Political Organizing and Advocacy with Zenia Perez (Part 1)

because you haven't heard it yet. So this is kind of my surprise to you that with a lot of the things that you've been dealing with in your like life, especially under the new administration and the emboldening of really some of the worst facets of this country, it's really exciting to see, you know, people resisting that shift in the culture in this country. And so I'm excited to

share that with you, and we're excited to learn. Zenya also is going to be talking to us about really getting involved on the ground and you know, making some changes in ways that you can in your own community. So this is kind of what we need to do now in order to resist what many people consider to be an oppressiveministration. And so that is what we're doing so much more. But before we get there, it is time for some Ebony excellence.

country music. During the presentation of the Favorite Country Duo or Group Award, Shabbuzzi gave a noticeable side eye and chuckle in response to Maroni's statement. The following day, he took to social media to highlight the significant, yet often

overlooked contributions of black musicians to the genre. He emphasized the influence of artists like Leslie Riddle, who collaborated with the Carter family, as well as Rufus Teapot, Pain, Gus Cannon, and DeFord Bailey, all of whom played foundational roles in shape country music. Chibuzzi's remarks have reignited discussions about the historical erasure of black artists in country music. He pointed out that while the Carter family is celebrated, the black

musicians who influenced them often remain unrecognized. This conversation the lines with a broader movement to acknowledge and celebrate the diverse roots of country music, a theme also explored in Beyonce's Cowboy Carter album, which features Shaboozi and pays tribute to trailblazers like Linda Martel. So, you know, around here, we haven't been able to really give Shaboozi his flowers.

You know, he is definitely of any excellence, and it's fitting that the time, the first time that we're able to do it is because he's taking you know, he's using his platform in the stage to resist, even if it's in a small way. I do recognize he's kind of a lone, you know, figure in that world in a manner of speaking, but I love the fact that he gave that little side eye and elaborated. All right, so Zania Perez, welcome to the show. Thank you for

taking the time to come and talk to us. I know that this is kind of a this kind of came together quickly, but I do appreciate you coming on here. So allow me to share with you kind of a little bit about us, and then we'll get a little

bit more about you. So Q and I we felt that this show is necessary because, in particular, on hip hop stations around the country, there's a lot of you know, celebration of black culture, black music, black art, but not a lot in the way of the advancement of a decidedly black political agenda or the galvanization of black folks behind causes that would benefit black and adjacent namely brown

and other marginalized communities. And so we created this show to highlight people who are actually doing the work and give them a platform to share their stories. And so, while Q and I do a great job, I believe of kind of taking care of this space, it was built for you because you're the person that is out there actually making things happen. And what you're going to do today is teach us and our listeners all about that.

So before we get to that, do us a favor and just kind of introduce yourself beyond kind of the brief introduction that we gave you.

shaped in different ways. And that kind of just made me a very curious person. So when I got to college, my parents were like, you got to make money, and I was like, no, I got to do something I love. So I studied anthropology and that ended up, you know, me serving in the Peace Corps on the sugarcane plantations of the Dominican Republic. It was kind of like modern day slavery. But that's a feature of capitalism, I guess.

And then I came back to the States. And when you go through an experience like that, you come back a changed person. And I was coming back to what was the birth of Black Lives Matter. We didn't know at that moment, but George Zimmerman, a Latino mind you had just killed, had just murdered Travon Martin. And when I saw his high school, I d I had the same high school ID, my brother had the same high school ID. Like in Florida. It's hot at heck outside, so they blasted ac. We all go to school with

our hoodies. That could have been me, that could have been my brother, and so yeah, that wouldn't just hurt me in the fields and going through an experience like the Peace Corps living amongst marginalized communities. You know, I was living with people of Haitian descent in a Latino culture that was very anti black, even though most of Dominicans,

you know, are are black. And I remember going back on a trip to visit my people in the Demican Republic and they were like, how can you say the US is the best country in the world, Like look at this NYA, Like what do you mean? And we all thought in that moment like that's it. America's no longer racist. President Obama is our president, Like that's it. We did it, like, you know, let's check this off. We were very very wrong. A lot of people, a lot of organizers, are like we did it, and they

turned away. We lost the mid terms. But then and so yeah, you you by my own students, they they made me realize that America had things that we needed to work on, right, But you know, it's a journey, not a destination, and when I got back, I just could not go back to my daily grind. I ended up finding my way into politics. It kind of found me, and so I got heavily involved in the Bernie campaign. After that, I worked at Justice Democrats, we got AOC elected.

After that, I worked in labor and you know, did some cool stuff with really cool, really cool people working in retail and private own equity. And yeah, and now I'm here working on vocating for DEI, which I can tell you my career has been a kind of you know, beating the political moment in a very interesting way.

radio DJs. We did a hip hop radio show exactly what you think when you hear hip hop radio show, your favorite hip hop artists, concert ticket giveaways, you know, us popping up at your local high school or local concert outside with tents and speakers in our turntables, at your local nightclub and for both of us in the arena with the local NBA team and similar to that kind of birthing of Black Lives Matter with George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin was George Floyd years later, and that

happening at the same time as COVID nineteen. The world was in a very unique place to be able to respond and mobilize during that movement in a way that you know, not before or since have we been so available, so off work, so out of school, so you know, so in tuned, and everybody was outside for seemingly the same reason, and it was impossible to ignore and having conversations about what the world was dealing with and what we saw in the in the streets as we protested

and as we marched, got our hands slapped a little bit at the radio station, and we went from entertainers to a moment and a decision turning us into activist. And like Ramda said, the idea for this show was that we're DJs. We're not experts in this field. We don't do this work, but we know people that do, and they deserve a platform and to have their voices

and their messages amplified. Little did we know that we would be joining in on that fight because you know, the moment decided that for us, right, the moment decided that, and then Ramses decided it for us, specifically resigning from the radio station that we were at, because they decided in that moment that they wouldn't they wouldn't live up to it, they would not answer the call, and black was too much for them, almost specifically, they don't want

to do a black show where the words that they used, and Ramses knew in that moment that the decision had to be made that we would go a different way. It's a full circle moment to almost have someone like Ramsay said that we built this whole thing for sitting here with us. You know, someone who's doing the work, someone who's experienced life in a way that has kind of ingrained empathy into your heart and to your mind.

The decisions that you make are based on that. Because you went to a university and got a degree, and you could have chased the capitalistic dream and done something to make far more money than you make doing the type of work that you do. So we can't express our gratitude enough for you making decisions really based on wanting to take care of and show up for everybody else from Dade County to a red border state to visit two hip hop DJs and have a conversation. That's

the heck of a story. Making the decisions for that to be career? How did you get there? Like our decision was kind of made for us. What was the kind of lightning in the bottom moment that said to you, Okay, this is what I need to do moving forward? Because from the Peace Corps to now being an organizer that you know, there are adjacent things, but there's a bridge that you had to cross to get where you are now.

like I grew up protesting Fidel Castro. You know, we would walk to the Orange Bowl fill that Orange Bowl, and we would stomp our feet and we would chant Guba si gastron and you know, when you know, similar to what we're seeing in Palestine, Like we had we had groups that would deliver aid to the people in Cuba, and the Cuban government shot those rescue planes down and people were up in arms, Like people in Miami are always upset about something, and we're always going to fight

for what's rightfully yours. Maybe it's because like you know, there's there's all like our politicians are Latino and we are Latino, and you know, and so we just we feel comfortable telling this country what we deserve and what we need because like our legislators look like us, and so like I I grew up poor, and you know, and yes my life was hard, but I didn't have this this notion that I could not be what I wanted to be. I just didn't know where I wanted

to go and what I wanted to do. I mean, who does really, and and so like that's how I ended up in politics. Like I realized that there were

people who just weren't given a fair shake. And in this land of opportunity, we all deserve that and then some you know, if if we all prosper, like we all get to benefit from that, if we all like have our basic needs met like housing, food, shelter, healthcare, then imagine like this beautiful world we could be living in instead of like this scarcity that we have been trained and condition groomed even through our own education system,

our own politicians. But the thing about America, the beauty of America is that when something's wrong, Like when my parents gave me the ride to the airport, I was telling them like this, this is what I do for work, and we were talking about parental leave and my dad was like, well, I didn't have parental leave when I was when we had you. And I was like yeah, and that's terrible, Like that's bad for you for your ability to bond with us, and it's bad for the

mother because she's more likely to have postpartum. And so you know what my brother now had parentally he had and guess what, Like they're all thriving because they all had that together, and because we get to fight for things that matter and make these families all families like healthy, Like that's that's what makes America great, Like America's been great because we're a country where we get to like shape it the way that we want, Like we don't

have to ask for permission, like that's just our job.

side is where you have a cause. And I'll give you the example of when I worked in labor, we had people who were getting who are losing their jobs. And this was because private equity owned a lot of retail at the time and they were shutting down during the pandemic, not giving anyone any kind of warning, and

things were really tough during the pandemic. A lot of people suffered, and so we got those people who had been laid off and they advocated and they pushed for a law that if you have this massive layoff, you get a severance paycheck, and we passed that first law. Okay, so that's like one example of what advocacy look like. It can look like a lot of things. It could be calling your legislator and telling them that you don't want to have Medicaid cut because it pays for all

of the nursing homes in Florida. That's what that looks like. But there's people behind that, like setting up those scripts so that you can call and setting up the phone numbers and so like there's us doing that. So there's that big picture, that big legislative that we have like that I just told you, But then behind the scenes,

like there's people knocking on the door. There's people like like trying to get you onto your side to either explain that cause or just like making it happen so that you can do education, or you can do like mobilization where you get people, you know, maybe just packing the house at your your your city hall, that sort

of thing. And then the reason I do these two things is because like if I have a bill, like let's say I want to have you know, I don't want people to you know, in the US, you're more likely to become homeless from a cancer diagnosis than you are ever to become a millionaire billionaire, right, And so I think it's a it's a tragedy that we don't have that everyone doesn't have equal access, equitable access to healthcare.

So I might want to you know, advocate, get you all to like call in and push for Medicaid expansion just we all, we all deserve a safety in it. And then but I want people well on the other side that have been that are sitting in office, those legislators, those lawmakers, and so like I need those people in office. I need to get them elected so that when I do this advocacy work like I have those allies, I have those people, So like those two things kind of

work hand in hand. I love that some people work both sides. Some people only work one side, but I've been fortunate enough to have experience doing both.

consulting something like that. And like you, just in this country, we don't have to ask for permission or we should not be required room to think that way, Like this is the United States of America, for the people, by the people, and so like I think the way maybe it's our education system. I don't know why, but I think civic engagement it's very it's like this very foreign thing, like Howard Laws made? What is the job of a politician?

You know, It's just it's this weird foreign concept. And I think it's like that by design because I think they don't you know, the powers that be or you know, very powerful corporation. They don't want you to know how powerful you are. Like at the end of the day, we pay their bills because we pay our taxes. So like politicians should be scared of us, not because I'm condoting political violence or anything, but because like we can get upset and vote them out. We yeah, let me, let me.

want to get out there and be active. But it's not for that, like they're not a politician there not. You know, they're not going to you know, and they're going to vote, of course, but they can't vote for another two years or four years or whatever. It sounds like there's a place based on what you're saying, there's a place for those people. Yeah, so talk to us about how easy or challenging it might be to become a political organizer or an advocacy or a you know,

to support electoral politics. Like what does a person go through to become their city's version of you or their community's version of you.

It's saving the Peace Corps from you know, the like demonic grips of Doge and Elon Musk and so you know, and it's also like mental health. The National Alliance for Mental Health also has given a lot to me in this work. I've I've burned out and stuff. But you know they're those are like my two passion projects right now. And so find your passion projects and those people. There

will be people there for you. And if you're not sure, you know, of course hit me up your political prima on Instagram TikTok, and I'll help you find your people.

But like find your community or create it and get together with your friends, your family, your neighbors or you know, or an existing organization, because we're always looking for people to come work with us, volunteer their time time or just like you know, pick up the slack that you know your representatives might be you know, like putting down.

seen in MAGA is because corporations, the corporate greed. At the end of the day, it's corporate greed. It's corporate greed that got this man elected into office. It's you know, but don't lose hope, Like this is a country of very willing people and we just got to find ourselves to find our people.