Hope Dealer with José Rico
"Hope Dealer" is story-telling that focus on building connections and fostering a sense of belonging within our communities. Through personal narratives, historical reflections, and calls to action, Rico and his guests offer listeners a profound understanding of the power of love, community, and spiritual practice in overcoming systemic oppression and cultural erasure. Each episode is a testament to the enduring love and resilience that drive communities to resist, persevere, and thrive despite the challenges they face. You can join this community at https://joserico.org/
Hope Dealer with José Rico
Journey of Resilience and Power of Faith with Eré Rendón
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
Buenas familia, soy Jose, Rico or Rico, if you know me from the hood. Thank you so much for your attention today. It means everything to me and I want to welcome you to Hope Dealer, which is a podcast about our journey towards hope, resilience and joy through the stories that we carry about our return home, and my intention for our time together is to remind us that we carry powerful medicine within us that is our guide to our transformation. Thank you so much for joining me. I am so grateful to be able to introduce you to incredible people, incredible spirits that will share their journeys with us. Hey everyone, Thanks for listening to today's podcast.
Speaker 1:I'm really excited today to speak with Erendera, who is somebody that you know. When the first moment I met her and 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 work that she was doing and learning a little bit about her. I knew that not only the work she was doing was very important, but it was coming from a place of authenticity, but of love, more than anything, of love and looking for dignity. So I want to introduce you to Erendira and I'm going to have her give herself a story of who she is and what she wants people to know about her.
Speaker 1:And as we go on to this conversation, I hope that you are able to also see why Ere is someone that not only embodies the practice of hopefulness and the practice of perseverance and the practice of perseverance, but I hope that you're going to also see what's not only the love and dignity that she puts into this work. You're going to see why this is somebody that is very sought after in terms of wanting to have them on your side, Because when you're on the side of Erendira, most of the time you win. So, Erendira, thank you so much for being here. Just want to start off. Just introduce yourself very open question Tell us a little bit about who you are and what you want people to know about you.
Speaker 2:Thanks so much for having me on and for this conversation. We don't always get to stop and just have these conversations, especially with folks that you also, that I also admire, and so thank you for your work and your leadership in what you have done over the years, particularly as it has related to lifting up the voices of other Latinos and undocumented folks and who, as somebody who's also formerly undocumented, I think you sort of know the difficulties that exist in this world, perhaps the perseverance right that we all have to kind of that we all grow up with and have to have to really consistently tap into as we get older. So my name is Arendina Rendona-Variega is my full name. I am from beautiful Oaxaca. I was born there. My family is all from there, my dad, so what had happened was my mom had inherited a plot of land and my parents' vision was that they were going to build a house and in the front of it una tiendita or something like that, some sort of negocio to be able to maintain or sustain our family. And that's very normal in Oaxaca right or in Mexico, but like what I know is Oaxaca and like it's like that hustle culture of like you're just going to try to make it and, like, you want to be uh, uh self-sustained and you're going to try to open a negocio and that's always everybody's dream in Oaxaca. And so, um, you know, they had this lot of land, but they had no money to be able to build anything.
Speaker 2:And so my parents agreed to my dad coming to the US for a couple of years and he was supposed to send money home, and after four years and there wasn't as much money going home as we would have needed, my mom made him send for us, my mom made my dad send for us, and so I crossed the border by San Diego, but not in a car. We actually crossed it just like on foot. It took us a couple tries to be able to pass. The first time we passed, we were caught on on the train I don't know if it was between san diego or on bus or something like that, I don't know between san 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 crossing after the second time, um, and you know, wait, how old were you when this happened?
Speaker 1:Hey, go ahead.
Speaker 2:I don't know, like Matt, like I have like flashback memories of it, right, um, one of the flashback memories that I do have was there was a van that picked us up at a certain point to point. We were in LA for a couple of weeks or a week maybe, um, and a van picked us up and drove us to the town where I grew up, where my parents still live, and so I actually remember the first moment that I met my dad. I remember these like the van opening up and I remember seeing my dad. And so I grew up in a small town up by Wisconsin knowing that I was undocumented. My dad was deported. About six months after we arrived he came back, but then what ended up happening was we didn't have any money and so we were able to move into this old house. Like we were able to get this one bedroom for my whole family in this old house and we could live there as long as my dad was fixed up the house. Like we were able to get this one bedroom for my whole family in this old house and we could live there as long as my dad was fixed up the house. So, like his boss had bought it he was going to, I think, just fix it and maybe flip it or fix it and like, maybe just in, like rent it out to immigrants. Actually I think it was was the plan. Like, each immigrant family had one bedroom, so my dad was fixing the house and we were able to live there and that allowed my parents to be able to save Um. And then they bought their house and so we moved that actually that house was actually Wisconsin.
Speaker 2:We moved back to Illinois and so I grew up there, um, knowing I was undocumented, and then all of a sudden, as like when you're little, you don't really understand what it means. So you know, but you know it starts hitting you in moments, small moments, like when I tried to get a blockbuster card to rent movies and I couldn't because I didn't have an ID, and when you're sitting in driver's ed class and at the end of it everybody's going to get their license but not me, um, when I took the PSATs, when I was sitting back college. So all of those sort of moments just really hit you about how much more difficult it's going to get Um. I graduated. I. One is um. One thing is that you know, I can't not believe in God anymore, because I grew up Catholic and I also have seen, like these moments where God has been putting the right people in this world and giving them the tools and then they have become instruments to like allow me to be able to be where I am, to like allow me to be able to be where I am. So I think about. I graduated from high school in 2004 and in state tuition passed in 2003. So I was part of the first openly undocumented class to be able to go to school.
Speaker 2:I went to U of I in Champaign and there, like you know, there's moments of like, there's a whole bunch of moments, and I can talk about these more. I've like realized, like you know, 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 of solidarity, moments of healing, moments of liberation and got addicted to this work, and so you know, after college, started doing this work and have been doing it since then. So I think one of the things I want people to know about me is that you know, like I in so many ways.
Speaker 2:Sometimes you get the short end of the stick and you just kind of have to make the best out of it, and then, in so many ways, and then in another thing is like if I wasn't doing this, I would probably be incredibly angry at the fact that I'm undocumented, um, and without an outlet to be able to release that Um, and then sometimes the anger turns into pain, um, and sometimes it's pain and not anger, right, but like, for me, this work and the community aspect of it as well so not just the campaigns and the wins and the excitement, but like also the community and the love that you're able to experience in this work is is what keeps me going, is what keeps me going.
Speaker 2: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 like but like, at least I have this network, and so I think that that's sort of some of the ways that I think about myself and the work and why I do this and why it's so important and how it relates 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 knowing that there's folks, that there are people looking out for me.
Speaker 1:Wow, wow. Thank you for that. The first thing that struck me is how many parallels our life has. You know, oftentimes when I talk about people, about the crossing, it's very foggy for me. I don't remember the crossing. I don't remember a lot of the details. One of the things that I do remember was when, you know, the white family that crossed us over from Tijuana to San Diego. We waited for my uncle at the San Diego Zoo parking lot and I remember this clearly because that's where he was going to pick us up to go to the airport, to fly to O'Hare. And the meal they bought us this family bought us was a Kentucky Fried Chicken barbecue meal pack and they thought it was a great thing, and me and my brother ate it and immediately vomited it Because that was the first time we ever had processed food, so it made us sick. So the first experience I had in the U? S was I got violently ill from the food that um that they gave us. And then, when, uh, when we uh flew over to O'Hare and we got out of the plane, when we walked out of the terminal, I walked past my dad, cause I didn't recognize who he was right, because it been so long since I seen him, so another parallel there.
Speaker 1:One thing I do want to follow up on is you know, I really do want to actually spend a little bit of time about your spiritual journey, right, because I think that you know you mentioned a lot about that you've experienced anger, joy, love, disappointment, and there were moments in time where you felt like there was God and there was a presence. I mean for me, when I was at U of I, the moment my grandmother, my abuela, died. I found that moment that was the 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. I was in my dorm room when my mother called me and that just sent me into this whole other trajectory, and that's actually what I think is the beginning of my healing journey.
Speaker 2:Cause I couldn't go.
Speaker 1:I couldn't go visit her right Cause I was undocumented. Yeah, so I'm curious for you you know what? What do you recall as a defining moment of where you saw spirituality as part of your healing journey?
Speaker 2:Oh, that's a great question. I think a few moments, some of them even have nothing to do with this work, but when I was in high school, so one thing is that I realized it's like there's this like some of us want to live a public life, right, which means that you want to be of service, you want to make a difference, you want to, you know, you know, be in, be in community 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 like anything 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 right, like I'm Mexican, like it's a very Catholic community, and so what I could do was I could be a catechist, and so I became a catechist and I don't know, I don't think it was so much to like be able to teach, you know, catholicism or anything like that, it was to be able to live a public life, and so for, I think for a lot of folks and that's why you see so many women who are very active in church is because so many folks do want to live a public life and oftentimes that's sort of the what is in front of you and the opportunity and the space that is given to you to be able to do that is within your church. And so I feel like that was a key moment for me to realize that like I could serve my community in this particular way. I don't I wouldn't do that again, but I did do it that and then I think the but I learned a lot right. I learned my. I learned about my ability to stand up in front of a room. I learned about my ability to be able to read in church. I like public and do some public speaking. I learned there's a whole lot of other stuff that I learned about myself during that part of it.
Speaker 2:And then I think a lot of my both spirituality and like liberation kind of go together of being able to share my story without it being so incredibly painful anymore. So the first couple of times that I would share my story, I mean it's just like it just tears you up and you I would just like cry and bawl and have really ugly cries and like couldn't breathe, you know, and all of that. But those moments are just liberating, right, like the more you can share your story and you realize that there's no, nobody's going to hurt you and, if anything, people are just going to understand you more and where you're coming from and why this is so hard. Um, those moments for me have been moments of liberation, um, and a lot of the times at the beginning I found that within um communities that were very similar to me, maybe in um, maybe it was like other folks within within, like my church I don't, I'm not active anymore in my church and so but but I did.
Speaker 2:That was my first space to be able to live a public life and to be able to have public relationships where I could share these stories, even before I started meeting other undocumented students in a safe space. So I think, like that, that was that those things were part of it. And then eventually kind of reflecting and thinking more about how our role in making this a better world, um, and connecting my spirituality to that um and making this a better world, in particular for my people, and so like my spirituality and my liberation and my people's liberation then kind of all meshed up into this one big ideal of how I try to um, why I do this work. Um, I do this work for the liberation of myself and I do this work for the liberation of my people, and that all came from um, from both my experiences, but also realizing that my spirituality is what led me here.
Speaker 1:You know, one of the that's incredible. One of the things that this reminds me of is when I was organizing in the suburbs around immigrant rights. This is in 1996, when I arrived at Pest around immigrant rights. This is in 1996, when IRIRA passed. You know, one of my jobs was to document the stories of families that were denied enrollment in the Cicero public school system because the mayor, betty Laurie Martiz, was not allowing Mexicans to enroll in the schools. Because you know.
Speaker 1:You know, iriara was like the show me your papers law that was passed from. You know, it was kind of the second iteration of Pete Wilson's Prop 187. So it gave a lot of people, you know, the license to deny benefits to Mexicans or people they perceive to be illegal. And so my job was actually to go to the churches and to document enough stories to be able to present to the Department of Justice so they could stop this practice. And that was actually the first time I saw that the people with the courage to be public figures and raise these issues were women in the church. They were the ones that were the most willing to risk their safety for the ability of their children to be able to enroll in school.
Speaker 1:And I was just floored by the amount of courage that they displayed, knowing that if they spoke out in public, they thought they could be deported. Right, because it was such a strong anti-immigrant feeling at that time. And they knew because I had to tell them that the information they were giving me was going to go to the Department of Justice, which was, you know, for them could have been ice. Right, it could have been a branch of ice, but the courage that they showed and in my experience, actually in our community, in the Mexicano community, 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 for and you're working towards your individual and collective liberation. What do you think that says about you and the role you want to play in our collective liberation?
Speaker 2:yeah, I mean, I think a few things. One thing I think about is like I know that this, the, the, that. Now, this is my purpose, this is well. I know that. Now, I didn't know that when I started. I started this because I didn't have any other option, like what else was I going to do as a college degree and no work permit and also security number and no, nothing right. Like who was going to take a risk on me besides some nonprofits who figured out you could, you folks could, be consultants?
Speaker 1:right.
Speaker 2:Like. So part of it says like you, part of, I think part of what it says about me is that, like, I know my limitations and I'm going to live within those limitations, but I'm going to live at the edge of them, right, like I am going to be a comfortable, like I don't think about what I, I try not to think about what I can't do, right, um, I at the time would have never been able to be a doctor because I couldn't know practice. So, like, why would I even think about that? Not that that's what I wanted to do, right, but like I, I operate within what is it that I can? Where am I going to be able to get a job? And how do I make the absolute most of it? Right and build it into a career? So I think that that's part of, and that's sort of how I live my life.
Speaker 2:Like, I absolutely love to travel. I don't often sit around and fantasize about traveling abroad because that is so challenging for me with DACA, right, but I think about all the places I want to go to in the US, I and I and I just kind of always tend to operate that way, and I think that it's because of my immigration status. And then I think you know some of the other stuff. Some of the other stuff is just there and I utilize it for my work. I walk around really scared all the time. 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 for winning campaigns, then things are just not going to get better. So I think I sort of operate that way, in understanding that I have a fear and accepting that I have a fear and that it's not going to go away, but that I can't let that stop me.
Speaker 2:And I think about my mom a lot in 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 and my mom is almost 70 years old and yet she managed to bring her when she was 34, right, bring her children to a whole new country, cross the border, risk everything, leave her family behind. Three years she bought a house even though we were, you know, like poor. Um. She worked multiple jobs all the time. She still works multiple jobs.
Speaker 2:Um, she managed to put her two of her two of her three kids through college. Um, she managed to like figure out how to do things. She would drive without a driver's license, right, she would drive, risking every single time driving to work, risking driving us to school, or risking she always had side hustles and she'd be driving everywhere. She'd be risking those moments, um, and like risking everything at every moment. And so I feel like a lot of like, like if she could do it then, like I don't have an excuse. So I think that a lot of that comes from like seeing my mom and what my mom has been able to accomplish and do despite not having documents, despite not having a formal education, despite not knowing English, and so like if she and she did it all for her kids, and so like if she and she did it all for her kids and so we got to do the most Wow.
Speaker 1:So I see that that's where you I love the phrase that you use liberation is addicting that I see that that's where you get your perseverance and that you're a Mexican.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're not Mexicans, we're not Mexicans, we're going to make this happen. So now we're in this moment in history again. Right, that happens every four fucking years. Right of our community. It's really our community. Right, our community is being targeted, the fears of people coming out because of the, you know, people call it the browning of America, I call it the re-indigenization of this country. Like, when you think about, you know, and this is actually be very curious about what your analysis or what your thoughts are about this is like, how do you see this moment that we're in? Like, how do you understand it? Not, you know, not how we got here per se. Obviously, there is some context and we'd love to hear your thoughts, but what do you think that we as a community, specifically as a Mexican immigrant indigenous community, what do you think we are called to do at this moment and this moment in history? Not just the presidential election and what that brings up, but where this country is going?
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, I'm really glad we're having this conversation now and three weeks ago, because I would have been really sad. I'm really worried, to be honest, in terms of where the Mexican community is headed. I'm really worried about a shift towards the right for the Mexican community. I'm hopeful still that there'll be, that it won't be as bad as we thought it was going to be a few weeks ago. I'm worried about our low participation rate for those who are US citizens and, yes, I wish I was like more optimistic about it, um, but I think we're.
Speaker 2:We've so many folks have forgotten. I know us citizens who have undocumented parents who, if I had to guess, they're probably not going to vote because, like, what vote for Trump? Um, and that to me, is really worrisome. Like, are we forgetting where we came from? Are forgetting our collective stories? We're forgetting, if we're forgetting the solidarity that if one of my, one of my community members is, like is actively being shut out and actively being cleared, and yet I am like a candidate that's running on mass deportations and yet I still vote for them. I'm worried about it. I'm worried about why that's happening, as opposed to us realizing how much political power we do have. Um, and not me, because you know I can't even vote but the and to say to utilize our political power to make the lives of our people better, and like to not, and like it.
Speaker 2:There's almost an my sense of why this is happening is there's a few reasons. I think one is folks feel that the Democratic Party has consistently lied to the Mexican community. I also feel, though, that there's this like we're become, there's this like individualism, that is like seeping into our community, about all you have to do is work hard and you're going to make it, but then, once, if you do, then, like, the Republicans are going to take it away from you. I mean, the Democrats are going to take it away from you because of taxes, like I feel like that that's kind of really prevalent, and so, like that, I think, is like what's scary to me, and I don't, and I think part of it is also there, isn't? You know, I wish it was a really active Democratic Party and I know that we're not trying to. I wish it was a really.
Speaker 2:I wish both parties would really actively fight for trying to win our communities, and I just don't really see that happening 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 happens at um, at it, at, uh, you see it, nationally, right, um, so that's something that I I'm I think about a lot and that worries me about, um, it worries me about, like, the future of the mexican-amer American community in terms of, like, the lack of solidarity. We could be wrong, and it could be that it was just kind of like a fluke, given the circumstances that were there about a month ago, Right, and so I'm also hopeful about that.
Speaker 1:And and and yeah, I mean I. I think that everything that you're saying I agree. I think you're really insightful about the tension that exists within our community because you know, at the end of the day, you know most of us either came here or have family here to be able to work and raise some money to be able to provide for our family where we couldn't, and so that individual work ethic is, you know it's really high. But I think you're absolutely right. I never thought about it that way, the way you framed it is. And then the messaging that they're getting about the Democrats taking money away from you and more taxes and higher taxes, which you know is not true. But those members that are spending 10, 12 hours a day working are not going to look at the 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 absolutely right.
Speaker 1:I think for me, you know, the hope that I have in this moment of of history, particularly with our community, is that our demographics, and the young people particularly, cannot be ignored, right? So I really think that you know it's you and people younger than you that are actually is what I'm basing my hope on in being able to increase our political power and actually restore some of those, um, some of those values and and and, frankly, restore hope, um, not just hope as a oh my God, I hope things get better, but I think, um, you know what you demonstrate day in, day out that, uh, persistence and being addicted to liberation is something that we could actually do and we could actually accomplish.
Speaker 1:So, with that, I want to wrap it up at the end, just thinking about you know, what is it that you see in with your peers or people younger than you that is giving you hope? What are some areas that are you 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 rights activists. What are you seeing there that give you hope?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I mean I think you see a lot of. I do want to go, actually, I want to close off with the other question because I also think it's like we're all living through this collective, weird crazy time political time, right and so things could drastically change. So I'm hopeful that they do. And also still, latinos, and particularly Mexicans, still continue to overwhelmingly support, you know, candidates that support immigration and that support legalization, and there is still that overwhelming support. I just want I'm fearful of it going away slowly, um, but no, I think what is like gives me a lot of hope is seeing how many young latino elected officials we 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 a handful of mainly men, older Latinos who you know we can go down the history of what it took to get what, how Latino views, to get elected to like independent.
Speaker 2: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 more people elected with them. Right, like, what it like, how beautiful and amazing, and then it turns into actual change, right.
Speaker 2:So, yes, they're getting elected, that's wonderful, that's great, but then they're actually passing policies, particularly, I would say, at the state level, that are protecting their communities right, and that are bringing resources for the programs that their communities need and that are bringing resources for the programs that their communities need and that are funding schools in a more equitable way and that are thinking about funding colleges as much as it pains me to say U of I should get less money, I'm thinking about funding universities in a much more equitable way and who are leading a lot of the change, the policy and Illinois budget and city budget changes that are leading to direct impact into the lives of Latinos in Illinois. So that gives me a ton of hope and I think, with the growing number of these elected, I think it's only going to get. What we're going to be able to achieve will only improve.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I totally agree with you, and this is a great group of electeds and obviously we need to support them every way we can. All right, my final question, ere, is you know you are definitely, you know a leader in our community. You're somebody that people follow and, frankly, you're somebody that I not only care about, but I also pay attention to your well-being, and so I'm wondering and I know you spoke about this a little bit and I love seeing your Facebook posts Like how do you sustain your well-being, your hope, your spirit to be able to continue to do this work? What is your practice of healing and your practice of hope?
Speaker 2:I'm much better at the first, when you talk about hope for our community and hope for what we can achieve and less so, like how to take care of myself.
Speaker 2:But I do, you know, I try to be in, I try to be in nature as much as possible. You know, then, I'm a hiker. I didn't tell you my story about San Diego. The last time I went to San Diego I was hiking. I went hiking and I would do peaks and I would pick the peaks that would allow me to look at Mexico, because I can't go into Mexico but I would at least go up to summits and be able to see Mexico.
Speaker 2:So I love hiking. I love, even if I'm in Illinois, like I can, you know, walk for you know, walk all Saturday, and like that's really healing for me and my family lives about an hour and a half away and so I'm able to see them on the weekends and uh, kind of disconnect. Um, but there's moments where you don't right and like there's moments that are very, very difficult and I think the last time I ran into you I was going through one of those very difficult moments and what I have, a really strong community in Chicago, you know, friends that have been my friends for 15, 16 years, who do similar work and who kind of understand the toll that this can take on you and I lean on them in those moments so that they can help me kind of get, get beyond those.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. And you know, one of the things I've learned and have experienced you know recently and also, and and throughout you know recently and also and throughout you know my years is that that is the community that's going to sustain you. And it's also great to be able to do your walks and your rock climbing with your friends and then also to be able to lean on folks and reach out to people that could share an experience, or share that have that shared experience with you. And you know my hope, my hope for our conversation and for the people that listen to our conversation, is not only that they see themselves in you as a courageous leader, but also are able to give themselves grace when they may not practice self-care as much as they want, but also know that there are people out there that are willing to just walk together and be side by side with each other.
Speaker 1:And you know, one of the learnings I've had is oftentimes people say, oh, my God, you know, I wouldn't think that you would just take five minutes of your time and walk with me and listen to my story. I hope that those that listen to your story I know that you will be uh, those that listen to your story. Uh, I know that you will be more than willing to listen to their story if they ever need to hear it. Um, so, again, I want to thank you so much, uh, for having this conversation, and I just want to uh close out by, um, you know, seeing if there's anything else that you may want to share about yourself and about the journey that you think is important for others. That may be in a social justice work or the work for human dignity, a lesson that has sustained you that you think is important for them to know about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think one of the biggest lessons I've ever had is I may not win it all, but what I can win. It is more important to win something than it is to not because I don't want to give in anything. I think when we don't, when we act that way and we sort of decide that that's going to be how we operate, to only be in the space of I want it all and anything short of that and I'm not willing to compromise and I'm not willing to give in anything, you're going to be in the space of anger and you're also going to be in the space where 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 years ago and we had to settle for temporary visitor's driver's licenses. Had we not done that, 300,000, 350,000 people would have been driving without any protection for the last 10 years.
Speaker 2:Right, so I have DACA and, like it has transformed my life. And it's not, you know, and it's not perfect and I have to, and it's, but it's allowed me to build a career, to buy a house, to buy, to help my parents buy a building, so that we can have some way of them being able to to think about retirement one day, um, and it's allowed me to do this work. That, then, has allowed me to change other people's lives, to hire people to. You know all of that, um, and it's not perfect. Perfect, you know, we won healthcare for undocumented seniors, first starting at the age of 65. And then we went down to 50, and then we went down to 42 and like we don't have everybody and it's short and it's not exactly what we want, and it's frustrating and it's difficult, but tens of thousands of people can get their healthcare that they need every single day, and so I've learned to have and it's not that it's easy and it's not that I'm happy when, then, there's moments that I'm happy when we win, but there's also that pain of what you're not winning like. That will always be there.
Speaker 2:But my biggest lesson is like you still have to celebrate that win. You still have to, and then you go back and you keep doing it again and try to win more, and part of it is for our own people to be able to like be able to experience some sort of even if it's small increments of liberation, but also to give your base and the people that are there along fighting with you like that they can see the possibilities of the change that they can create and then you are able to do more. That's my biggest lesson so far at my current stage of my career, and I think that, as I think about even my own healing, and what sustains me and that I learned that that is what sustains me are those wins. Those wins, um, and being okay with the fact that there's always going to be a small part of me that continues to feel pain because we haven't won it all yet.
Speaker 1:That's right, and and just because, uh, we have that pain doesn't mean we cannot experience that joy. Uh, it's not. They're not exclusive. Sometimes they're the opposite side of the coin. Yeah, and that is our human existence, right, and that is how we are able to connect with each other, because some of us may just feel that pain, but we also need to show and demonstrate that we could have joy in light of the inhumanity that sometimes we are subjected to. So, eddie, thank you so much. That is incredible. I think, actually, that should be the beginning, and the tagline for the new Democratic Party is that that will bring people to the table. So, thank you, eddie. I appreciate that, your thoughts and your story, and I look forward to seeing you out there on the streets, hopefully, you know, climbing mountains and, and hopefully, more celebrations to come. I really appreciate it, thank you, thank you, thank you. Black and brown fighting together on a day I'll always remember.