November 11, 2024 • 48 mins
What can we learn from the immigrant right's movement's 30 years fight for human dignity, at this moment? We will learn what drives those leaders and community to keep resisting. Eréndira Rendón's journey from Oaxaca, Mexico to the United States is a tale of courage and determination, emerging as a beacon of hope for many facing similar paths. Through her compelling narrative, Eré illuminates the profound perseverance found in immigrant life, sharing her family's trials in crossing borders and living undocumented in Wisconsin. Her story offers not only inspiration but also a testament to the internal drive that defines many immigrant experiences, reminding us of the resilience required to pursue a better life.
As we explore themes of spirituality and community, Eré and I discuss the significant role faith has played in shaping our purposes and driving activism. From her beginnings in a small Mexican town to becoming a leader for immigrant rights, Eré reveals how engaging in church activities became a foundation for courage and public involvement, especially for women. This episode highlights the liberating power of storytelling and the vital importance of activism, centering on how personal and community liberation fueled her commitment to advocating for immigrant rights.
Turning our focus to the political landscape, we address the challenges the Mexican community in Illinois faces in achieving political representation and participation. With concerns about voter turnout and political mistrust, we explore the potential for change through the rising influence of younger generations and the emergence of young Latino elected leaders. Despite these hurdles, there is an undercurrent of optimism as we celebrate incremental victories in social justice, emphasizing the strength found in community support and the essential role of self-care in sustaining the fight for change.
F.L.Y. L.I.B.R.E. a guide for healing and liberation can be purchased here: amzn.to/4iCzAAM
Get Dr. McBride's book "Becoming Changemakers" to explore more stories of resilience and community transformation. Connect with the Become Center at becomecenter.org or email dmcbride@becomecenter.org.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Buenas familia, soy Jose, Rico or Rico, if you know
me from the hood.
Thank you so much for yourattention today.
It means everything to me and Iwant to welcome you to Hope
Dealer, which is a podcast aboutour journey towards hope,
resilience and joy through thestories that we carry about our
(00:22):
return home, and my intentionfor our time together is to
remind us that we carry powerfulmedicine within us that is our
guide to our transformation.
Thank you so much for joiningme.
I am so grateful to be able tointroduce you to incredible
people, incredible spirits thatwill share their journeys with
(00:46):
us.
Hey everyone, Thanks forlistening to today's podcast.
(01:07):
I'm really excited today tospeak with Erendera, who is
somebody that you know.
When the first moment I met herand saw the work that she was
doing, it gave me hope.
This is a hope dealer herself,Somebody that gave me hope,
because I knew that the workthat she was doing and learning
(01:31):
a little bit about her.
I knew that not only the workshe was doing was very important
, but it was coming from a placeof authenticity, but of love,
more than anything, of love andlooking for dignity.
So I want to introduce you toErendira and I'm going to have
her give herself a story of whoshe is and what she wants people
(01:57):
to know about her.
And as we go on to thisconversation, I hope that you
are able to also see why Ere issomeone that not only embodies
the practice of hopefulness andthe practice of perseverance and
(02:25):
the practice of perseverance,but I hope that you're going to
also see what's not only thelove and dignity that she puts
into this work.
You're going to see why this issomebody that is very sought
after in terms of wanting tohave them on your side, Because
when you're on the side ofErendira, most of the time you
(02:47):
win.
So, Erendira, thank you so muchfor being here.
Just want to start off.
Just introduce yourself veryopen question Tell us a little
bit about who you are and whatyou want people to know about
you.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Thanks so much for having me on and for this
conversation.
We don't always get to stop andjust have these conversations,
especially with folks that youalso, that I also admire, and so
thank you for your work andyour leadership in what you have
done over the years,particularly as it has related
to lifting up the voices ofother Latinos and undocumented
(03:27):
folks and who, as somebody who'salso formerly undocumented, I
think you sort of know thedifficulties that exist in this
world, perhaps the perseveranceright that we all have to kind
(03:48):
of that we all grow up with andhave to have to really
consistently tap into as we getolder.
So my name is ArendinaRendona-Variega is my full name.
I am from beautiful Oaxaca.
I was born there.
My family is all from there, mydad, so what had happened was
my mom had inherited a plot ofland and my parents' vision was
(04:13):
that they were going to build ahouse and in the front of it una
tiendita or something like that, some sort of negocio to be
able to maintain or sustain ourfamily.
And that's very normal inOaxaca right or in Mexico, but
like what I know is Oaxaca andlike it's like that hustle
culture of like you're justgoing to try to make it and,
(04:33):
like, you want to be uh, uhself-sustained and you're going
to try to open a negocio andthat's always everybody's dream
in Oaxaca.
And so, um, you know, they hadthis lot of land, but they had
no money to be able to buildanything.
(04:57):
And so my parents agreed to mydad coming to the US for a
couple of years and he wassupposed to send money home, and
after four years and therewasn't as much money going home
as we would have needed, my mommade him send for us, my mom
made my dad send for us, and soI crossed the border by San
Diego, but not in a car.
We actually crossed it justlike on foot.
(05:18):
It took us a couple tries to beable to pass.
The first time we passed, wewere caught on on the train I
don't know if it was between sandiego or on bus or something
like that, I don't know betweensan diego and la, or if it was
even before I reached san diego,I don't know, um, and we were
deported.
And then we came back again, um, and so it was we crossed, we
successfully finished crossingafter the second time, um, and
(05:43):
you know, wait, how old were youwhen this happened?
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Hey, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
I don't know, like Matt, like I have like flashback
memories of it, right, um, oneof the flashback memories that I
do have was there was a vanthat picked us up at a certain
point to point.
We were in LA for a couple ofweeks or a week maybe, um, and a
van picked us up and drove usto the town where I grew up,
where my parents still live, andso I actually remember the
(06:10):
first moment that I met my dad.
I remember these like the vanopening up and I remember seeing
my dad.
And so I grew up in a smalltown up by Wisconsin knowing
that I was undocumented.
My dad was deported.
About six months after wearrived he came back, but then
what ended up happening was wedidn't have any money and so we
(06:35):
were able to move into this oldhouse.
Like we were able to get thisone bedroom for my whole family
in this old house and we couldlive there as long as my dad was
fixed up the house.
Like we were able to get thisone bedroom for my whole family
in this old house and we couldlive there as long as my dad was
fixed up the house.
So, like his boss had bought ithe was going to, I think, just
fix it and maybe flip it or fixit and like, maybe just in, like
(06:55):
rent it out to immigrants.
Actually I think it was was theplan.
Like, each immigrant family hadone bedroom, so my dad was
fixing the house and we wereable to live there and that
allowed my parents to be able tosave Um.
And then they bought theirhouse and so we moved that
actually that house was actuallyWisconsin.
We moved back to Illinois and soI grew up there, um, knowing I
(07:18):
was undocumented, and then allof a sudden, as like when you're
little, you don't reallyunderstand what it means.
So you know, but you know itstarts hitting you in moments,
small moments, like when I triedto get a blockbuster card to
rent movies and I couldn'tbecause I didn't have an ID, and
(07:39):
when you're sitting in driver'sed class and at the end of it
everybody's going to get theirlicense but not me, um, when I
took the PSATs, when I wassitting back college.
So all of those sort of momentsjust really hit you about how
much more difficult it's goingto get Um.
I graduated.
I.
One is um.
(08:00):
One thing is that you know, Ican't not believe in God anymore
, because I grew up Catholic andI also have seen, like these
moments where God has beenputting the right people in this
world and giving them the toolsand then they have become
instruments to like allow me tobe able to be where I am, to
(08:23):
like allow me to be able to bewhere I am.
So I think about.
I graduated from high school in2004 and in state tuition
passed in 2003.
So I was part of the firstopenly undocumented class to be
able to go to school.
I went to U of I in Champaignand there, like you know,
there's moments of like, there'sa whole bunch of moments, and I
(08:44):
can talk about these more.
I've like realized, like youknow, there's moments of like,
there's a whole bunch of moments, and I can talk about these
more.
I've like realized, hey,obviously, what I was going to
do once I graduated from college, because then I had to enter
the work world Moments ofsolidarity, moments of healing,
moments of liberation and gotaddicted to this work, and so
you know, after college, starteddoing this work and have been
(09:06):
doing it since then.
So I think one of the things Iwant people to know about me is
that you know, like I in so manyways.
Sometimes you get the short endof the stick and you just kind
of have to make the best out ofit, and then, in so many ways,
(09:29):
and then in another thing islike if I wasn't doing this, I
would probably be incrediblyangry at the fact that I'm
undocumented, um, and without anoutlet to be able to release
that Um, and then sometimes theanger turns into pain, um, and
sometimes it's pain and notanger, right, but like, for me,
this work and the communityaspect of it as well so not just
(09:51):
the campaigns and the wins andthe excitement, but like also
the community and the love thatyou're able to experience in
this work is is what keeps megoing, is what keeps me going.
So, not just like in this work,but it literally is what keeps
me going in the day-to-day,continuously knowing that I'm
still undocumented and that likebut like, at least I have this
(10:12):
network, and so I think thatthat's sort of some of the ways
that I think about myself andthe work and why I do this and
why it's so important and how itrelates to, you know, the faith
that my parents instilled in me, and it's very difficult to be
Catholic right.
But it is also just knowingthat there's folks, that there
(10:37):
are people looking out for me.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Wow, wow.
Thank you for that.
The first thing that struck meis how many parallels our life
has.
You know, oftentimes when Italk about people, about the
crossing, it's very foggy for me.
I don't remember the crossing.
I don't remember a lot of thedetails.
One of the things that I doremember was when, you know, the
(11:06):
white family that crossed usover from Tijuana to San Diego.
We waited for my uncle at theSan Diego Zoo parking lot and I
remember this clearly becausethat's where he was going to
pick us up to go to the airport,to fly to O'Hare.
And the meal they bought usthis family bought us was a
Kentucky Fried Chicken barbecuemeal pack and they thought it
(11:32):
was a great thing, and me and mybrother ate it and immediately
vomited it Because that was thefirst time we ever had processed
food, so it made us sick.
So the first experience I hadin the U?
S was I got violently ill fromthe food that um that they gave
(11:52):
us.
And then, when, uh, when we uhflew over to O'Hare and we got
out of the plane, when we walkedout of the terminal, I walked
past my dad, cause I didn'trecognize who he was right,
because it been so long since Iseen him, so another parallel
(12:12):
there.
One thing I do want to follow upon is you know, I really do
want to actually spend a littlebit of time about your spiritual
journey, right, because I thinkthat you know you mentioned a
lot about that you'veexperienced anger, joy, love,
disappointment, and there weremoments in time where you felt
(12:36):
like there was God and there wasa presence.
I mean for me, when I was at Uof I, the moment my grandmother,
my abuela, died.
I found that moment that wasthe beginning of my healing
journey was when my you know,the person that basically raised
me as a child, passed away.
I found out in my.
(12:57):
I was in my dorm room when mymother called me and that just
sent me into this whole othertrajectory, and that's actually
what I think is the beginning ofmy healing journey.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Cause I couldn't go.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
I couldn't go visit her right Cause I was
undocumented.
Yeah, so I'm curious for youyou know what?
What do you recall as adefining moment of where you saw
spirituality as part of yourhealing journey?
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Oh, that's a great question.
I think a few moments, some ofthem even have nothing to do
with this work, but when I wasin high school, so one thing is
that I realized it's likethere's this like some of us
want to live a public life,right, which means that you want
to be of service, you want tomake a difference, you want to,
(13:49):
you know, you know, be in, be incommunity with other people, to
like, be able to like change,change an outcome, right.
And in high school, I, you know, I'm like into a small little
town, have no idea of likeanything that's possible, and
but what was there was my church, um and so, and that's where
everybody went right, like um,at least at that time, and still
(14:13):
right, like I'm Mexican, likeit's a very Catholic community,
and so what I could do was Icould be a catechist, and so I
became a catechist and I don'tknow, I don't think it was so
much to like be able to teach,you know, catholicism or
anything like that, it was to beable to live a public life, and
(14:35):
so for, I think for a lot offolks and that's why you see so
many women who are very activein church is because so many
folks do want to live a publiclife and oftentimes that's sort
of the what is in front of youand the opportunity and the
space that is given to you to beable to do that is within your
church.
And so I feel like that was akey moment for me to realize
that like I could serve mycommunity in this particular way
(14:59):
.
I don't I wouldn't do thatagain, but I did do it that and
then I think the but I learned alot right.
I learned my.
I learned about my ability tostand up in front of a room.
I learned about my ability tobe able to read in church.
I like public and do somepublic speaking.
I learned there's a whole lotof other stuff that I learned
(15:21):
about myself during that part ofit.
And then I think a lot of myboth spirituality and like
liberation kind of go togetherof being able to share my story
without it being so incrediblypainful anymore.
(15:43):
So the first couple of timesthat I would share my story, I
mean it's just like it justtears you up and you I would
just like cry and bawl and havereally ugly cries and like
couldn't breathe, you know, andall of that.
But those moments are justliberating, right, like the more
you can share your story andyou realize that there's no,
(16:07):
nobody's going to hurt you and,if anything, people are just
going to understand you more andwhere you're coming from and
why this is so hard.
Um, those moments for me havebeen moments of liberation, um,
and a lot of the times at thebeginning I found that within um
communities that were verysimilar to me, maybe in um,
(16:31):
maybe it was like other folkswithin within, like my church I
don't, I'm not active anymore inmy church and so but but I did.
That was my first space to beable to live a public life and
to be able to have publicrelationships where I could
share these stories, even beforeI started meeting other
undocumented students in a safespace.
(16:52):
So I think, like that, that wasthat those things were part of
it.
And then eventually kind ofreflecting and thinking more
about how our role in makingthis a better world, um, and
connecting my spirituality tothat um and making this a better
world, in particular for mypeople, and so like my
(17:13):
spirituality and my liberationand my people's liberation then
kind of all meshed up into thisone big ideal of how I try to um
, why I do this work.
Um, I do this work for theliberation of myself and I do
this work for the liberation ofmy people, and that all came
from um, from both myexperiences, but also realizing
(17:36):
that my spirituality is what ledme here.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
You know, one of the that's incredible.
One of the things that thisreminds me of is when I was
organizing in the suburbs aroundimmigrant rights.
This is in 1996, when I arrivedat Pest around immigrant rights
.
This is in 1996, when IRIRApassed.
(18:01):
You know, one of my jobs was todocument the stories of
families that were deniedenrollment in the Cicero public
school system because the mayor,betty Laurie Martiz, was not
allowing Mexicans to enroll inthe schools.
Because you know.
You know, iriara was like theshow me your papers law that was
(18:23):
passed from.
You know, it was kind of thesecond iteration of Pete
Wilson's Prop 187.
So it gave a lot of people, youknow, the license to deny
benefits to Mexicans or peoplethey perceive to be illegal.
And so my job was actually togo to the churches and to
(18:44):
document enough stories to beable to present to the
Department of Justice so theycould stop this practice.
And that was actually the firsttime I saw that the people with
the courage to be publicfigures and raise these issues
were women in the church.
(19:05):
They were the ones that werethe most willing to risk their
safety for the ability of theirchildren to be able to enroll in
school.
And I was just floored by theamount of courage that they
(19:27):
displayed, knowing that if theyspoke out in public, they
thought they could be deported.
Right, because it was such astrong anti-immigrant feeling at
that time.
And they knew because I had totell them that the information
they were giving me was going togo to the Department of Justice
, which was, you know, for themcould have been ice.
(19:50):
Right, it could have been abranch of ice, but the courage
that they showed and in myexperience, actually in our
community, in the Mexicanocommunity, I've seen more acts
of courage, of political,because of the situation that
you're in, being undocumented,what does your you're fighting
(20:25):
for and you're working towardsyour individual and collective
liberation.
What do you think that saysabout you and the role you want
to play in our collectiveliberation?
Speaker 2 (20:39):
yeah, I mean, I think a few things.
One thing I think about is likeI know that this, the, the,
that.
Now, this is my purpose, thisis well.
I know that.
Now, I didn't know that when Istarted.
I started this because I didn'thave any other option, like
(21:01):
what else was I going to do as acollege degree and no work
permit and also security numberand no, nothing right.
Like who was going to take arisk on me besides some
nonprofits who figured out youcould, you folks could, be
consultants?
Speaker 1 (21:13):
right.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Like.
So part of it says like you,part of, I think part of what it
says about me is that, like, Iknow my limitations and I'm
going to live within thoselimitations, but I'm going to
live at the edge of them, right,like I am going to be a
comfortable, like I don't thinkabout what I, I try not to think
(21:38):
about what I can't do, right,um, I at the time would have
never been able to be a doctorbecause I couldn't know practice
.
So, like, why would I eventhink about that?
Not that that's what I wantedto do, right, but like I, I
operate within what is it that Ican?
Where am I going to be able toget a job?
And how do I make the absolutemost of it?
(22:02):
Right and build it into acareer?
So I think that that's part of,and that's sort of how I live
my life.
Like, I absolutely love totravel.
I don't often sit around andfantasize about traveling abroad
because that is so challengingfor me with DACA, right, but I
think about all the places Iwant to go to in the US, I and I
(22:24):
and I just kind of always tendto operate that way, and I think
that it's because of myimmigration status.
And then I think you know someof the other stuff.
Some of the other stuff is justthere and I utilize it for my
work.
I walk around really scared allthe time.
(22:46):
I think folks don't know that,but I do walk around really
scared all the time.
But I don't have an option Like, if I don't fight for and
organize for and build power forwinning campaigns, then things
are just not going to get better.
So I think I sort of operatethat way, in understanding that
(23:12):
I have a fear and accepting thatI have a fear and that it's not
going to go away, but that Ican't let that stop me.
And I think about my mom a lotin that, because, you know, my
mom never went to.
My mom went to school one year,like formal education in second
grade, and that's it.
And my mom is undocumented andmy mom is almost 70 years old
(23:36):
and yet she managed to bring herwhen she was 34, right, bring
her children to a whole newcountry, cross the border, risk
everything, leave her familybehind.
Three years she bought a houseeven though we were, you know,
(24:00):
like poor.
Um.
She worked multiple jobs allthe time.
She still works multiple jobs.
Um, she managed to put her twoof her two of her three kids
through college.
Um, she managed to like figureout how to do things.
She would drive without adriver's license, right, she
would drive, risking everysingle time driving to work,
risking driving us to school, orrisking she always had side
(24:21):
hustles and she'd be drivingeverywhere.
She'd be risking those moments,um, and like risking everything
at every moment.
And so I feel like a lot oflike, like if she could do it
then, like I don't have anexcuse.
So I think that a lot of thatcomes from like seeing my mom
(24:43):
and what my mom has been able toaccomplish and do despite not
having documents, despite nothaving a formal education,
despite not knowing English, andso like if she and she did it
all for her kids, and so like ifshe and she did it all for her
kids and so we got to do themost Wow.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
So I see that that's where you I love the phrase that
you use liberation is addictingthat I see that that's where
you get your perseverance andthat you're a Mexican.
Yeah, we're not Mexicans, we'renot Mexicans, we're going to
(25:28):
make this happen.
So now we're in this moment inhistory again.
Right, that happens every fourfucking years.
Right of our community.
It's really our community.
Right, our community is beingtargeted, the fears of people
(25:51):
coming out because of the, youknow, people call it the
browning of America, I call itthe re-indigenization of this
country.
Like, when you think about, youknow, and this is actually be
very curious about what youranalysis or what your thoughts
are about this is like, how doyou see this moment that we're
(26:13):
in?
Like, how do you understand it?
Not, you know, not how we gothere per se.
Obviously, there is somecontext and we'd love to hear
your thoughts, but what do youthink that we as a community,
specifically as a Mexicanimmigrant indigenous community,
what do you think we are calledto do at this moment and this
moment in history?
(26:33):
Not just the presidentialelection and what that brings up
, but where this country isgoing?
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Yeah Well, I'm really glad we're having this
conversation now and three weeksago, because I would have been
really sad.
I'm really worried, to behonest, in terms of where the
Mexican community is headed.
I'm really worried about ashift towards the right for the
(27:01):
Mexican community.
I'm hopeful still that there'llbe, that it won't be as bad as
we thought it was going to be afew weeks ago.
I'm worried about our lowparticipation rate for those who
are US citizens and, yes, Iwish I was like more optimistic
(27:25):
about it, um, but I think we're.
We've so many folks haveforgotten.
I know us citizens who haveundocumented parents who, if I
had to guess, they're probablynot going to vote because, like,
what vote for Trump?
Um, and that to me, is reallyworrisome.
(27:45):
Like, are we forgetting wherewe came from?
Are forgetting our collectivestories?
We're forgetting, if we'reforgetting the solidarity that
if one of my, one of mycommunity members is, like is
actively being shut out andactively being cleared, and yet
(28:08):
I am like a candidate that'srunning on mass deportations and
yet I still vote for them.
I'm worried about it.
I'm worried about why that'shappening, as opposed to us
realizing how much politicalpower we do have.
Um, and not me, because youknow I can't even vote but the
(28:32):
and to say to utilize ourpolitical power to make the
lives of our people better, andlike to not, and like it.
There's almost an my sense ofwhy this is happening is there's
a few reasons.
I think one is folks feel thatthe Democratic Party has
consistently lied to the Mexicancommunity.
I also feel, though, thatthere's this like we're become,
(28:56):
there's this like individualism,that is like seeping into our
community, about all you have todo is work hard and you're
going to make it, but then, once, if you do, then, like, the
Republicans are going to take itaway from you.
I mean, the Democrats are goingto take it away from you
because of taxes, like I feellike that that's kind of really
prevalent, and so, like that, Ithink, is like what's scary to
(29:19):
me, and I don't, and I thinkpart of it is also there, isn't?
You know, I wish it was areally active Democratic Party
and I know that we're not tryingto.
I wish it was a really.
I wish both parties would reallyactively fight for trying to
win our communities, and I justdon't really see that happening
(29:42):
within the Democratic Party,really see that happening within
the never county party, um, and, and it and it happens at the
very local levels and it happensat um, at it, at, uh, you see
it, nationally, right, um, sothat's something that I I'm I
think about a lot and thatworries me about, um, it worries
(30:05):
me about, like, the future ofthe mexican-amer American
community in terms of, like, thelack of solidarity.
We could be wrong, and it couldbe that it was just kind of
like a fluke, given thecircumstances that were there
about a month ago, Right, and soI'm also hopeful about that.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
And and and yeah, I mean I.
I think that everything thatyou're saying I agree.
I think you're reallyinsightful about the tension
that exists within our communitybecause you know, at the end of
the day, you know most of useither came here or have family
here to be able to work andraise some money to be able to
(30:48):
provide for our family where wecouldn't, and so that individual
work ethic is, you know it'sreally high.
But I think you're absolutelyright.
I never thought about it thatway, the way you framed it is.
And then the messaging thatthey're getting about the
Democrats taking money away fromyou and more taxes and higher
(31:10):
taxes, which you know is nottrue.
But those members that arespending 10, 12 hours a day
working are not going to look atthe policy proposals.
They're just going to hear,they're going to listen to what,
what they're told about this.
So I think you're absolutelyright.
I think for me, you know, thehope that I have in this moment
(31:36):
of of history, particularly withour community, is that our
demographics, and the youngpeople particularly, cannot be
ignored, right?
So I really think that you knowit's you and people younger
than you that are actually iswhat I'm basing my hope on in
(31:59):
being able to increase ourpolitical power and actually
restore some of those, um, someof those values and and and,
frankly, restore hope, um, notjust hope as a oh my God, I hope
things get better, but I think,um, you know what you
(32:20):
demonstrate day in, day out that, uh, persistence and being
addicted to liberation issomething that we could actually
do and we could actuallyaccomplish.
So, with that, I want to wrap itup at the end, just thinking
about you know, what is it thatyou see in with your peers or
people younger than you that isgiving you hope?
(32:44):
What are some areas that areyou uh, you see that is right
now, might be young, they might,you might be seeding some uh,
you know, uh activism, some hope.
What do you see that that uh,uh, you know the people that
you're working with, and and um,and the, and the next
generation of human rightsactivists.
(33:07):
What are you seeing there thatgive you hope?
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Oh yeah, I mean I think you see a lot of.
I do want to go, actually, Iwant to close off with the other
question because I also thinkit's like we're all living
through this collective, weirdcrazy time political time, right
and so things could drasticallychange.
So I'm hopeful that they do.
(33:30):
And also still, latinos, andparticularly Mexicans, still
continue to overwhelminglysupport, you know, candidates
that support immigration andthat support legalization, and
there is still that overwhelmingsupport.
I just want I'm fearful of itgoing away slowly, um, but no, I
(33:50):
think what is like gives me alot of hope is seeing how many
young latino elected officialswe have now in plano.
I mean, it's just incredible,like I'm I've been doing this
work for 16 years.
Um, it's like Rochelia, right,like it is just drastically
changed from having just ahandful of mainly men, older
(34:15):
Latinos who you know we can godown the history of what it took
to get what, how Latino views,to get elected to like
independent.
They like form their own IPOs.
They do or not.
They you know they are.
They fundraise for themselves.
Then they go on and get morepeople elected with them.
(34:37):
Right, like, what it like, howbeautiful and amazing, and then
it turns into actual change,right.
So, yes, they're getting elected, that's wonderful, that's great
, but then they're actuallypassing policies, particularly,
I would say, at the state level,that are protecting their
(35:00):
communities right, and that arebringing resources for the
programs that their communitiesneed and that are bringing
resources for the programs thattheir communities need and that
are funding schools in a moreequitable way and that are
thinking about funding collegesas much as it pains me to say U
of I should get less money, I'mthinking about funding
(35:20):
universities in a much moreequitable way and who are
leading a lot of the change, thepolicy and Illinois budget and
city budget changes that areleading to direct impact into
the lives of Latinos in Illinois.
So that gives me a ton of hopeand I think, with the growing
(35:42):
number of these elected, I thinkit's only going to get.
What we're going to be able toachieve will only improve.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
Yeah, I totally agree with you, and this is a great
group of electeds and obviouslywe need to support them every
way we can.
All right, my final question,ere, is you know you are
definitely, you know a leader inour community.
You're somebody that peoplefollow and, frankly, you're
(36:11):
somebody that I not only careabout, but I also pay attention
to your well-being, and so I'mwondering and I know you spoke
about this a little bit and Ilove seeing your Facebook posts
Like how do you sustain yourwell-being, your hope, your
(36:34):
spirit to be able to continue todo this work?
What is your practice ofhealing and your practice of
hope?
Speaker 2 (36:44):
I'm much better at the first, when you talk about
hope for our community and hopefor what we can achieve and less
so, like how to take care ofmyself.
But I do, you know, I try to bein, I try to be in nature as
much as possible.
You know, then, I'm a hiker.
I didn't tell you my storyabout San Diego.
The last time I went to SanDiego I was hiking.
(37:06):
I went hiking and I would dopeaks and I would pick the peaks
that would allow me to look atMexico, because I can't go into
Mexico but I would at least goup to summits and be able to see
Mexico.
So I love hiking.
I love, even if I'm in Illinois, like I can, you know, walk for
(37:27):
you know, walk all Saturday,and like that's really healing
for me and my family lives aboutan hour and a half away and so
I'm able to see them on theweekends and uh, kind of
disconnect.
Um, but there's moments whereyou don't right and like there's
moments that are very, verydifficult and I think the last
(37:48):
time I ran into you I was goingthrough one of those very
difficult moments and what Ihave, a really strong community
in Chicago, you know, friendsthat have been my friends for 15
, 16 years, who do similar workand who kind of understand the
toll that this can take on youand I lean on them in those
(38:10):
moments so that they can help mekind of get, get beyond those.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Yeah, yeah.
And you know, one of the thingsI've learned and have
experienced you know recentlyand also, and and throughout you
know recently and also andthroughout you know my years is
that that is the communitythat's going to sustain you.
And it's also great to be ableto do your walks and your rock
(38:39):
climbing with your friends andthen also to be able to lean on
folks and reach out to peoplethat could share an experience,
or share that have that sharedexperience with you.
And you know my hope, my hopefor our conversation and for the
people that listen to ourconversation, is not only that
(39:01):
they see themselves in you as acourageous leader, but also are
able to give themselves gracewhen they may not practice
self-care as much as they want,but also know that there are
(39:22):
people out there that arewilling to just walk together
and be side by side with eachother.
And you know, one of thelearnings I've had is oftentimes
people say, oh, my God, youknow, I wouldn't think that you
would just take five minutes ofyour time and walk with me and
listen to my story.
I hope that those that listento your story I know that you
(39:44):
will be uh, those that listen toyour story.
Uh, I know that you will bemore than willing to listen to
their story if they ever need tohear it.
Um, so, again, I want to thankyou so much, uh, for having this
conversation, and I just wantto uh close out by, um, you know
, seeing if there's anythingelse that you may want to share
(40:08):
about yourself and about thejourney that you think is
important for others.
That may be in a social justicework or the work for human
dignity, a lesson that hassustained you that you think is
important for them to know about.
Speaker 2 (40:29):
Yeah, I think one of the biggest lessons I've ever
had is I may not win it all, butwhat I can win.
It is more important to winsomething than it is to not
because I don't want to give inanything.
(40:50):
I think when we don't, when weact that way and we sort of
decide that that's going to behow we operate, to only be in
the space of I want it all andanything short of that and I'm
not willing to compromise andI'm not willing to give in
anything, you're going to be inthe space of anger and you're
(41:11):
also going to be in the spacewhere you're not actively
changing the lives of the folks.
We need to change the lives,for I saw it when we tried to
get driver's licenses 12 yearsago and we had to settle for
temporary visitor's driver'slicenses.
Had we not done that, 300,000,350,000 people would have been
driving without any protectionfor the last 10 years.
(41:34):
Right, so I have DACA and, likeit has transformed my life.
And it's not, you know, andit's not perfect and I have to,
and it's, but it's allowed me tobuild a career, to buy a house,
to buy, to help my parents buya building, so that we can have
some way of them being able toto think about retirement one
day, um, and it's allowed me todo this work.
(41:56):
That, then, has allowed me tochange other people's lives, to
hire people to.
You know all of that, um, andit's not perfect.
Perfect, you know, we wonhealthcare for undocumented
seniors, first starting at theage of 65.
And then we went down to 50,and then we went down to 42 and
like we don't have everybody andit's short and it's not exactly
what we want, and it'sfrustrating and it's difficult,
(42:17):
but tens of thousands of peoplecan get their healthcare that
they need every single day, andso I've learned to have and it's
not that it's easy and it's notthat I'm happy when, then,
there's moments that I'm happywhen we win, but there's also
that pain of what you're notwinning like.
That will always be there.
But my biggest lesson is likeyou still have to celebrate that
(42:43):
win.
You still have to, and then yougo back and you keep doing it
again and try to win more, andpart of it is for our own people
to be able to like be able toexperience some sort of even if
it's small increments ofliberation, but also to give
your base and the people thatare there along fighting with
you like that they can see thepossibilities of the change that
(43:06):
they can create and then youare able to do more.
That's my biggest lesson so farat my current stage of my
career, and I think that, as Ithink about even my own healing,
and what sustains me and that Ilearned that that is what
sustains me are those wins.
Those wins, um, and being okaywith the fact that there's
(43:30):
always going to be a small partof me that continues to feel
pain because we haven't won itall yet.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
That's right, and and just because, uh, we have that
pain doesn't mean we cannotexperience that joy.
Uh, it's not.
They're not exclusive.
Sometimes they're the oppositeside of the coin.
Yeah, and that is our humanexistence, right, and that is
(43:57):
how we are able to connect witheach other, because some of us
may just feel that pain, but wealso need to show and
demonstrate that we could havejoy in light of the inhumanity
that sometimes we are subjectedto.
So, eddie, thank you so much.
That is incredible.
I think, actually, that shouldbe the beginning, and the
(44:18):
tagline for the new DemocraticParty is that that will bring
people to the table.
So, thank you, eddie.
I appreciate that, yourthoughts and your story, and I
look forward to seeing you outthere on the streets, hopefully,
(44:39):
you know, climbing mountainsand, and hopefully, more
celebrations to come.
I really appreciate it, thankyou, thank you, thank you.
(45:04):
Black and brown fightingtogether on a day I'll always
remember.
Buenas familia, soy Jose, Rico or Rico, if you know
me from the hood.
Thank you so much for yourattention today.
It means everything to me and Iwant to welcome you to Hope
Dealer, which is a podcast aboutour journey towards hope,
resilience and joy through thestories that we carry about our
(00:22):
return home, and my intentionfor our time together is to
remind us that we carry powerfulmedicine within us that is our
guide to our transformation.
Thank you so much for joiningme.
I am so grateful to be able tointroduce you to incredible
people, incredible spirits thatwill share their journeys with
(00:46):
us.
Hey everyone, Thanks forlistening to today's podcast.
(01:07):
I'm really excited today tospeak with Erendera, who is
somebody that you know.
When the first moment I met herand saw the work that she was
doing, it gave me hope.
This is a hope dealer herself,Somebody that gave me hope,
because I knew that the workthat she was doing and learning
(01:31):
a little bit about her.
I knew that not only the workshe was doing was very important
, but it was coming from a placeof authenticity, but of love,
more than anything, of love andlooking for dignity.
So I want to introduce you toErendira and I'm going to have
her give herself a story of whoshe is and what she wants people
(01:57):
to know about her.
And as we go on to thisconversation, I hope that you
are able to also see why Ere issomeone that not only embodies
the practice of hopefulness andthe practice of perseverance and
(02:25):
the practice of perseverance,but I hope that you're going to
also see what's not only thelove and dignity that she puts
into this work.
You're going to see why this issomebody that is very sought
after in terms of wanting tohave them on your side, Because
when you're on the side ofErendira, most of the time you
(02:47):
win.
So, Erendira, thank you so muchfor being here.
Just want to start off.
Just introduce yourself veryopen question Tell us a little
bit about who you are and whatyou want people to know about
you.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Thanks so much for having me on and for this
conversation.
We don't always get to stop andjust have these conversations,
especially with folks that youalso, that I also admire, and so
thank you for your work andyour leadership in what you have
done over the years,particularly as it has related
to lifting up the voices ofother Latinos and undocumented
(03:27):
folks and who, as somebody who'salso formerly undocumented, I
think you sort of know thedifficulties that exist in this
world, perhaps the perseveranceright that we all have to kind
(03:48):
of that we all grow up with andhave to have to really
consistently tap into as we getolder.
So my name is ArendinaRendona-Variega is my full name.
I am from beautiful Oaxaca.
I was born there.
My family is all from there, mydad, so what had happened was
my mom had inherited a plot ofland and my parents' vision was
(04:13):
that they were going to build ahouse and in the front of it una
tiendita or something like that, some sort of negocio to be
able to maintain or sustain ourfamily.
And that's very normal inOaxaca right or in Mexico, but
like what I know is Oaxaca andlike it's like that hustle
culture of like you're justgoing to try to make it and,
(04:33):
like, you want to be uh, uhself-sustained and you're going
to try to open a negocio andthat's always everybody's dream
in Oaxaca.
And so, um, you know, they hadthis lot of land, but they had
no money to be able to buildanything.
(04:57):
And so my parents agreed to mydad coming to the US for a
couple of years and he wassupposed to send money home, and
after four years and therewasn't as much money going home
as we would have needed, my mommade him send for us, my mom
made my dad send for us, and soI crossed the border by San
Diego, but not in a car.
We actually crossed it justlike on foot.
(05:18):
It took us a couple tries to beable to pass.
The first time we passed, wewere caught on on the train I
don't know if it was between sandiego or on bus or something
like that, I don't know betweensan diego and la, or if it was
even before I reached san diego,I don't know, um, and we were
deported.
And then we came back again, um, and so it was we crossed, we
successfully finished crossingafter the second time, um, and
(05:43):
you know, wait, how old were youwhen this happened?
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Hey, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
I don't know, like Matt, like I have like flashback
memories of it, right, um, oneof the flashback memories that I
do have was there was a vanthat picked us up at a certain
point to point.
We were in LA for a couple ofweeks or a week maybe, um, and a
van picked us up and drove usto the town where I grew up,
where my parents still live, andso I actually remember the
(06:10):
first moment that I met my dad.
I remember these like the vanopening up and I remember seeing
my dad.
And so I grew up in a smalltown up by Wisconsin knowing
that I was undocumented.
My dad was deported.
About six months after wearrived he came back, but then
what ended up happening was wedidn't have any money and so we
(06:35):
were able to move into this oldhouse.
Like we were able to get thisone bedroom for my whole family
in this old house and we couldlive there as long as my dad was
fixed up the house.
Like we were able to get thisone bedroom for my whole family
in this old house and we couldlive there as long as my dad was
fixed up the house.
So, like his boss had bought ithe was going to, I think, just
fix it and maybe flip it or fixit and like, maybe just in, like
(06:55):
rent it out to immigrants.
Actually I think it was was theplan.
Like, each immigrant family hadone bedroom, so my dad was
fixing the house and we wereable to live there and that
allowed my parents to be able tosave Um.
And then they bought theirhouse and so we moved that
actually that house was actuallyWisconsin.
We moved back to Illinois and soI grew up there, um, knowing I
(07:18):
was undocumented, and then allof a sudden, as like when you're
little, you don't reallyunderstand what it means.
So you know, but you know itstarts hitting you in moments,
small moments, like when I triedto get a blockbuster card to
rent movies and I couldn'tbecause I didn't have an ID, and
(07:39):
when you're sitting in driver'sed class and at the end of it
everybody's going to get theirlicense but not me, um, when I
took the PSATs, when I wassitting back college.
So all of those sort of momentsjust really hit you about how
much more difficult it's goingto get Um.
I graduated.
I.
One is um.
(08:00):
One thing is that you know, Ican't not believe in God anymore
, because I grew up Catholic andI also have seen, like these
moments where God has beenputting the right people in this
world and giving them the toolsand then they have become
instruments to like allow me tobe able to be where I am, to
(08:23):
like allow me to be able to bewhere I am.
So I think about.
I graduated from high school in2004 and in state tuition
passed in 2003.
So I was part of the firstopenly undocumented class to be
able to go to school.
I went to U of I in Champaignand there, like you know,
there's moments of like, there'sa whole bunch of moments, and I
(08:44):
can talk about these more.
I've like realized, like youknow, there's moments of like,
there's a whole bunch of moments, and I can talk about these
more.
I've like realized, hey,obviously, what I was going to
do once I graduated from college, because then I had to enter
the work world Moments ofsolidarity, moments of healing,
moments of liberation and gotaddicted to this work, and so
you know, after college, starteddoing this work and have been
(09:06):
doing it since then.
So I think one of the things Iwant people to know about me is
that you know, like I in so manyways.
Sometimes you get the short endof the stick and you just kind
of have to make the best out ofit, and then, in so many ways,
(09:29):
and then in another thing islike if I wasn't doing this, I
would probably be incrediblyangry at the fact that I'm
undocumented, um, and without anoutlet to be able to release
that Um, and then sometimes theanger turns into pain, um, and
sometimes it's pain and notanger, right, but like, for me,
this work and the communityaspect of it as well so not just
(09:51):
the campaigns and the wins andthe excitement, but like also
the community and the love thatyou're able to experience in
this work is is what keeps megoing, is what keeps me going.
So, not just like in this work,but it literally is what keeps
me going in the day-to-day,continuously knowing that I'm
still undocumented and that likebut like, at least I have this
(10:12):
network, and so I think thatthat's sort of some of the ways
that I think about myself andthe work and why I do this and
why it's so important and how itrelates to, you know, the faith
that my parents instilled in me, and it's very difficult to be
Catholic right.
But it is also just knowingthat there's folks, that there
(10:37):
are people looking out for me.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Wow, wow.
Thank you for that.
The first thing that struck meis how many parallels our life
has.
You know, oftentimes when Italk about people, about the
crossing, it's very foggy for me.
I don't remember the crossing.
I don't remember a lot of thedetails.
One of the things that I doremember was when, you know, the
(11:06):
white family that crossed usover from Tijuana to San Diego.
We waited for my uncle at theSan Diego Zoo parking lot and I
remember this clearly becausethat's where he was going to
pick us up to go to the airport,to fly to O'Hare.
And the meal they bought usthis family bought us was a
Kentucky Fried Chicken barbecuemeal pack and they thought it
(11:32):
was a great thing, and me and mybrother ate it and immediately
vomited it Because that was thefirst time we ever had processed
food, so it made us sick.
So the first experience I hadin the U?
S was I got violently ill fromthe food that um that they gave
(11:52):
us.
And then, when, uh, when we uhflew over to O'Hare and we got
out of the plane, when we walkedout of the terminal, I walked
past my dad, cause I didn'trecognize who he was right,
because it been so long since Iseen him, so another parallel
(12:12):
there.
One thing I do want to follow upon is you know, I really do
want to actually spend a littlebit of time about your spiritual
journey, right, because I thinkthat you know you mentioned a
lot about that you'veexperienced anger, joy, love,
disappointment, and there weremoments in time where you felt
(12:36):
like there was God and there wasa presence.
I mean for me, when I was at Uof I, the moment my grandmother,
my abuela, died.
I found that moment that wasthe beginning of my healing
journey was when my you know,the person that basically raised
me as a child, passed away.
I found out in my.
(12:57):
I was in my dorm room when mymother called me and that just
sent me into this whole othertrajectory, and that's actually
what I think is the beginning ofmy healing journey.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Cause I couldn't go.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
I couldn't go visit her right Cause I was
undocumented.
Yeah, so I'm curious for youyou know what?
What do you recall as adefining moment of where you saw
spirituality as part of yourhealing journey?
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Oh, that's a great question.
I think a few moments, some ofthem even have nothing to do
with this work, but when I wasin high school, so one thing is
that I realized it's likethere's this like some of us
want to live a public life,right, which means that you want
to be of service, you want tomake a difference, you want to,
(13:49):
you know, you know, be in, be incommunity with other people, to
like, be able to like change,change an outcome, right.
And in high school, I, you know, I'm like into a small little
town, have no idea of likeanything that's possible, and
but what was there was my church, um and so, and that's where
everybody went right, like um,at least at that time, and still
(14:13):
right, like I'm Mexican, likeit's a very Catholic community,
and so what I could do was Icould be a catechist, and so I
became a catechist and I don'tknow, I don't think it was so
much to like be able to teach,you know, catholicism or
anything like that, it was to beable to live a public life, and
(14:35):
so for, I think for a lot offolks and that's why you see so
many women who are very activein church is because so many
folks do want to live a publiclife and oftentimes that's sort
of the what is in front of youand the opportunity and the
space that is given to you to beable to do that is within your
church.
And so I feel like that was akey moment for me to realize
that like I could serve mycommunity in this particular way
(14:59):
.
I don't I wouldn't do thatagain, but I did do it that and
then I think the but I learned alot right.
I learned my.
I learned about my ability tostand up in front of a room.
I learned about my ability tobe able to read in church.
I like public and do somepublic speaking.
I learned there's a whole lotof other stuff that I learned
(15:21):
about myself during that part ofit.
And then I think a lot of myboth spirituality and like
liberation kind of go togetherof being able to share my story
without it being so incrediblypainful anymore.
(15:43):
So the first couple of timesthat I would share my story, I
mean it's just like it justtears you up and you I would
just like cry and bawl and havereally ugly cries and like
couldn't breathe, you know, andall of that.
But those moments are justliberating, right, like the more
you can share your story andyou realize that there's no,
(16:07):
nobody's going to hurt you and,if anything, people are just
going to understand you more andwhere you're coming from and
why this is so hard.
Um, those moments for me havebeen moments of liberation, um,
and a lot of the times at thebeginning I found that within um
communities that were verysimilar to me, maybe in um,
(16:31):
maybe it was like other folkswithin within, like my church I
don't, I'm not active anymore inmy church and so but but I did.
That was my first space to beable to live a public life and
to be able to have publicrelationships where I could
share these stories, even beforeI started meeting other
undocumented students in a safespace.
(16:52):
So I think, like that, that wasthat those things were part of
it.
And then eventually kind ofreflecting and thinking more
about how our role in makingthis a better world, um, and
connecting my spirituality tothat um and making this a better
world, in particular for mypeople, and so like my
(17:13):
spirituality and my liberationand my people's liberation then
kind of all meshed up into thisone big ideal of how I try to um
, why I do this work.
Um, I do this work for theliberation of myself and I do
this work for the liberation ofmy people, and that all came
from um, from both myexperiences, but also realizing
(17:36):
that my spirituality is what ledme here.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
You know, one of the that's incredible.
One of the things that thisreminds me of is when I was
organizing in the suburbs aroundimmigrant rights.
This is in 1996, when I arrivedat Pest around immigrant rights
.
This is in 1996, when IRIRApassed.
(18:01):
You know, one of my jobs was todocument the stories of
families that were deniedenrollment in the Cicero public
school system because the mayor,betty Laurie Martiz, was not
allowing Mexicans to enroll inthe schools.
Because you know.
You know, iriara was like theshow me your papers law that was
(18:23):
passed from.
You know, it was kind of thesecond iteration of Pete
Wilson's Prop 187.
So it gave a lot of people, youknow, the license to deny
benefits to Mexicans or peoplethey perceive to be illegal.
And so my job was actually togo to the churches and to
(18:44):
document enough stories to beable to present to the
Department of Justice so theycould stop this practice.
And that was actually the firsttime I saw that the people with
the courage to be publicfigures and raise these issues
were women in the church.
(19:05):
They were the ones that werethe most willing to risk their
safety for the ability of theirchildren to be able to enroll in
school.
And I was just floored by theamount of courage that they
(19:27):
displayed, knowing that if theyspoke out in public, they
thought they could be deported.
Right, because it was such astrong anti-immigrant feeling at
that time.
And they knew because I had totell them that the information
they were giving me was going togo to the Department of Justice
, which was, you know, for themcould have been ice.
(19:50):
Right, it could have been abranch of ice, but the courage
that they showed and in myexperience, actually in our
community, in the Mexicanocommunity, I've seen more acts
of courage, of political,because of the situation that
you're in, being undocumented,what does your you're fighting
(20:25):
for and you're working towardsyour individual and collective
liberation.
What do you think that saysabout you and the role you want
to play in our collectiveliberation?
Speaker 2 (20:39):
yeah, I mean, I think a few things.
One thing I think about is likeI know that this, the, the,
that.
Now, this is my purpose, thisis well.
I know that.
Now, I didn't know that when Istarted.
I started this because I didn'thave any other option, like
(21:01):
what else was I going to do as acollege degree and no work
permit and also security numberand no, nothing right.
Like who was going to take arisk on me besides some
nonprofits who figured out youcould, you folks could, be
consultants?
Speaker 1 (21:13):
right.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Like.
So part of it says like you,part of, I think part of what it
says about me is that, like, Iknow my limitations and I'm
going to live within thoselimitations, but I'm going to
live at the edge of them, right,like I am going to be a
comfortable, like I don't thinkabout what I, I try not to think
(21:38):
about what I can't do, right,um, I at the time would have
never been able to be a doctorbecause I couldn't know practice
.
So, like, why would I eventhink about that?
Not that that's what I wantedto do, right, but like I, I
operate within what is it that Ican?
Where am I going to be able toget a job?
And how do I make the absolutemost of it?
(22:02):
Right and build it into acareer?
So I think that that's part of,and that's sort of how I live
my life.
Like, I absolutely love totravel.
I don't often sit around andfantasize about traveling abroad
because that is so challengingfor me with DACA, right, but I
think about all the places Iwant to go to in the US, I and I
(22:24):
and I just kind of always tendto operate that way, and I think
that it's because of myimmigration status.
And then I think you know someof the other stuff.
Some of the other stuff is justthere and I utilize it for my
work.
I walk around really scared allthe time.
(22:46):
I think folks don't know that,but I do walk around really
scared all the time.
But I don't have an option Like, if I don't fight for and
organize for and build power forwinning campaigns, then things
are just not going to get better.
So I think I sort of operatethat way, in understanding that
(23:12):
I have a fear and accepting thatI have a fear and that it's not
going to go away, but that Ican't let that stop me.
And I think about my mom a lotin that, because, you know, my
mom never went to.
My mom went to school one year,like formal education in second
grade, and that's it.
And my mom is undocumented andmy mom is almost 70 years old
(23:36):
and yet she managed to bring herwhen she was 34, right, bring
her children to a whole newcountry, cross the border, risk
everything, leave her familybehind.
Three years she bought a houseeven though we were, you know,
(24:00):
like poor.
Um.
She worked multiple jobs allthe time.
She still works multiple jobs.
Um, she managed to put her twoof her two of her three kids
through college.
Um, she managed to like figureout how to do things.
She would drive without adriver's license, right, she
would drive, risking everysingle time driving to work,
risking driving us to school, orrisking she always had side
(24:21):
hustles and she'd be drivingeverywhere.
She'd be risking those moments,um, and like risking everything
at every moment.
And so I feel like a lot oflike, like if she could do it
then, like I don't have anexcuse.
So I think that a lot of thatcomes from like seeing my mom
(24:43):
and what my mom has been able toaccomplish and do despite not
having documents, despite nothaving a formal education,
despite not knowing English, andso like if she and she did it
all for her kids, and so like ifshe and she did it all for her
kids and so we got to do themost Wow.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
So I see that that's where you I love the phrase that
you use liberation is addictingthat I see that that's where
you get your perseverance andthat you're a Mexican.
Yeah, we're not Mexicans, we'renot Mexicans, we're going to
(25:28):
make this happen.
So now we're in this moment inhistory again.
Right, that happens every fourfucking years.
Right of our community.
It's really our community.
Right, our community is beingtargeted, the fears of people
(25:51):
coming out because of the, youknow, people call it the
browning of America, I call itthe re-indigenization of this
country.
Like, when you think about, youknow, and this is actually be
very curious about what youranalysis or what your thoughts
are about this is like, how doyou see this moment that we're
(26:13):
in?
Like, how do you understand it?
Not, you know, not how we gothere per se.
Obviously, there is somecontext and we'd love to hear
your thoughts, but what do youthink that we as a community,
specifically as a Mexicanimmigrant indigenous community,
what do you think we are calledto do at this moment and this
moment in history?
(26:33):
Not just the presidentialelection and what that brings up
, but where this country isgoing?
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Yeah Well, I'm really glad we're having this
conversation now and three weeksago, because I would have been
really sad.
I'm really worried, to behonest, in terms of where the
Mexican community is headed.
I'm really worried about ashift towards the right for the
(27:01):
Mexican community.
I'm hopeful still that there'llbe, that it won't be as bad as
we thought it was going to be afew weeks ago.
I'm worried about our lowparticipation rate for those who
are US citizens and, yes, Iwish I was like more optimistic
(27:25):
about it, um, but I think we're.
We've so many folks haveforgotten.
I know us citizens who haveundocumented parents who, if I
had to guess, they're probablynot going to vote because, like,
what vote for Trump?
Um, and that to me, is reallyworrisome.
(27:45):
Like, are we forgetting wherewe came from?
Are forgetting our collectivestories?
We're forgetting, if we'reforgetting the solidarity that
if one of my, one of mycommunity members is, like is
actively being shut out andactively being cleared, and yet
(28:08):
I am like a candidate that'srunning on mass deportations and
yet I still vote for them.
I'm worried about it.
I'm worried about why that'shappening, as opposed to us
realizing how much politicalpower we do have.
Um, and not me, because youknow I can't even vote but the
(28:32):
and to say to utilize ourpolitical power to make the
lives of our people better, andlike to not, and like it.
There's almost an my sense ofwhy this is happening is there's
a few reasons.
I think one is folks feel thatthe Democratic Party has
consistently lied to the Mexicancommunity.
I also feel, though, thatthere's this like we're become,
(28:56):
there's this like individualism,that is like seeping into our
community, about all you have todo is work hard and you're
going to make it, but then, once, if you do, then, like, the
Republicans are going to take itaway from you.
I mean, the Democrats are goingto take it away from you
because of taxes, like I feellike that that's kind of really
prevalent, and so, like that, Ithink, is like what's scary to
(29:19):
me, and I don't, and I thinkpart of it is also there, isn't?
You know, I wish it was areally active Democratic Party
and I know that we're not tryingto.
I wish it was a really.
I wish both parties would reallyactively fight for trying to
win our communities, and I justdon't really see that happening
(29:42):
within the Democratic Party,really see that happening within
the never county party, um, and, and it and it happens at the
very local levels and it happensat um, at it, at, uh, you see
it, nationally, right, um, sothat's something that I I'm I
think about a lot and thatworries me about, um, it worries
(30:05):
me about, like, the future ofthe mexican-amer American
community in terms of, like, thelack of solidarity.
We could be wrong, and it couldbe that it was just kind of
like a fluke, given thecircumstances that were there
about a month ago, Right, and soI'm also hopeful about that.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
And and and yeah, I mean I.
I think that everything thatyou're saying I agree.
I think you're reallyinsightful about the tension
that exists within our communitybecause you know, at the end of
the day, you know most of useither came here or have family
here to be able to work andraise some money to be able to
(30:48):
provide for our family where wecouldn't, and so that individual
work ethic is, you know it'sreally high.
But I think you're absolutelyright.
I never thought about it thatway, the way you framed it is.
And then the messaging thatthey're getting about the
Democrats taking money away fromyou and more taxes and higher
(31:10):
taxes, which you know is nottrue.
But those members that arespending 10, 12 hours a day
working are not going to look atthe policy proposals.
They're just going to hear,they're going to listen to what,
what they're told about this.
So I think you're absolutelyright.
I think for me, you know, thehope that I have in this moment
(31:36):
of of history, particularly withour community, is that our
demographics, and the youngpeople particularly, cannot be
ignored, right?
So I really think that you knowit's you and people younger
than you that are actually iswhat I'm basing my hope on in
(31:59):
being able to increase ourpolitical power and actually
restore some of those, um, someof those values and and and,
frankly, restore hope, um, notjust hope as a oh my God, I hope
things get better, but I think,um, you know what you
(32:20):
demonstrate day in, day out that, uh, persistence and being
addicted to liberation issomething that we could actually
do and we could actuallyaccomplish.
So, with that, I want to wrap itup at the end, just thinking
about you know, what is it thatyou see in with your peers or
people younger than you that isgiving you hope?
(32:44):
What are some areas that areyou uh, you see that is right
now, might be young, they might,you might be seeding some uh,
you know, uh activism, some hope.
What do you see that that uh,uh, you know the people that
you're working with, and and um,and the, and the next
generation of human rightsactivists.
(33:07):
What are you seeing there thatgive you hope?
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Oh yeah, I mean I think you see a lot of.
I do want to go, actually, Iwant to close off with the other
question because I also thinkit's like we're all living
through this collective, weirdcrazy time political time, right
and so things could drasticallychange.
So I'm hopeful that they do.
(33:30):
And also still, latinos, andparticularly Mexicans, still
continue to overwhelminglysupport, you know, candidates
that support immigration andthat support legalization, and
there is still that overwhelmingsupport.
I just want I'm fearful of itgoing away slowly, um, but no, I
(33:50):
think what is like gives me alot of hope is seeing how many
young latino elected officialswe have now in plano.
I mean, it's just incredible,like I'm I've been doing this
work for 16 years.
Um, it's like Rochelia, right,like it is just drastically
changed from having just ahandful of mainly men, older
(34:15):
Latinos who you know we can godown the history of what it took
to get what, how Latino views,to get elected to like
independent.
They like form their own IPOs.
They do or not.
They you know they are.
They fundraise for themselves.
Then they go on and get morepeople elected with them.
(34:37):
Right, like, what it like, howbeautiful and amazing, and then
it turns into actual change,right.
So, yes, they're getting elected, that's wonderful, that's great
, but then they're actuallypassing policies, particularly,
I would say, at the state level,that are protecting their
(35:00):
communities right, and that arebringing resources for the
programs that their communitiesneed and that are bringing
resources for the programs thattheir communities need and that
are funding schools in a moreequitable way and that are
thinking about funding collegesas much as it pains me to say U
of I should get less money, I'mthinking about funding
(35:20):
universities in a much moreequitable way and who are
leading a lot of the change, thepolicy and Illinois budget and
city budget changes that areleading to direct impact into
the lives of Latinos in Illinois.
So that gives me a ton of hopeand I think, with the growing
(35:42):
number of these elected, I thinkit's only going to get.
What we're going to be able toachieve will only improve.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
Yeah, I totally agree with you, and this is a great
group of electeds and obviouslywe need to support them every
way we can.
All right, my final question,ere, is you know you are
definitely, you know a leader inour community.
You're somebody that peoplefollow and, frankly, you're
(36:11):
somebody that I not only careabout, but I also pay attention
to your well-being, and so I'mwondering and I know you spoke
about this a little bit and Ilove seeing your Facebook posts
Like how do you sustain yourwell-being, your hope, your
(36:34):
spirit to be able to continue todo this work?
What is your practice ofhealing and your practice of
hope?
Speaker 2 (36:44):
I'm much better at the first, when you talk about
hope for our community and hopefor what we can achieve and less
so, like how to take care ofmyself.
But I do, you know, I try to bein, I try to be in nature as
much as possible.
You know, then, I'm a hiker.
I didn't tell you my storyabout San Diego.
The last time I went to SanDiego I was hiking.
(37:06):
I went hiking and I would dopeaks and I would pick the peaks
that would allow me to look atMexico, because I can't go into
Mexico but I would at least goup to summits and be able to see
Mexico.
So I love hiking.
I love, even if I'm in Illinois, like I can, you know, walk for
(37:27):
you know, walk all Saturday,and like that's really healing
for me and my family lives aboutan hour and a half away and so
I'm able to see them on theweekends and uh, kind of
disconnect.
Um, but there's moments whereyou don't right and like there's
moments that are very, verydifficult and I think the last
(37:48):
time I ran into you I was goingthrough one of those very
difficult moments and what Ihave, a really strong community
in Chicago, you know, friendsthat have been my friends for 15
, 16 years, who do similar workand who kind of understand the
toll that this can take on youand I lean on them in those
(38:10):
moments so that they can help mekind of get, get beyond those.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Yeah, yeah.
And you know, one of the thingsI've learned and have
experienced you know recentlyand also, and and throughout you
know recently and also andthroughout you know my years is
that that is the communitythat's going to sustain you.
And it's also great to be ableto do your walks and your rock
(38:39):
climbing with your friends andthen also to be able to lean on
folks and reach out to peoplethat could share an experience,
or share that have that sharedexperience with you.
And you know my hope, my hopefor our conversation and for the
people that listen to ourconversation, is not only that
(39:01):
they see themselves in you as acourageous leader, but also are
able to give themselves gracewhen they may not practice
self-care as much as they want,but also know that there are
(39:22):
people out there that arewilling to just walk together
and be side by side with eachother.
And you know, one of thelearnings I've had is oftentimes
people say, oh, my God, youknow, I wouldn't think that you
would just take five minutes ofyour time and walk with me and
listen to my story.
I hope that those that listento your story I know that you
(39:44):
will be uh, those that listen toyour story.
Uh, I know that you will bemore than willing to listen to
their story if they ever need tohear it.
Um, so, again, I want to thankyou so much, uh, for having this
conversation, and I just wantto uh close out by, um, you know
, seeing if there's anythingelse that you may want to share
(40:08):
about yourself and about thejourney that you think is
important for others.
That may be in a social justicework or the work for human
dignity, a lesson that hassustained you that you think is
important for them to know about.
Speaker 2 (40:29):
Yeah, I think one of the biggest lessons I've ever
had is I may not win it all, butwhat I can win.
It is more important to winsomething than it is to not
because I don't want to give inanything.
(40:50):
I think when we don't, when weact that way and we sort of
decide that that's going to behow we operate, to only be in
the space of I want it all andanything short of that and I'm
not willing to compromise andI'm not willing to give in
anything, you're going to be inthe space of anger and you're
(41:11):
also going to be in the spacewhere you're not actively
changing the lives of the folks.
We need to change the lives,for I saw it when we tried to
get driver's licenses 12 yearsago and we had to settle for
temporary visitor's driver'slicenses.
Had we not done that, 300,000,350,000 people would have been
driving without any protectionfor the last 10 years.
(41:34):
Right, so I have DACA and, likeit has transformed my life.
And it's not, you know, andit's not perfect and I have to,
and it's, but it's allowed me tobuild a career, to buy a house,
to buy, to help my parents buya building, so that we can have
some way of them being able toto think about retirement one
day, um, and it's allowed me todo this work.
(41:56):
That, then, has allowed me tochange other people's lives, to
hire people to.
You know all of that, um, andit's not perfect.
Perfect, you know, we wonhealthcare for undocumented
seniors, first starting at theage of 65.
And then we went down to 50,and then we went down to 42 and
like we don't have everybody andit's short and it's not exactly
what we want, and it'sfrustrating and it's difficult,
(42:17):
but tens of thousands of peoplecan get their healthcare that
they need every single day, andso I've learned to have and it's
not that it's easy and it's notthat I'm happy when, then,
there's moments that I'm happywhen we win, but there's also
that pain of what you're notwinning like.
That will always be there.
But my biggest lesson is likeyou still have to celebrate that
(42:43):
win.
You still have to, and then yougo back and you keep doing it
again and try to win more, andpart of it is for our own people
to be able to like be able toexperience some sort of even if
it's small increments ofliberation, but also to give
your base and the people thatare there along fighting with
you like that they can see thepossibilities of the change that
(43:06):
they can create and then youare able to do more.
That's my biggest lesson so farat my current stage of my
career, and I think that, as Ithink about even my own healing,
and what sustains me and that Ilearned that that is what
sustains me are those wins.
Those wins, um, and being okaywith the fact that there's
(43:30):
always going to be a small partof me that continues to feel
pain because we haven't won itall yet.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
That's right, and and just because, uh, we have that
pain doesn't mean we cannotexperience that joy.
Uh, it's not.
They're not exclusive.
Sometimes they're the oppositeside of the coin.
Yeah, and that is our humanexistence, right, and that is
(43:57):
how we are able to connect witheach other, because some of us
may just feel that pain, but wealso need to show and
demonstrate that we could havejoy in light of the inhumanity
that sometimes we are subjectedto.
So, eddie, thank you so much.
That is incredible.
I think, actually, that shouldbe the beginning, and the
(44:18):
tagline for the new DemocraticParty is that that will bring
people to the table.
So, thank you, eddie.
I appreciate that, yourthoughts and your story, and I
look forward to seeing you outthere on the streets, hopefully,
(44:39):
you know, climbing mountainsand, and hopefully, more
celebrations to come.
I really appreciate it, thankyou, thank you, thank you.
(45:04):
Black and brown fightingtogether on a day I'll always
remember.
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