Facing Challenges with Cultural Resilience

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How does one remain steadfast in their identity amidst a world determined to erase it? Join us in a compelling conversation with Reverend Laura Gonzalez, a spiritual and community healer whose life is an inspiring testament to resilience and strength rooted in traditional Mexican folklore, native philosophies, and North American Paganism. Laura's personal journey through adversity highlights the challenges that indigenous and marginalized communities face in today's socio-political climate. Her experiences underscore the emotional toll of systemic racism and dehumanization while emphasizing the vital role of community support in fostering resilience and empowerment.

This episode is a heartfelt homage to the enduring spirit of cultures that have survived attempts at erasure. Reflecting on the aftermath of pivotal elections, we explore the art of poetry as a powerful response to such defining moments. Laura shares a message of courage and perseverance, reminding us of the connection to our ancestors and the strength that flows through our bloodlines. This discussion is a celebration of heritage, unity, and the unyielding spirit that persists in the face of adversity. Tune in for a poignant exploration of human rights struggles and the power of collective solidarity.

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Episode Transcript

Granddaughter Crow (00:00):
Welcome to Belief, being and Beyond with
your host, granddaughter Crow.
So, hi everybody, granddaughterCrow here with another episode
of Belief, being and Beyond, andtoday I have the wonderful
honor of interviewing andspending some time with and
allowing her to share with youher wisdom, laura Gonzalez.

(00:26):
And it is just.
Let me just tell you a littlebit about Reverend Laura
Gonzalez.
She is a spiritual andcommunity healer, priestess,
minister, specializing intraditional Mexican folklore.
If you want a little bit ofMexican folklore, follow her.

(00:48):
She's got classes, we'll talkabout it.
Also, native Philosophies andNorth American Paganism within
the goddess tradition, and Ican't wait to get into that.
She also holds a leadershiprole at a Chicago-based
community practice of NawaTradition of Mexico Please

(01:08):
correct me if I'm saying itwrong.
That's correct.
Yay, where she providesguidance, support community
harmony.
Laura also advocates forindigenous pagan LGBTQIA
communities, with a focus onwomen's rights and diversity.
I've got my candle lit.
I set sacred space, put my egoto the outside and asked your

(01:33):
ancestors to come through withwhatever and you and your soul
to come through with whatever itis.
And so, if that's what comesthrough, absolutely, absolutely,
absolutely.
So.
And I am so honored because,laura, I've met her and she is
my sister, she is my sister, sheis my sister.

(01:55):
I'm pretty sure that ourancestors knew each other at one
time.
So everybody, please welcomeLaura Gonzalez.
Say hi everybody.
Say hi Laura.

Laura Gonzales (02:07):
Hi, hello and welcome and thank you for being
here.
Yeah, my honor and pleasure.

Granddaughter Crow (02:13):
Oh good, I'm interested in, I mean
honestly, people.
We're going to have a littlebit of conversation around 2025,
usa.
Enough said the all of thisstuff kind of speaking from
where the heart of the people,the people who have the strength

(02:35):
to sit with their uncomfortablereal feelings and come out to
us as leaders, and that is Laura.
So, thank you so much for beingon this podcast.
I'm looking forward to you,know, promoting what you do,

(02:56):
what you stand for and who yousupport, and I think that that's
really important, because weneed leaders like you More than
ever now.

Laura Gonzales (03:15):
I, I've been okay.
I just like you said you knowlike I share in my life, like
you said you know like I sharein my life I needed some time to
understand my feelings and tounderstand what's going on, and

(03:37):
I'm not.
I was on a friend of mineyesterday the allegory of the
symbolism of one of thoseinflatable toys inflatable toys
and I feel that five weeks ago,when this whole chaos began,
that I was completely andabsolutely 100 deflated.
I knew it was gonna be achallenge, like we all knew it

(04:03):
was gonna be a challenge, butthe Like we all knew it was
going to be a challenge.
But the minute that you seethat it's real, real discolored
supremacy and people doinggestures that are significant so

(04:24):
I think it was a gesture thatwas made that really knocked me
off my center.

Granddaughter Crow (04:32):
Yeah.

Laura Gonzales (04:34):
You know, we indigenous people strive to be
on our center and to be right inaccordance with all that is
love.
And that really knocked me over.
It really did, because, if weare not hiding that, they are

(04:58):
that kind of people and therhetoric and the lies and the
lies and the lies, and the lies,and the lies, and the lies and
the lies, to dehumanize peoplethat look like me.
Two or three years, maybe more.
It's been decades that peoplehave been lying about people
like us, but lately it's beencruel, it's been over the top,

(05:25):
it's been disinformed,misinformed, dismissive and,
more than anything, dehumanizing.
And that's, I know my history.
I went to school in Mexico.
They teach us history and theyknow that when that kind of

(05:48):
people take on power, the firstorder of business is to
dehumanize the people.
That is their target for theirhatred.
Yes, so that dehumanizingcampaign, you know, has been
already heavy on all of us.
Yes, and then now, like I saidto, to have seen the gesture on

(06:13):
the tv, um, and it's not becauseI was watching the TV, by all
means, I was not going to bewatching that, but it was all
over.
It exploded all over Facebook,instagram, TikTok, et cetera.
And so it's like, oh okay, sowe're on, yeah, you know we're
on, and never again is now Yep,never again is now, yep, never

(06:37):
again is now.
So, like I said, it knocked meout of my center and I needed to
feel my feelings and I was alsomourning the loss of my little
dog, my companion.
Yeah, and it was like intense.

(06:57):
Yeah, and it was like intense.
Yeah.
However, community, yes,community, community community
coming to listen, not to talk tome but to listen.
Not to talk to me but to listen, um, the community that holds

(07:20):
you in a circle, yes, or thatyou, even when you cannot hold
yourself, they hold you upstraight.
And community, like I said onthe last life, that I did, that
I finally went back to the liveson Friday Community that holds

(07:42):
a mirror that your face is myface, your soul is my soul, I am
you, you are me, right.
Community that holds a mirrorthrough your eyes, through your
face, and they remind you whoyou are, not because you believe
the lies of the dehumanizingcampaign, but because the

(08:08):
meaning of their campaign is tostrike fear on us.

Granddaughter Crow (08:12):
That's exactly right.

Laura Gonzales (08:15):
And so so I was first ashamed to have reacted
that way, because that is thecolonizer's indoctrination to
have shame and judgment.
And then, very quickly, andwith the help not only of the
community but also my therapist,who is an amazing, amazing

(08:37):
healer, who helped me navigatethe fact that there is no shame
on feeling scared when you arethe target of the people's
hatred.
Yeah, and if you are not, okay,it's normal.
It it's natural.

(08:58):
Yes, and that actually, what isnot natural is folks whom are
not afraid, right, okay, folksfor whom this is nothing and
nothing is happening.
Yeah, and even on my um momentof feeling not centered and not

(09:23):
a hundred percent, so I keepsaying about the, this
inflatable toy, yes, I feel thatI'm like maybe 60 going back
into being fully formed.
I'm not at 100, 100, but Ithink a good 60, a strong 60 is
there, good.
And even when I was in 20 and30, I keep posting on my forums

(09:46):
and some people like thatreminder we are human.
We are not the value of what weproduce.
We are not the value of howmany tomatoes we picked.
We are not the value of howmany tomatoes we picked.
We are not the value of howmany roofs we can fix.
Don't move the narrative intooh my god, now groceries are
going to be expensive becauseundocumented migrants are afraid

(10:10):
.
Let's put the person first.
All these people are so scaredof going to work or going out,
or expressing their existence.
All these people are afraid ofexisting Comma.
Wow, this is going to bring ahuge consequence to our way of

(10:34):
life.
Right, their way of life andour way of life.
Right, their way of life andour way of life.
Right.
Put in the the financialproblem first.
Put in the um scarcity ofvegetables first.
You're still not centering onthe human, and so that's why I
have made it my job to remindpeople to put the human first.

(10:58):
We are human and I've beensaying this for decades now.
If you find a dog in the car,hot in the street, you can break
the window, you can give thedog water.

(11:20):
You will not be charged with acrime for breaking the window
and saving the dog.
But if you give water to aperson in the desert, you could
be charged with aiding andabating.
You know, foster fugitives, lala la, and they keep changing

(11:44):
the laws and they keep makingthe laws more abrasive.
So, yeah, if you help a dog Aokay, right.
So yeah, if you help a dog,it's a-okay.
If you help a human, that isnot the color that the status
quo deems dignifying.
It's a crime and it's horribleand you know.

Granddaughter Crow (12:04):
But but the sun still rises every day yes,
the sun still rises every day,sister and um we are going to
keep existing.

Laura Gonzales (12:21):
We come, we come .
And this I feel talking to you.
I feel that I'm preaching to achoir, but I'm also talking to
whoever is watching andlistening.
We indigenous folks of theplanet come from generations
upon generations, upongenerations of survivors.

(12:45):
That's right, and so we have tocall on our ancestors, that's
right.
And so we have to call on ourancestors to remind us, through
our cellular memory, how tosurvive.
Yes, because we do have thatinformation.

(13:06):
Yes, it's there, it's within us.
It's there, it's within us.
So I didn't know my extendedfamily.
I only know my mother, myfather and my siblings I never
met.
I met one grandmother, but Inever met other aunts, uncles,
grandmothers.
You know it was a verydiscombobulated family and it

(13:32):
was.
You know, my mom was so proudto be just carrying her five
children.
So I don't know my lineage, mybackground, my, you know.
But I know that they're there.
Yeah, that's right, they'rethere and all we have to do is
reach out and call on them.

Granddaughter Crow (13:55):
Absolutely.
One thing you bring to thetable is real.
You are real and I was at apoetry slam right after the
election results and they askedme to write a poem.
The election results, and theyasked me to write a poem, and

(14:16):
all I could think about was I amliving proof that the US
government that wants to erase aculture cannot do it.
I am here, period.
You are here.
You are living proof.
And maybe we don't know ourancestors like in this realm,
but their blood flows through us, their DNA is with us and they

(14:40):
have been through the USgovernment doing these kinds of
things before.
But we are still here, and it'snot for the faint of heart, but
yeah, we're still we, but yeah,we're still.
We're still here, we're stillhere.

Laura Gonzales (14:56):
Thank you.