Hope Dealer Episode 1 Trailer

How does one cultivate hope amid systemic oppression and cultural erasure? Join me, on "Hope Dealer," as we embark on a powerful journey through stories of love, resilience, and community. In the inaugural episode, I'm interviewed by my compañera, Cecily Relucio, as we honor the indigenous lands of San Diego and pay tribute to my late Tio Cosme, whose tireless work embodies the spirit of sacrifice and familial pride, challenging xenophobic narratives with a celebration of collective well-being and cultural strength.  

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

There you are, bienvenida. Thank you so much for being here. You are the reason that I created this space. I really appreciate you tuning in and I with the hope that you return. And I created this because I really feel that we needed a space and time to protect ourselves, as we see, not only during this presidential election, but right now in the world, that there is an incredible assault against our humanity, against us for who we are, here in the US, but also across the country, where and across the world, where people that we care about and love are facing genocide. So we wanted to make sure and I wanted to make make sure that there was a way for us to protect ourselves and to protect our spirits. So I'm hoping that this is a space where we can stand in our power, where we could be connected with each other and really feel the love for ourselves and the community that my guests are going to share with you, what they created, and so I hope that you get to witness some of the incredible stories that I have been able to witness over the last several years. I listened to stories of thousands of people who really cared and went through their own spiritual transformation. These are mostly Latinas and Latinos, black, brown, white, asian, indigenous people here in Chicago primarily, but also nationally, that really leaned in and saw the transformation of how their stories and their practice connected it to themselves, made a connection to community, and where they were transformed by love, by trust, by another person that touched them through the stories that they had. So that's what I'm hoping that you're able to listen to when you return.

Speaker 1: 2:38

Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I'm Jose Rico. I am a Mexicano who grew up here in Chicago, the Mexican capital of the Midwest and an incredible place for people from all over the world to come together. I love this city, even though we have some challenges, some incredible people here. Soy compañero, I'm a father, I'm a son Hermano, compadre, collaborator, circle keeper and really someone who's still on my own healing journey, and a big part of that healing journey is to really re-indigenize my own worldview, is to really re-indigenize my own worldview.

Speaker 1: 3:25

I'm from Michoacan, from the area of the Perepicha Mountains in Michoacan, and also a practicing Buddhist with the order of interbeing, and those two things have been critical to my own spiritual journey, to my own spiritual journey, and so I hope that my journey inspires you and also you know, have the opportunity for you to be more intentional about your own spiritual journey and be more open about your spiritual journey, and the good news is that I'm going to have some incredible help from many people that are going to share their journey.

Speaker 1: 4:10

You're going to hear from Cecily Relucio, my compañera, who just started an incredible ethnic studies organization. You're going to hear from Jerry Hawkins, who is the executive director of Truth, racial Healing and Transformation. You're going to hear from Eréndira Rendón, who is the vice president of Immigrant Justice Program and the Colebrí Fellowship. You're going to hear from Sher Aguilar, who is the founder of the Hope Center out in Washington DC. You're going to hear from incredible individuals and people that are doing work not just here but internationally. So that's what Hope Dealer is, and I hope you return, thank you.