
Breezy are really dope. They are twin sisters who have
this beautiful eye company like eyeglasses and or some more
than anything. I think they did it collab with Prints
(44:02):
actually when he was still alive. But they're like luxury
I wear. They're actually really dope DJs. If I'm not mistaken,
they're actually Puerto Rican and black, and I interviewed them
like years ago when I was with the Breakfast Club
for our YouTube channel. But they're really dope and they're
like they're they're also they're DJs, like I said, and producers.
(44:22):
They do a lot of like house music and the
idea of like how people of color have been left
out of the conversation around house music even though it's
black people who created it essentially right, So they're trying
to bring that narrative. Like I said, they're both they're twins. Obviously,
they're half Puerto Rican and black, and I believe they are.
If I'm not mistaken, I think they're they're bisexual, so
they're they're part of the LGBTQ plus community. They're unapologetically
(44:44):
speak about that kind of stuff. So, uh, just just beautiful,
beautiful things like this. I mean, let me see if
I can read a few more on this on this
list here You have good Old Miha a lot of Galvez,
a queer LATINX illustrator based in Houston, and she provides
art that represents and affirms her own worth, which is
(45:07):
just amazing. You have the Queer Gym, founded by Coach
Nat America's first fitness center dedicated providing a safe and
inclusive space for the LGBTQ plus community. The Queer Gym.
I'd love to see that. You have Smile Cults, which
is a lifestyle brand based in la creates apparel and
goodies for individuals in their healing era, aren't we all?
I love to see that. Another company is Barrio Drive,
(45:29):
an immigrant owned brand that advocates for marginalized voices through fashion,
art and storytelling. You have Undaku Lawyer. Now, this is
a law firm founded by this RASKI what is it? Roski?
I apologize, I'm butchering. I'm butchering this name, Miss Morales
(45:53):
and specializes in the intersection of business, tax, and employment law,
mainly focusing on the impacts of immigration status on entrepreneurial endeavors.
Fucking amazing, man, that's a lawyer. Amazing. You have a
Little Barn Coffeehouse co owned by Celeste Diaz and Joanna
Rubio opened in Los Angeles in July twenty twenty. They
(46:15):
are lifestyle lifelong vegans and partners for fifteen years, transforming
the space themselves during the pandemic to offer vegan versions
of traditional meals. Amazing, amazing stuff. Again. I kind of
just went quickly for that list because it's a bunch.
But I'll put the link in the show notes if
you want to support these businesses this month or any month. Honestly,
I think particularly in our community where I think a
(46:36):
lot of the conversation around LGBTQ hasn't been the most positive.
We've been a bit closed minded. I love to see
brands that are Latino on, Latino on and are supporting,
you know, our LGBTQ plus community as they should. So
just beautiful stuff. Again, I'll put the link in the
(46:57):
show notes. Go check these companies out. And that said,
we're gonna tie everything we talked about today in a
neat little bow in a segment we call conclusion. Still
time for all right, So I'm like losing my voice.
I feel like I'm just passionately talking. I was also
(47:19):
having a discussion with my dad last night in the
car and we both tend to just start getting really passionate.
So my voice is getting shot from all of the above.
But this Arizona man who wanted to gun down black
people at a bed Bunny concert in Atlanta, again, it's
it's a scary reminder of the time that we live
in and the polarization that's happened, the conspiracy theories, the
(47:41):
just stirring of the pot that is happening from the
Republican Party, and the real world consequences that sadly could
happen with the rhetoric that they're putting out there. Again,
this didn't happen because this guy was recruiting other people
and one of them ratted him out. Otherwise, the FBI
(48:04):
had no idea this guy was buying guns, buying semi
automatic rifles through cash deals and was planning on carrying
this out. You know, it's scary stuff and that's why
all these things matter. Latinos are far more likely to
die on the job. I mean, just a really sad article. Again.
The thing that really stuck out to me is states
like Texas and Florida trying to take away the protective
(48:24):
measures that have been instilled to make sure these people
are safe when working in these really horrendous conditions of
working outside. Again, it shows their racism, It shows their
the anti immigrant feelings that they have, and that they're
willing to weaponize things for the sake of staying at office.
Weaponized lives, I should say, not things, people's lives for
the sake of staying in office. And a scary reminder
(48:46):
of that. And then just sort of the conversation that
was happening or I continue to have around. You know,
things are happening in Puerto Rico, and I think just
our collective responsibility. I just want us to be motivated
to help one another. Man, like, like, you know, the
world would be a far better place if like the
(49:06):
poverty didn't exist. And I know that that's like this
you know, grandiose utopian idea that that isn't a reality
but or can't be a reality, you know, as they say,
so they say, but really think about that. Think about
like if you want to think about how things affect
all of us, if large numbers of people weren't suffering,
crime would almost probably not be a thing, right, Yeah,
(49:28):
would still exists, but not at the rate that that
it happens now, and what do we end up doing
instead of actually solving like the real disease, we put
band aids, we over police, we we you know, arrest
people at higher rates instead of saying, hey, if we
actually put some money into these communities and try to
tackle poverty as a whole, people probably wouldn't need to
resort to illegal measures to survive. Just the thought. And again,
(49:52):
if all of us did our like again, that affects
all of us. Right, So if communities that are marginalized,
that are suffering, people that are suffering poverty stricken people
are being helped, it then expands into all of us
having a better quality of life, you know, where crime
is less right and we can sleep a little better
(50:13):
at night knowing. So like again, it's it's stuff like
that that affects all of us. We just have to
give a damn. And lastly, you know when I talked
about these brands celebrating LGBTQ, sorry, these LGBTQ plus founded
brands celebrating Pride Month, and and not even celebrating Pride Month,
but taking a moment to celebrate these brands for Pride Month,
(50:36):
I think is amazing. You know, these Latin owned brands
that are many of the ones I mentioned are founded
by members of the LGBTQ plus community or are you
know doing their part to spread awareness and love. I
just think it's such a beautiful, beautiful thing that needs
to continue. And again, it's all of us doing our
part for a better world. A world where people don't
(50:57):
have to hide who they are, where they don't have
to feel like their safety is in danger because of
who they are, and I think that is something we
all should be striving for. A world that exists like that,
I think is one that is far healthier for all
of us. So just some things to look at. Again.
I'll put the link to those brands in the show
notes if you want to check them out, support them.
(51:19):
And that's it. Man. Everybody have an amazing weekend. I
will catch you on Tuesday with a brand new episode.
So then stay safe, we'll talk soon. Life as a
GREENO is a production of the micro Thura podcast Network
and iHeartRadio.
Love me talking about talk here we go. He said,
you live in life as a gringo, where you question
where you fit in every time you mingle, they say
you do this with not life. Yes, hello, and welcome
to another episode of Life as a Gringo. I am dramas,
(00:26):
of course, and it's Thursday, so it means time for
our Thursday Trends episode Flying Solo. On today's show. I
had a couple of guests that I was trying to
get on the show, just scheduling didn't work out. It's
just one of those weird weeks and it happens. But
there's a lot to talk about. I'm just gonna stick
to the stories. No asking being gone today the show,
and I've been slacking when it comes to that. I
(00:46):
I didn't really finalize what I wanted to talk about
until I kind of sat down. That's my own fault,
so I apologize, promise I'll do better next week. But
wait to get into a few things that are really
interesting that happened recently, or conversations that are happening. You
had won a really scary story here in Arizona where
(01:07):
an Arizona man, I should say, actually had plans to
commit a mass shooting in Atlanta at a Bad Bunny concert,
So we'll talk a bit about that. I mean, it's
politically motivated, really scary stuff. Thankfully, you know, I'll let
(01:29):
you know, you know ahead of time that thank well,
obviously you know, if it wasn't the news yet, but
thankfully this plan was spoiled by the FEDS, the FBI,
But really scary stuff. We'll also talk about how Latinos
are far more likely to die on the job. And
also I kind of wanted to expound upon a discussion
that I was having on social media at DJ Dramos
(01:50):
you want to follow me on Instagram and just sort
of talking about how it's all of our jobs to
do something right. And I know I've said this it's
a million and one times, but I wanted to to
keep sort of discussing it and specifically talking about from
the lens of all that's going on in Puerto Rico.
(02:11):
There is a massive blackout that happened for the entire island,
and it's just sort of more of the same of
what's been going on, and they're just a couple of
things I wanted to sort of touch on in regards
to that I think apply it to anybody living life
in any way. But sort of responding some of the
(02:31):
pushback I've gotten about people saying it's not the job
of a celebrity, it's the job of politician, all these
different things, and I think this specific example of what's
going on in Puerto Rico, what continues to happen, is
a great, I think teachable moment of what potential solutions
could be out there if we begin to start thinking
(02:53):
outside of the norm. So that's why I want to
touch on a bit and then on me hint that segment.
It is Pride Month, so I want to lebrate a
few brands that are Latin owned brands that are supporting,
you know, Pride Month, that we can all sort of
show love to this month. Will that farm you hint
this segment. But first let's against the nonsense the bs
and we'll do it in a segment we call for
(03:14):
the people in the back, say a lot for the
people in the say a lot of the people in
the say a lot of the people. All right, let's
start in Atlanta, where there was a really just disgusting
(03:40):
plan for a mass shooting at a Bad Bunny concert.
So in Arizona man allegedly wanted to gun down black
people at in Atlanta Bad Bunny concert in an attempt
to spark a race war ahead of the presidential election.
According to federal oral prosecutors, Mark Adams Paredo, fifty eight
(04:03):
years old, was indicted on Tuesday, nearly a month after
he was arrested. So he was arrested a month ago.
The charges just came out and now it's starting to
get headlines. But he was indicted over the alleged plot,
and he planned to murder as many black people as
he could with semi automatic rifles that he had bought
(04:23):
through cash deals or trades to avoid detection from gun regulators.
He was outed after a source he'd recruited to participate
in the massacre notified FBI agents, leading to a month
long investigation that ended after he attempted to recruit an
undercover agent to join the mass shooting. According to an
affidat it obtained by NBC News quote, Preto believes that
(04:44):
martial law will be implemented shortly after the twenty twenty
four election, and that a mass shooting should occur prior.
This is what the source told the FBI in Phoenix,
according to the Abba, David adding that quote, he was
ready to kill a bunch of people. Now you already
know my views on guns and the cancer that they
(05:11):
are to our society, and this is another example. I mean, listen,
Thank god this man was dumb enough to try and
recruit others to help him out. But if he wasn't,
this might have actually happened. Think about it. He was
(05:34):
able to get semi automatic rifles through cash deals or trades,
so he was able to go undetected. The only reason
why anybody was even on his ass was because he
was actively trying to recruit people and somebody ratted him out.
And that's incredibly scary, right to think how close or
(05:59):
like the margin of error that is there. What if
that person did not rat him out? Right? What if
that person was just as fucking crazy as him. What
if he decided he was going to do this by
himself and never even started recruiting. These are scary, scary prospects, right,
(06:23):
And thank god it played out the way that it did,
but it could have been a very different story, and
a very tragic one. And I think again, as we
continue to sort of beat a dead horse at this point.
It's political extremism, right. It is people who have drank
(06:52):
the kool aid by the gallon at this point, right,
And they're so invested in all that Trump has started
that it's as if there's no going back, right. And
(07:15):
I'm like, I pause for a second there, because I'm like,
I hate to be pessimistic on things, but it's like,
how do you talk sense into these people? Right? You
can't anybody that is willing to go to this extreme
(07:36):
to hurt innocent people for the sake of their political
and racist agenda, There's probably no getting through to them, right.
And I guess the only real thing you can do
with stories like this one is sort of just point
(08:00):
out what Donald Trump has created in this country. And
obviously racism existed before him, it's going to exist long
after him. But all these sort of conspiracy theories about
martial law and the outbreak of violence after the election,
(08:23):
and like these these sort of end of world ideas, right,
end of day's ideas that there's going to be this
civil war in this country and we're not going to
have a country to go back to if Donald Trump
doesn't win this election, essentially, right, and that there's going
(08:54):
to be you know, mass hysteria in the streets and
violence and like you said, martial law. Essentially, these really
extreme conspiracy theories. It creates a perfect storm for people
(09:17):
who are obviously already not well in the head to
then get activated to do crazy shit like this. And
then when you have a country that has been very
lax on guns and doesn't seem to want to do
anything about them, this guy can go ahead and make
(09:37):
cash purchases or trades and go undetected. Again, the only
reason we're even talking about this, the only reason he's
arrested was because he went and ran his mouth to
other people. That's fucking scary, and it speaks to the
importance of voting because the ideas on the right are
(10:09):
getting more and more extreme. The idea and the poison
that they're putting in people's head of like we're at
war basically is activating the worst people. And that's what
(10:32):
we have to be mindful of. That's why this election
is so important. That's why I Donald Trump does in
fact win the election, which is a possibility, it's only
going to empower and embolden people like this even more.
You know, who knows where this goes from there so scared.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news and
I never want to use fear tactics or anything like that.
(10:54):
But this is what's going on. This is what's out there,
and people are buying into the idea of they're being
so much chaos, political chaos, and this country being you know,
in turmoil and all these things that like they're running
(11:15):
and coming up with crazy schemes based off of these
conspiracy theories. Right, Like this guy is believing that after
the twenty twenty four election, there's going to be martial law.
Just I don't I literally don't even have like, you know,
(11:37):
real things to sort of respond to, Like I don't,
I don't, I just I just like can I don't
have a real opinion anymore. It's just things like this
make me sad at this point. And by the way,
martial law, just anybody that isn't familiar with the concept,
martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military
rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers.
(12:00):
So his belief system is that we basically aren't gonna
have any rights after the twenty twenty four election, and
the military is going to be in charge. Basic democracy
is over. And I mean, maybe he's half right if
Trump actually does win the election, but again, just scary
fucking stuff, man, scary stuff. Moving on, Latinos are far
(12:21):
more likely to die in the job. Depressing as well.
Now this is an article from Project Bulso and I'm
reading from their social media as like an Instagram posts
they had posted about but they said when a three
hundred foot container ship destroyed Baltimore's Francis Scott Keybridge, six
people died. All were construction workers, and all were Latino.
(12:41):
The tragedy is indicative of a much larger trend in
the US, wherein Latino employees are far more likely to
work and die in more dangerous environments than their counterparts
in other racial and ethnic groups. According to a study
conducted by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of
Industrial Organizations, than two hundred and forty eight Latinos died
(13:02):
on the job in twenty twenty two, sixty percent of
whom were immigrants. The group with the second highest risk
of death at work was black employees seven hundred and
thirty four of seven hundred and thirty four of whom
died in the same year, Latino's rate of death increased
twenty four percent over the previous decade. And now they're
saying one of the most important contributing factors to these
(13:24):
horrible statistics is that Latinos are far more likely to
work and hazardous underregulated sectors. By far, the most dangerous
trade is construction, which accounts for thirty one percent of
all Latino deaths at work. Approximately thirty percent of the
US construction workforce is Latino, though in states like Texas
and Florida that number is sixty one percent and thirty
seven percent, respectively. Texas and Florida are also at the
(13:46):
forefront of banning protective measures for outdoor workers. Both states
recently passed laws nullifying local ordinances mandating water and shade
breaks for employees in construction, grounds, maintenance, and agri culture.
These two sectors reported the third sixty seven workers and
fourth forty third forty three workers highest Latino death rates.
(14:08):
And I'm stuttering that last sentence because I'm like, I
want to just go in. I'm not here to spread
conspiracy theories, but let's talk about this. States like Texas
and Florida, which have been very outspoken about their anti
immigrant beliefs, have put forth measures banning protective have put
(14:35):
forth I'm sorry, I have put forth bans on protective
measures for outdoor workers. Let's logically, let's put our thinking
cap on for a second here, right. Protective measures for
outdoor workers so measures put in place to protect the
(15:01):
lives of those who are vulnerable, especially in places like
Texas and Florida where it's incredibly hot to work outside
and dangerously hot. Right and by the way, we're this
whole week, we're in a heat wave in the New
York City area. Right. There's been all kinds of like
(15:24):
warnings about it, and we're at like ninety something degrees
in the middle of summer. In places like Florida and Texas,
that's the norm, right, But we're being told this week,
you know, like take care of ourselves, don't be outside
too long, keep your pets indoors, all the above, right,
(15:46):
air quality alerts. These people in Texas and Florida have
to work in these conditions for months at a time. So,
logically speaking, in a country that cares about people in
society as human beings, we want to keep people safe. Right, then,
(16:14):
would you want to ban protective measures, like, what's the
logic book behind banning protective measures. It's one of two things,
because there's no normal, healthy, rational explanation for wanting to
(16:37):
ban protective measures, which by the way, include mandating water
and shade breaks for employees, basic things. It's hot, you
need water, you need breaks, you need to get out
of the sun for a little bit. There's no again,
logical reason to ban these things, so the reasons have
(17:00):
to be far more sinister, unfortunately, and it's one of
two things. Either you are doing this for the big
companies that are behind these construction projects, these ground maintenance
and agriculture, because it means they can work their employees
for far more hours straight and theoretically produce more right,
(17:23):
which then helps them and their profits. Or the other
side of that coin is you know that these are
jobs heavily worked by immigrants, by brown people, and you've
already put on display you're disdained for immigrants, So this
(17:44):
is another means of punishing and dehumanizing immigrants. Those are
your only two options, and to be quite honest, it's
probably a combination of the two. And again the fact
that dude, why isn't this front page news. The fact
(18:09):
that states are trying to ban protective measures for workers
who are working in extreme conditions. There's something incredibly sinister
at play, and again it is politicians playing political games
(18:35):
at the expense of the lives of people. And I
know the other side because I'm already thinking, like I
post this clip on Instagram. The reaction, well, if they
didn't come here illegally, this wouldn't be a problem. That's
your first instinct. Your first instinct is another human being
(19:00):
is suffering and could suffer, but the government is trying
to not do anything to protect them from suffering, and
your first instinct is to say, well, they shouldn't be
here in the first place, even if that is your
(19:22):
political ideology. As a human being, your first instinct should
say this is fucking wrong. Regardless of what I feel
about immigration. I'm a human being first, so I should
be able to, first and foremost look at that, regardless
of what side of the eyle I fall on, and
(19:44):
say that's not right. You're putting lives at risk unnecessarily.
There's literally no reason to justify it. But we live
in a world where your political ideology supersedes your humanity,
and that's that's normal. People will go on social media
(20:07):
and publicly let you know that they have no shame
in that right. I think I posted and talked about
in Arizona, they were trying to pass a bill where
people can you know, legally like gunned down people crossing
the border over their property, and you had people publicly
(20:32):
coming out and saying, I got to move to Arizona.
You're you're talking about wanting to move somewhere so that
you can take another human being's life legally. We've gotten
to the point of extremism where our political ideology, our
(20:52):
political you know, affiliation supersedes the fact that we're a
human being first, and that's a scary fucking place to be.
And moving on in this article, they say Latinos in
general and Latino immigrants specifically are frequently maligned for quote
stealing jobs. However, Luestrahante is often forced to take the
most dangerous work no one else wants to do, and
(21:14):
our disproportionate number of workplace debts is just the most
heartbreaking indicator of that fact. And another great point. They're
taking their jobs or taking our jobs. I don't see
many of you lining up to go work in the
field in these extreme conditions. That's why those jobs are
(21:40):
available to them. Or corporations that are refusing to pay
a fair wage, that's why those jobs are available to them,
because unfortunately this is a means to an end, they
have very few other options. It's it's just, you know, again,
(22:03):
the lack of humanity will never cease to amaze me. Genuinely. Hey,
maybe that's something I need to get over. But I
also feel like I feel like the day that it
it doesn't bother me, means I've become cold and dead
inside and like lack all the humanity that I'm accusing
these people of not having. But it is frustrating. Now
(22:27):
we'll take a quick break here and then we'll be
right back. All right, we are back, and I want
to just touch on something quickly. I had posted a
couple of things I was, you know, last week. I
was like driving home. I was about to get in
the car, and I was like, who was I even doing?
(22:49):
I was? I was in It was in New York,
and I went to an event and I was like
stopped and grab some pizza and I was just like
sitting outside eating and I was going through my phone
and I kept seeing these posts about Puerto Rico, and
there was just a massive blackout that literally the entire
island lost power overnight basically, and this is a frequent
(23:09):
problem happening throughout the islet of Puerto Rico. They've privatized
the electricity to a company called Luma, who is price
gouging people but also providing subpar service, and it's affecting
the quality of life of people. I mean, you've had
people dying from this, you know, because they're you know,
on respirators or whatever it might be. The power goes
(23:30):
out and unfortunately they don't have a generator, they can't
afford it, and the electricity they need to survive is
not there. Right, people have lost loved ones and at
the very least, you know, obviously not its extreme, but
people also their personal property getting damaged by power surges, right,
(23:51):
and the power constantly going on and off. We have
a family home in Puerto Rico and we've lost thousands
of dollars in air conditioners and TVs and other electronics
because the power surges that happen, We lose power and
then it comes back on to the point that now
you know, when no one is there, we shut the
power off completely for the entire house to try to
avoid this problem. Right, and again, compared to death, that's nothing.
(24:14):
What I'm saying is the people of Puto Ricar are suffering.
And if you don't have money to replace these things,
it is a big deal, right if you do lose
your air conditioner, if you you know, lose the one
television you have in the house, Like, these are things
that shouldn't happen to people, especially when they're paying higher
prices for their electrical building. We are here in the States,
(24:35):
but being provided a subpar service, right, So my sort
of vantage point on this because the government, unfortunately is
corrupt and obviously somebody's getting a kickback somewhere to allow
this to happen, right, because they do have like a
trade Commission, a consumer athins, consumer affairs boarder I'm fucking
(24:58):
up the name, but basically a board that's supposed to
oversee making sure that companies aren't taking advantage of their consumers, right,
consumers from the island. Nobody is doing anything right. Nobody
is saying what is going on that we're paying this
much money but the service is that awful. Nobody is
trying to hold them accountable for nobody's doing anything basically right.
(25:21):
Nobody is looking into this. Obviously there's some corruption happening
at a higher level. And my vantage point is always this,
in a utopian, perfect, amazing society, yes, the government would
do its job and they would be the ones that
we have to report to as far as like, hey,
what's going on, you need to fix this. But here
in the real world, unfortunately, they're not doing all that
(25:44):
they can do. They're not causing a stink the way
they should with this company Luma. So I take the
perspective of what are our resources as regular people, as citizens,
as descendants of a place like Puerto Rico. Our greatest
resource is the fact that we actually have a surplus
(26:04):
of people like the Bad Bunnies of the world, or
the dead Yankees or whomever, that are extremely wealthy, well
connected and have gigantic platforms, right, And there's so much
power within that, And I always lean on why not
have these people who have been blessed, especially somebody like
(26:26):
Bad Bunny with a generational level of influence. He holds
the island of Puerto Rico on the palm of his hand. Basically,
I want more from him. Because I want this is
a unprecedented blessing to have that much influence, and it's
a waste if it only happens via music, right, or
(26:48):
if it's you know, these very short term solutions of
charities and things like that. There's so much power that
this man holds and I would love to see him
step up to the play. And for me, this is
tough love. This isn't a you know, I'm not shitting
(27:09):
on this human being. I think he's done a lot
more than probably any other artist. But for me, you
can't go to the protest, you can't speak up and
then also be like, oh, but I'm an artist. I'm
not a politician, So that's my excuse to fall back.
You've already put yourself out there as an activist, right.
If that wasn't the case, then you can be a
(27:31):
Mark Anthony or a Jennifer Lopez who for the most
of their career stays out of these things and they
just put out music and they truly are just artists
at the end of the day. Right, But for somebody
that bad bunny, you've already begun to put yourself out
there as somebody who cares about what happens on the island.
On top of that, you mean more of the island
(27:53):
than these people do to me. You have a responsibility, right,
and I think all of us responsibility in general. If
you believe in God, you believe that we're all God's children,
that means that we're all brothers and sisters essentially right
in God. So just like if your brother or sister
(28:17):
in the real sense came to you and we're in trouble,
you'd probably rush to help them, we also need to
have some level of empathy in a similar fashion to
all of those around us, understanding that we're all you know,
basically the other side of the coin. We're all connected
in some sort of way. I talk about this a
(28:37):
lot like we're a tribe, we're a neighbor. Doesn't matter
if we believe in God or not. Like we're all
connected the fucking fish in the ocean. We're all sharing
this thing called planet Earth together. All of us are connected.
Everything we do affects something else on this planet, right,
The carbon monoxide from us driving cars and all these things,
(28:58):
and you know the emissions that are have Like that,
we're all affecting the quality of life for the animals
and the natural resources in this planet right, we're destroying it. Basically,
we all have an effect on child, whether we want
to admit it or not. We're all in this together. Therefore,
to me, it's all of our jobs to want to
help and make things better when we can with what
(29:19):
we have, and certain people have a lot, right. So
for me, it's like I look at these things and
I'm like, how do we as the people fight back
if the powers that be are not doing their jobs?
You know? And this is my proposal. I'm just going
to throw this out there into the universe because I
also called I was like, where are the lawyers who
(29:40):
want to get creative and figure out what we can do?
Because yes, Luma has a contract with Puerto Rico to
be the service provider, right, and that's what they're doing.
And there's a lot of you know, red tape involved
in all these things. But if we want them out,
then you have to hit them where it hurt. These
corporate companies, the only guy that they answer to is
(30:03):
green It's money. So I was listening to this podcast
the other day and they were talking about gun violence
and the families of like Sandy Hook, who had that
horrific mass shooting that happened at the elementary school in Connecticut. Now, obviously,
the government, and I'm using this as an example the government.
(30:23):
Our government has not done enough when it comes to
gun safety, gun violence. So while they're not doing anything,
these parents have banded together and are filing class action
lawsuits against the gun manufacturers. Right. So there's two different
ones going on right now by the same lawyer. Or
one happened, one settled one in Connecticut that was connected
(30:45):
to the Sandy Hook shooting. He's now gone to uvall Day,
Texas and they're filing a similar lawsuit. But basically, the
gun industry, unlike most other consumer industries, doesn't have to
answer for the carnage that happens as a result of
their products being you know, of their products, right. Car companies,
like if I'm driving a car and god forbid it
were to blow up, they would have a liability like
(31:08):
you know, whatever, Honda if something happened with the car.
Gun companies don't have a similar liability. They're off the
hook because of laws. But what this lawyer did was
he got creative, and I believe gun companies can't advertise
similar to like how cigarette companies can't advertise, but what
gun companies have been doing. And I might be conflating
(31:28):
the two stories, but essentially the argument that was being
made here was the gun that was used in the
Sandy Hook shooting was actually a gun that was found
in the game Call of Duty. And what he was
able to trace back was the gun manufacturer actually paid
to get that gun in the game Call of Duty.
(31:51):
And the kid who the person who did the shooting
in Sandy Hook was an avid player of the game
of Call of Duty. So the correlation he made was
that gun company was actually marketing to this person, and
as a result, since they're not supposed to be marketing,
they are responsible for what that person went out and did.
(32:12):
Essentially right, he was able to make some sort of correlation.
I'm giving you, like a very abridged version of it.
You can look into this yourself if you want. I
think the podcast is it The Daily I think it's
a dailier's the Washington Post podcast. One of them did
like an in depth episode about it. You can listen
to it. But basically, they got creative with this lawsuit
(32:34):
and they ended up, you know, settling out of court
that they got there's a payout. Now he's going to
do the same thing in You've all date. But the
point being this, you hit these companies where it hurts
if the government is not stepping in right in this case,
it's when it comes to guns. You hit the companies
directly where it hurts, in their pockets. You try to
you bleed them drive financially because they don't want that's
that's literally the worst case scenario for them. So my
(32:57):
argument is when you have a company like Luma and
Puerto Rico, if people like Bad Bunny or Daddy Yankee
or whomever created a fund where they each said, we're
gonna put X amount of dollars into a people's fund,
and with that fund, we now hire attorneys to create
(33:18):
all types of lawsuits against this company, Luma, with the
intention of we're going to bleed them dry until they
tap out and say enough is enough. We need to
get out of here. It's not worth it for us anymore.
And that is the power that these celebrities have because
they can fundraise, they have money themselves, and they have
(33:38):
connections and a way of getting the message out there
to millions and millions of people around the world. And
I'm sorry, but when you have a platform, you have
a responsibility. You can accept it or not, but you
have a responsibility. If you want to be a good
(34:01):
human being, you do what you can. That's my point
of view on all of these different things. And I think,
and I even went to even further where I was
talking about just different examples. I throw out there, Bad
Bunny has a deal with Adidas. He has a sneaker
(34:22):
coming out. It's called the San Juan Sneaker. San Juan
is a capital of Puerto Rico. My suggestion is, Okay,
you have Adidas making money off of our culture. I'm
not gonna say exploiting, but sure, why not say to Adidas, hey,
(34:43):
since we're doing a sneaker literally called the San Juan Sneaker,
why don't you guys do some sort of charitable effort
for the people of San Juan something. And I brought
up the fact that there have been it's like forty
four percent of public schools in Perto Rico closed in
two thousand and seven. I said, here's an idea. If
I was on Bad Bunnies team, how about Adidas opens
(35:06):
a school in San Juan or renovates an existing one.
How amazing would that be forever? It's a win win
for everybody involved. It's great pr and press for Adidas.
Bad Bunny is doing right by his people. The people
of sam Juan are getting something in return for their
culture being used for profit. And let's Adidas and put
Bad Bunny gonna sell a hell of a lot of
(35:26):
sneakers and it's a tax right off for Adidas at
the end of the day. It's literally it's I mean shit,
it's a marketing scheme. It's a commercial. Use your commercial
budget for that. You film it, you document, it's the
greatest commercial you could ever ask for. Why is it
that Bad Bunny or someone on his team is not
thinking that way? Again, this is low effort stuff. We're
(35:51):
talking about company, a company that's worth, however, many billion dollars,
probably a celebrity who's worth millions and millions and millions,
tens of millions of dollars. This is very low effort
for people like them, and the mere fact that they're
not thinking that way is what bothers me. Why is
your head not immediately going there with all that you have?
(36:16):
And again I use him as an example because he's
the most glaring example. He's the best example we have,
but it is a societal issue and it's obvious by
the people that sort of run to defend why he
doesn't have to get involved because you have people from
Puerto Rico in my comments, like, you know, defending him,
(36:38):
and it's like, man, you would benefit from what I'm saying.
I had somebody say to me, you know how much
money he's brought to the local economy with the concerts
he does. Bro, you understand he's not playing those concerts
for free. Yes, the local economy is making money from
that with parking and you know, the venue and everything
that comes along with it travel. Guess what, bad Bunny
(37:02):
is making a ton of money off of those ticket sales,
the merchandise and everything in between. Like we're letting people
off the hook and acting as if they're doing like
we pretend people are doing us a favor. Meanwhile they're
lining their pockets. Like at the same time, what are
we talking about? Think bigger, demand more, want more, want better?
Why are we accepting the bare minimum? Yes, he has
(37:25):
done a tremendous amount of bringing awareness for the island
of Puerto Rico, but he could do more. Right it's
an election year. Somebody like bad Bunny could get a
sit down with President Biden. I'm sure the Biden administration
would love this shit to try to get the Latino
vote behind them. Get a sit down and say, hey,
(37:47):
what are we doing about the infrastructure in Puerto Rico?
The blackouts that have been happening. This is a massive problem.
Bring attention on an international level. Get Biden to try
to commit to some sort of plan. Call out the
government and that company at the highest level in front
of the President of the United States. Why is somebody
(38:09):
like him not thinking that way? It's the same like
people are obsessed with celebrity, even politicians. It's the world
that we live in, So why not use that celebrity
for good, right? Somebody like Kim Kardashian proved this when
she sat down with Donald Trump and had that woman exonerated. Bro,
once you're at a certain level of celebrity status and access,
(38:30):
you just appearing somewhere is a tremendous asset to so
many people. Again, even the President of the United States.
Why is nobody thinking that way? Dude? I have all,
like all the access in the world. If I was
Bad Bunny I'm thinking, what can I do with this moment,
(38:51):
because it's not gonna last forever. If I truly give
a fuck about my people, how can I now take
advantage of it? Right? And again, he's done a lot.
But we live in a very self serving society, and
this is why people like Bob Marley are revered, right
because Bob Marley wasn't necessarily a materialistic person. He was
(39:15):
somebody who spoke about the underdogs, who put on concerts
for love and unity right, trying to bring both sides
together in Jamaica during a very violent time in the country.
He was somebody who didn't want to flaunt his wealth
because he was understanding that he had a bigger purpose
(39:36):
here than being some celebrity. And that's why he's revered
as if I'm not mistaken, almost like a prophet in
Rastafarian culture. I'm sorry, but I want more. If you've
been blessed with so much and you care about the
(40:00):
world and your fellow man, I expect you to do more.
Because there are people on the ground, boots on the ground,
doing shit with absolutely no resource whatsoever other than word
of mouth. You should be participating. We all should be participating.
In some sort of way. By the way, I'm putting
(40:23):
my money where my mouth is because it's easy for
me to sit behind this microphone and say these things.
Right today, I'm actually going to go to a rally
that's happening outside of the United Nations in New York
City for Puerto Rican Independence. So I'm trying to get
involved in trying to do what I can do as well.
I don't want to be somebody who just sits here
and talks. I think we all have a part to
play about the things that we care about. Now, with
(40:45):
that said, on some positivity for me hint this segment.
But first we'll take a quick break and then we'll
be right back. All right. So it is Pride lun
(41:06):
very very special and important time of year for people
to feel seen, to feel safe, to understand that they
can be whoever they are and not feel shame about
it and not feel like their life or safety is
at risk. Right. I'm actually going to be djaying the
Pride March in New York City on Sunday, June thirtieth.
(41:29):
I'll be there on iHeartRadio float. So if you're around,
you know, wave to me. I'll be over there. Djaying,
but we Are Me Too did a really great sort
of compilation of Latin brands and entrepreneurs who are helping
celebrate Pride Month and are part of the LGBTQ plus community.
And I'm just gonna shout out a few of them.
(41:49):
So you have a brand called I love this name
a tribe called Queer, which is a Los Angeles based
community organization focusing on empowering by Pick Bypoc. I was
fuck up that word Bypock and LGBTQ plus communities. They
aim to create safe spaces and affirm identities through mental wellness,
art education, and more. I absolutely love this so much.
(42:10):
I think that's what a great a great calling, mental
wellness and all these things. A tribe called Queer. I'll
put the link to this article in the show notes
so you can go ahead and follow them. Alex at
their Instagram is just a tribe called Queer. If you
want to follow, you have Scary Good Coffee. It is
an LGBQQ LGBTQ plus own brand. They say they're realizing
(42:31):
that the coffee industry lacks of inclusivity and representation, especially
for women and minorities. Nancy Alvarez established scary good coffee
to deliver fresh, complex coffee to homes. Absolutely just love
to see this. Now you have j z D, which
is a company founded by Jen and Barrow, which is air.
(42:58):
That's their names, Jen and Vero, and they started a
lifestyle brand in twenty sixteen to celebrate Latina culture and
community empowerment. Started with the iconic pink Latina Power Tea,
symbolizing the strength and representation of Latinas everywhere They're saying.
Despite initial struggles, the brand grew through its strong community
focus and leveraging social media to connect and expand. They
(43:20):
create products that resonate with cultural roots and stories, ensuring
their community's input in every launch. Today, j ZD is
a thriving Latina owned, queer Latino owned business dedicated to
celebrating kultura and empowering individuals by reminding them of their
inherent power and ancestral support. Love that there's so many
(43:40):
brands on this list, I mean I can't read all
of them. Actually, big shout out to one of the
ones I have here, Cocoa and Breezy Eyewear. Coco and
Breezy are really dope. They are twin sisters who have
this beautiful eye company like eyeglasses and or some more
than anything. I think they did it collab with Prints
(44:02):
actually when he was still alive. But they're like luxury
I wear. They're actually really dope DJs. If I'm not mistaken,
they're actually Puerto Rican and black, and I interviewed them
like years ago when I was with the Breakfast Club
for our YouTube channel. But they're really dope and they're
like they're they're also they're DJs, like I said, and producers.
(44:22):
They do a lot of like house music and the
idea of like how people of color have been left
out of the conversation around house music even though it's
black people who created it essentially right, So they're trying
to bring that narrative. Like I said, they're both they're twins. Obviously,
they're half Puerto Rican and black, and I believe they are.
If I'm not mistaken, I think they're they're bisexual, so
they're they're part of the LGBTQ plus community. They're unapologetically
(44:44):
speak about that kind of stuff. So, uh, just just beautiful,
beautiful things like this. I mean, let me see if
I can read a few more on this on this
list here You have good Old Miha a lot of Galvez,
a queer LATINX illustrator based in Houston, and she provides
art that represents and affirms her own worth, which is
(45:07):
just amazing. You have the Queer Gym, founded by Coach
Nat America's first fitness center dedicated providing a safe and
inclusive space for the LGBTQ plus community. The Queer Gym.
I'd love to see that. You have Smile Cults, which
is a lifestyle brand based in la creates apparel and
goodies for individuals in their healing era, aren't we all?
I love to see that. Another company is Barrio Drive,
(45:29):
an immigrant owned brand that advocates for marginalized voices through fashion,
art and storytelling. You have Undaku Lawyer. Now, this is
a law firm founded by this RASKI what is it? Roski?
I apologize, I'm butchering. I'm butchering this name, Miss Morales
(45:53):
and specializes in the intersection of business, tax, and employment law,
mainly focusing on the impacts of immigration status on entrepreneurial endeavors.
Fucking amazing, man, that's a lawyer. Amazing. You have a
Little Barn Coffeehouse co owned by Celeste Diaz and Joanna
Rubio opened in Los Angeles in July twenty twenty. They
(46:15):
are lifestyle lifelong vegans and partners for fifteen years, transforming
the space themselves during the pandemic to offer vegan versions
of traditional meals. Amazing, amazing stuff. Again. I kind of
just went quickly for that list because it's a bunch.
But I'll put the link in the show notes if
you want to support these businesses this month or any month. Honestly,
I think particularly in our community where I think a
(46:36):
lot of the conversation around LGBTQ hasn't been the most positive.
We've been a bit closed minded. I love to see
brands that are Latino on, Latino on and are supporting,
you know, our LGBTQ plus community as they should. So
just beautiful stuff. Again, I'll put the link in the
(46:57):
show notes. Go check these companies out. And that said,
we're gonna tie everything we talked about today in a
neat little bow in a segment we call conclusion. Still
time for all right, So I'm like losing my voice.
I feel like I'm just passionately talking. I was also
(47:19):
having a discussion with my dad last night in the
car and we both tend to just start getting really passionate.
So my voice is getting shot from all of the above.
But this Arizona man who wanted to gun down black
people at a bed Bunny concert in Atlanta, again, it's
it's a scary reminder of the time that we live
in and the polarization that's happened, the conspiracy theories, the
(47:41):
just stirring of the pot that is happening from the
Republican Party, and the real world consequences that sadly could
happen with the rhetoric that they're putting out there. Again,
this didn't happen because this guy was recruiting other people
and one of them ratted him out. Otherwise, the FBI
(48:04):
had no idea this guy was buying guns, buying semi
automatic rifles through cash deals and was planning on carrying
this out. You know, it's scary stuff and that's why
all these things matter. Latinos are far more likely to
die on the job. I mean, just a really sad article. Again.
The thing that really stuck out to me is states
like Texas and Florida trying to take away the protective
(48:24):
measures that have been instilled to make sure these people
are safe when working in these really horrendous conditions of
working outside. Again, it shows their racism, It shows their
the anti immigrant feelings that they have, and that they're
willing to weaponize things for the sake of staying at office.
Weaponized lives, I should say, not things, people's lives for
the sake of staying in office. And a scary reminder
(48:46):
of that. And then just sort of the conversation that
was happening or I continue to have around. You know,
things are happening in Puerto Rico, and I think just
our collective responsibility. I just want us to be motivated
to help one another. Man, like, like, you know, the
world would be a far better place if like the
(49:06):
poverty didn't exist. And I know that that's like this
you know, grandiose utopian idea that that isn't a reality
but or can't be a reality, you know, as they say,
so they say, but really think about that. Think about
like if you want to think about how things affect
all of us, if large numbers of people weren't suffering,
crime would almost probably not be a thing, right, Yeah,
(49:28):
would still exists, but not at the rate that that
it happens now, and what do we end up doing
instead of actually solving like the real disease, we put
band aids, we over police, we we you know, arrest
people at higher rates instead of saying, hey, if we
actually put some money into these communities and try to
tackle poverty as a whole, people probably wouldn't need to
resort to illegal measures to survive. Just the thought. And again,
(49:52):
if all of us did our like again, that affects
all of us. Right, So if communities that are marginalized,
that are suffering, people that are suffering poverty stricken people
are being helped, it then expands into all of us
having a better quality of life, you know, where crime
is less right and we can sleep a little better
(50:13):
at night knowing. So like again, it's it's stuff like
that that affects all of us. We just have to
give a damn. And lastly, you know when I talked
about these brands celebrating LGBTQ, sorry, these LGBTQ plus founded
brands celebrating Pride Month, and and not even celebrating Pride Month,
but taking a moment to celebrate these brands for Pride Month,
(50:36):
I think is amazing. You know, these Latin owned brands
that are many of the ones I mentioned are founded
by members of the LGBTQ plus community or are you
know doing their part to spread awareness and love. I
just think it's such a beautiful, beautiful thing that needs
to continue. And again, it's all of us doing our
part for a better world. A world where people don't
(50:57):
have to hide who they are, where they don't have
to feel like their safety is in danger because of
who they are, and I think that is something we
all should be striving for. A world that exists like that,
I think is one that is far healthier for all
of us. So just some things to look at. Again.
I'll put the link to those brands in the show
notes if you want to check them out, support them.
(51:19):
And that's it. Man. Everybody have an amazing weekend. I
will catch you on Tuesday with a brand new episode.
So then stay safe, we'll talk soon. Life as a
GREENO is a production of the micro Thura podcast Network
and iHeartRadio.
Host
DJ Dramos
Popular Podcasts
Boysober
Have you ever wondered what life might be like if you stopped worrying about being wanted, and focused on understanding what you actually want? That was the question Hope Woodard asked herself after a string of situationships inspired her to take a break from sex and dating. She went "boysober," a personal concept that sparked a global movement among women looking to prioritize themselves over men. Now, Hope is looking to expand the ways we explore our relationship to relationships. Taking a bold, unfiltered look into modern love, romance, and self-discovery, Boysober will dive into messy stories about dating, sex, love, friendship, and breaking generational patterns—all with humor, vulnerability, and a fresh perspective.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com