Queer Voices on Immigration & Justice & ICE

Hey y'all, this podcast contains potentially disturbing content.

Our show includes graphic references to topics such as sexual abuse, self-harm, violence, eating disorders, explicit language, and sexual acts. Listener discretion is advised. This show is for mature audiences only. Good morning and welcome back to another episode of the Queer LBC Podcast. I'm your host, Nino. My pronouns are he, him. Thank you for asking. I have with me here, my fabulous cohorts. Yo, it's me, Christophe, your city top liaison. My pronouns are he, him, and that motherfucker.

Dr. Mikey here, your local, licensed, and practicing therapist for entertainment purposes only. My pronouns are he, she, all of them. So what's the T, sis? The T is... Today in Gay. LGBTQ plus leaders urge California lawmakers to restore devastating cuts to health equity programs. Also in gay, California LGBTQ plus veteran memorial to be dedicated Saturday in Cathedral City. What do you queens know about these topics? I did hear about the cuts to health equity programs that Newsom did.

It was a few weeks ago. Yeah. So I did hear about that when it first went down. And I'm glad to see that organizations and our leaders are stepping in to advocate for, to bring back the funding that was lost. I don't even know what happened. I'm just like so like head spun on. So Newsom announced that they're going to, because of 3.1 million deficit in the budget, that they're going to cut a lot of LGBTQ plus health programs in California.

And these programs that were going to be cut impacted housing, impacted health care. There was other places. What was it? I'm going to say like AIDS outreach and things of that nature. Things of that nature. Yeah, because I know a lot of programming around like PrEP and like HIV prevention and like things like that, right?

Yeah. So the programs that were going to be cut supported the LGBTQ health equity, LGBTQ plus foster youth and access to reproductive health care and PrEP and DoxyPrep and all that fall under reproductive health care. And the grants also funded grassroots mental health services, trauma-informed care, peer support, and capacity building and underserved regions and communities. So yeah, so because of a budget deficit, they were going to cut all, they're planning on cutting all of these things.

And the thing too is this money was already awarded to these organizations. So now they're rescinding the contracts that are associated with it. So, technically, I know in working with mental health, when you get a contract, you get a big lump sum of money and you spend it throughout the year. And it's already planned what you're going to do with this money.

So, like, these people have to go and scramble and figure out how they're going to continue to provide these services if they can even provide them. Right. And how they're going to be able to do it. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. But this makes me mad because why is there such a big deficit in the budget? $31 million, that is ridiculous. Yeah. What did y'all do with this money? How do you miscalculate this shit? I mean, I know where it's going. It's going to cops, right? Yeah.

Yeah, that doesn't make sense. You can't just... Un-fund. Yeah, but that's what they're going to do. I was also not surprised that this happened because after hearing Newsom on his podcast not support the trans community and talking about trans athletes, I think it was only a matter of time that this was going to happen. Because I really do think he's trying to become and be put in his hat for president in the next election. Yeah.

And Democrats are centrist. And he's going trying to appeal to the Republican Party in order to win, which I guess. Well, I guess that makes sense, because even though California is Democratic, there's a lot of Republican states. I mean, he's going a little crazy right now, isn't he? He's doing a lot of things. I don't know. I feel like I need to just like, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. What can you say about Gavin at this point?

Except for now like he's holding it down against trump allegedly i don't know is he i don't believe he is that's why i say allegedly yeah i'll hold my thoughts until we get to the right to the interview i know a lot of thoughts but but yeah i think this is devastating i think we need to on top of all the other things we need to be speaking out against this is definitely one because i think this is going to have like a huge impact on our community yeah.

Definitely, definitely. Yeah, so I know World Pride was in D.C. This year, and I've seen a lot of people traveling to go. Like, it was all over my feed, but a licensed social worker based in Philly said that they're excited to be among the queer and trans community at World Pride, but told CBS News that Trump administration has definitely been on their mind. D.C. Is not necessarily a place that many people would think of as a super safe and comfortable right now.

Given the current administration and their attacks on the LGBTQ community, especially trans people, especially trans youth. Meg Tanyeek, founder and CEO of Travel Platform Every Queer and vice chairman of the board of directors for the International LGBTQ Travel Association, has been to dozens of pride events across the world from the miles-long parade at New York City's World Pride to a pride in Kiev, Ukraine in 2015 that was targeted with Molotov cocktails amid protest.

What has happened is socially and politically changed the feeling of the pride that you are attending, she said. Adding she anticipates World Pride this year is going to bring an astronomical amount of fear and sadness from people, as well as some potential violence. So that was before Pride, of course. But from my social media, I've seen that a lot of people were having a great time, and it wasn't really too much of violence. At least it didn't get a lot of, what, newsworthiness.

But even on social media and stuff, it really didn't seem like everybody was having a good time, And everybody was feeling the love, even though the love is not, you know, reciprocated from the D.C.

Legislators of the Republican Party. True. Yeah, I didn't see anything so far negative in my feed either. Not that I have a feed anymore. I just have nothing. But no, yeah, everybody's everything that I've seen looks like people are having a good time.

Yeah i mean i saw that doji was there that would be cool i would love to see doji live did you guys do anything for pride i only went to long beach pride when it happened in may oh actually when i was in new york i went to queen's pride oh yeah so the burls and the cities in there have like their own pride like they do now here in la which i love so i went to queen's pride which is in brooklyn like a little area of brooklyn

it was really cool it was very it was very like latino we went into like a bar and it was packed think of like.

Like we hope hacked during pride where you can barely walk and like people are just squished together it was like that but it was cool it was a great vibe they had like djs and like there was a bunch of people on the street it was it was cool i enjoyed it that's cool nice yeah so i did that in new york you said you went to stonewall i did go to stonewall how was that it was cool so i had a research because i was like i knew there was something about the location

that was a little different so stonewall the original stonewall that.

Was involved in the uprising was is now two locations so back then it was one but now it's two and the second location is a little stonewall museum but i went too late so i wasn't able i wasn't able to go into the museum but in stonewall it was really cool it's like it's pretty big for some reason i imagine it being super tiny i don't know why so is it like a real bar it is a real bar it's still a real bar so the museum is in one part of the old bar and then the other

part of the bar is in the original part of stonewall so the whole bar got split into two different things okay yeah so it's not two different sides of queens i mean new york it's still the same yeah like area it's same location same address as the original yeah yeah so it just separated the bar into two different things a bar and a museum that commemorates stonewall and yeah it's pretty big it has like upstairs which was really cool and obviously they they celebrate the

fact that pride started there that that the uprising started there so they have like the original sign that said what did it say it was this. Is the rated bar and then it was like stamped by like the uh the nypd oh yeah and they sell t-shirts and stuff like that with that sign yeah it's pretty cool nice very cool how historical yeah it was very it was historical and you got a drink it was perfect. That's cute very nice yeah and this one was in Manhattan oh okay mm-hmm,

Anything else gay you did for Pride? I mean, I only did the same. I only did Long Beach Pride for the kickoff of Pride season. But I'm also contemplating on going to San Francisco's Pride this year. Because that's one Pride I haven't been to in California. Okay. Well, that was going to be wild. I think a lot of people said, like, you know what? It's kind of, it's not as crazy as WeHo. Oh, really? Because I think a lot of people after the parade goes to, like, the park.

And it's more like chill and, you know, but we'll see. See what kind of riffraff I get into. I mean, I have my little Pride neon rainbow, but I feel like I bought that for Pride Month and I would put it away. So it would be special when you bring it out on Pride Month. But now it's just like out 24-7, so it's not special for Pride Month anymore. Need something new. So I need something new. Pride Month-y. What should I get? I don't know. We can't do Pride Monthly.

You do like a Pride Christmas tree? Oh, hmm. Hmm. A little small one. You know that the small Christmas tree? Like a rainbow one with some gay things on it? I have to go find the perfect rainbow one.

Ah, yeah. Like if you went to the parades, I'm quite sure you can get a lot of, excuse me, you know fans fans or like can we just decorate bricks get bricks and just decorate them oh bricks yes i was like brick brick any other quick tease i think that's it the timer's up we already went over anyways right we're terrible at this we're trying hard are y'all still thirsty, I was kind of parched I still need some to quench your thirst see it's a little

a little less well we only did one article I did one exactly, alright guess these queens have deserved a break.

Hey y'all Christoph here and we just wanted to say thank you for all the love and support but don't forget to go and give us a five star review a like a heart a comment you know they all help the podcast a lot from all of us here at the queer advocacy we greatly appreciate you now back to the show, and we're back so today we're talking about something that hits close to home for a lot of people but doesn't always get the spotlight it deserves ice raids

and deportations what happens when your safety, your home, and your future can be taken from you at any moment. What does it feel like to live under that kind of pressure? And how do communities respond? When the government comes knocking, to help us get into this, we've got a very special guest with us today, Andrew. Hey, Andrew, and welcome to the show. Why don't you kick things off by telling us in your own words, who are you? What are you? Why are you?

Thank you guys for having me. And thank you, Walter, for extending the invite. So who am I, what am I, and why I am what I am, right? So again, my name is Andrew. I'm actually born and raised in East Los Angeles. My family came from Mexico in the early 80s. And pretty much, I would say I share a lot of commonalities with a lot of Mexican families because I came from, I would say, a two-person household. My mom and my dad split up really early.

My mom, unfortunately, did not have citizenship, residency, and the things that people need to kind of survive right here in the U.S. And yeah, you know, that made my growth, my experience, just what it is today. There was a lot of, I would say, challenges when it came to being able to provide for the family. And yeah, that kind of just really, you know, opened my eyes as a young kid to, you know, pursue something better than, you know, what my family had been able to offer me.

So who am I? I'm, you know, 32-year-old gay male who has two siblings that are one in college and my other one is about to graduate high school. My mom still does not have citizenship. She is a U.S. resident. You know, thank God, of course, for that. But, you know, I'm just somebody who is, you know, very in tune with what's going on right now. And, you know, So it's something that is very difficult to process, to watch and to observe.

But I do really have a lot of, you know, a lot of sympathy and just really a lot of feelings. And I'm sure, you know, you guys might feel the same way. But yeah, you know, that's a little bit about me kind of just in the whole, you know, brief snapshot. And yeah, you know, just doing the best that I can right now. I'm processing all the information that's been going on.

And you know just really hoping to see something change yeah I know that's easier said than done but it's something that yeah it's just really close and really you know hurts my heart but yeah hopefully that was a you know somewhat of an introduction but as we go you know we can kind of you know dissect a little bit more well thank you for being here so have you had some first 10 experience with the ice raids?

So, yes, my brothers. So as my mom, when she came in the 80s, you know, quickly acclimated herself to the U.S. and had me when she was 17. So when she had me when she was 17, she was not ready to be a mother. And my grandmother took care of me for the most part. My mom started having kids again when she was 29. And her second baby daddy, which is she had two kids, my siblings, was also undocumented. So he was actually picked up from our house back in 2008 at like about six in

the morning. My mom was getting ready to leave and drop him off at work. And they opened the door and they actually like barged in and took him out. It was actually not even ICE before they had a different name. I think it was like INS. Yeah. So yeah, they came and they looked for him and they took him. And I actually was out of the household at that time. I was at Cal State LA. Wait, they took your middle brother?

No, they took the baby daddy. So my stepdad. Oh, okay. And yeah, they snatched him up in the morning and he was gone. Unfortunately, what ended up happening was that, you know, he was working under an alias. So because of that, they were able to kind of like track him and it was easier. But, you know, he was doing what he needed to do was go to work. And yeah, I got that devastating call that morning where my mom was just like bawling, like did not even know how to process her words.

And I just, you know, with all that being said, like, you know, these past couple of days, seeing like the videos and all this, like it's actually like brought all these feelings of that moment of that phone call and like literally having to get up and, you know, leave. I wasn't even in class that day. I was waking up in the morning and I just left, you know, campus and I, cause I was actually in that area living outside of campus.

But, you know, I went to the house and just, I didn't know how to process all that, but, but yeah, you know, we struggled without my stepdad. And I mean, even though I don't have the best relationship with him, I mean, he was still the man of the household and, you know, still the father of my two brothers and yeah, he's been gone since, been gone since. What was kind of the impact of him being removed from the house. It was a quick mindfuck for me, but at the same time, you need to step up.

And I stepped up from afar. I mean, not even from afar. I mean, I've always been very involved in my brother's life because when he was born, I was 14. So having a little sibling at 14, you're like, oh, a little baby. And then I had blessed again at 16. So I was always very involved when they were born. But at that point, it was more so like, you know, not by force, but it was like, okay, my mom has nobody.

She doesn't have him anymore. So quickly in like two months, she's like, I cannot afford this place. So we had to like get up and move and things like that. Well, help her move. And yeah, I mean, ever since then, you know, they've been raised without a father. But the good thing I will say is that like, again, as I said, you know, but my brother, he's 19. He's at Cal State Fullerton, psychology major, you know, in his sec, you know, starting his second year.

Something that I didn't accomplish. Actually, I dropped out of Cal State LA that same year because I needed to work. And it was just, I was, I didn't have like the fundamentals like a lot of other people. And I, you know, went to school kind of thinking like I could do this, but I had, you know, I had a lot of dysfunction. I didn't have a father as well, you know, my dad.

So yeah, like it just, I wasn't set up for success, but I'm happy my brother is, you know, achieving what I haven't been able to achieve and, you know, doing great and my other brother as well. So, you know, right now they're very in tune with the political climate. I wasn't at that age. So I'm just seeing a lot of like, a lot of things that make me proud about them. You know, a lot of character, you know, traits and just seeing that they're so aware and that really makes me proud so.

That's crazy. So what do you think about all this crazy shit that's happening and all these and the protests? I mean, when you see all the people out there defending the idea of immigrants in the in the country? Well, you know, I think back to, you know, all the historical civil rights, you know, issues and, you know, sort of progress that we've made in this country.

And honestly, like there was times in this country that, you know, we had civil war and there was times in this country that people processed it and lost their lives.

Yeah buildings burned down you know things being torn up and sometimes i'm not you know condoning looting i'm not condoning you know violence but i am really saying that you know sometimes it takes you know that extreme extreme measure to kind of get your voice heard and i i stand strong with that like i think you know it's and when we show up in numbers like we're we're strong but you know So I think, you know, the unfortunate part is that we're seeing a lot of people, a lot of people kind

of like, I guess, taking advantage of that. And it's just really counterproductive. If anything, it's kind of like giving the people that are not supporting the immigrant community kind of like, look, you know, you guys cannot handle or I don't know, you guys are not like this is exactly the reason why we have to send in, you know. You know, National Guard and, you know, the military force.

But you know those are some of the bad apples but at the end of the day i know you know me being out in the protest like i i didn't haven't participated you know in these protests right now i won because i do sometimes fear like i don't want anything to happen to me and then i have my brothers and my mom and literally we're such a small family like all my family is back in mexico so i don't know i kind of like you know sometimes get scared about that piece but as far

as like you know being like active like voice and like you know still participating in like campaigns and things like that like I've I've uh I used to work for an LGBT organization as well for like over five years and I did political advocacy knocking on doors getting out to vote campaigns things of that nature so I've always been like a social justice type of uh you know activist and person by nature but.

But yeah you know I just right now it's like a little a little crazy out there so I feel a little weary but at the end of the day like today was my first time posting on Instagram about the whole situation just because i've been kind of silent like i just trying to understand and process everything but today i was just like whoa like you know more marines are coming into the whole conversation and it's like really like you know so it's just yeah today was i i would say today was

for sure like the day where it really did hit me um and i did have i posted on instagram you know just reflecting to people like i actually had to have a conversation today about everything that's going on because, as I said, my mom's a resident. She became a resident in 2007, so like a year before my stepdad got deported. She was here on a work permit. And, yeah, she's been a resident since. But before that, she got into a little bit of trouble when she was young.

So she hasn't applied for citizenship because they actually do like an in-depth background. Oh, okay. But I told her, like, you should have done it before. You know, when things were common. Now it's like there's no way you can do that. Like, you know, I don't want you to go near an airport. We're not going out of the country. You know, you're staying in the house. Stay put. You need something. Now go to the grocery store for you. That's the sad part, though. is that like people have to do that.

Like I know some, I have some friends and they're really laying low. They're like, I'm just going to work and back and that's it. And it's crazy because sometimes you may not even be fucking safe at work. Yeah. I mean, look at where all the raids are happening. Exactly. And it's just like, you just gotta be, put your head on a swivel and just be like, what the fuck? Yeah.

There's been a lot of activity out there, but you know, I do feel somewhat like, I hope that, you know, I can't like live in fear and I can't say like, don't go to work, don't do this. But, you know, she drives to work in the morning and I just got to hope that she, you know, comes back. Like, you know, she's a resident. Again, she has, you know, she has a permanent residency, but we're seeing that people that are even permanent residents are being picked up.

And like, you know, it doesn't really matter. Even citizens. Yeah. It's like, you know, like for me, if I were to be picked up, I know at the end of the day, you know, nothing's going to really happen to me. I might struggle in detention or whatever, you know, but I'm still going to come back. My mom, they can make any little excuse that this, she passed a red light or I don't know what, and, you know, strip her of her, of her status. And I, that's the thing that kind of scares me.

So, but again, we, I think we just need to be, I guess, optimistic, even in the darkest times and just kind of think that, you know, hopefully this is a temporary moment, even though I don't see any, you know. End in your sight. But yeah, you know, she has to go to work and we got to continue to live. And it's just really unfortunate.

I know you did mention that, you know, since the Marines is being, you know, deployed, but Governor, we was talking about an article earlier that we wanted to discuss that Governor Newsom has filed an emergency motion in federal court to block National Guard members and Marines from assisting with immigration raids in Los Angeles.

Trump is turning the U.S. military against American citizens, Newsom wrote on X. President Donald Trump originally deployed guards to protect federal building and personnel, which is bullshit, as we know, back on February 6th. But the governor's request says that the state's military department was told that the Pentagon plans to direct the California National Guard to start providing support for immigration operations. So hopefully with that.

Motion that he's going to place with the courts, hopefully, that not allow the Marines to. Because I haven't touched down down there. I haven't crossed the 91. Yeah, I haven't been out there. I don't know if they're there. I know the National Guards were deployed, but I don't know if they hit the ground. Yeah, no, they're there. The National Guard are standing right outside of all the federal buildings in Montana. Oh, okay. The Marines are the ones that were sent, I think, yesterday,

and they're coming today or tomorrow. Yeah, something like that. I mean, I don't want to sound like a downer, but I'm like, how the fuck is like, oh, we filed a lawsuit against you. And then what? The army disappears? The fuck? Like, okay, he wasn't even allowed to do it in the first place. Right. Exactly. Right. Right. Exactly. It wasn't even, that's not even the fucking U.S. Southern Marines. But like, yeah, you're right. So what the fuck is a lawsuit going to do?

Like you, is it going to be at the point where, okay, well, he disobeys the lawsuit. So now what? Then the. Hold them in contempt. The California military has to come out and fight the U.S. military? Is this what's going to happen? But the issue I have with this situation is L.A. is supposed to be a sanctuary city, just like Long Beach, right? But then if you're a sanctuary city, then why is LAPD, why are the sheriffs out there protecting ICE?

Like, why are they being turned on to the protesters? If you're a sanctuary city, you shouldn't be doing that. It should be the other way around. If anything, cops just sit down.

This is not their fight. they're just gonna make things worse they already made that statement right exactly right so i don't understand you're not sanctuary city and i feel like gavin newsom is just talking the talk and he's not showing with actions like these are your police you can control them and tell them what to do and what you're doing you're having them protect this this these raids and this agency and that's not okay sure. Have you been over there? Have you guys seen anything? I mean,

because there's shit happening everywhere, right? Like Compton is like a big... Unfortunately, I was out of town over the weekend. So I've seen everything on social media. So I was like, what in the hell is going on? And then it was just like, okay, that's... You know, LA gonna always show up and show out. You ain't gonna come and disrespect LA.

You know what I'm saying? And like, so L.A. has always been like, I don't want to say like a leader in regards of like residents is going to show up for civil rights and like wrongdoing. Yeah. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? So I already knew that was going to be the jump, but I didn't realize that in reality, I should have never been like it's it's and it's fucking crazy because they doing it like almost like.

Like thugs like it's not even official like you you like you had in your face oh because they got families and shit like that get the fuck up yeah it's like you're wearing vans yeah i mean, what is stopping me from going on amazon buying a fucking fucking shit like you see and just beating the shit out of whoever the fuck i want yeah they're literally just terrorizing their. Communities they're a terrorist organization at this point and that's.

Why i try to stay off of social media because i also seen recently that some dude some ice agent in a parking lot all the way over starts running running through traffic and shit and just like body slam this old man on the fucking ground on his way to work i did see that like you didn't you didn't address yourself you didn't even give this motherfucker a chance to stand up and yeah and it's like it was like mind-boggling you're violating so disrespectful mayor bass

actually said that she's like i believe that this is like an experiment to see how much you can get a get away with yeah we're like the first ones to be kind of like tested and of course like you know it's los angeles where we have i mean we're right you know by the border exactly so i think because of that like you know it it yeah it's it seems like it like they're just kind of like you know go out and fetch them all and you know and that's exactly what they're doing but today i

know mayor bass actually has a curfew at eight so if you're like in downtown la you can't be out after eight you have to either work or live there so that's another thing like why are you stopping protesting like that like what is probably and i can see the other end of it and it's probably to make sure that they're safe because ain't no telling what the motherfuckers gonna do well it's because i think it was because of the looting

because like all the looting that was happening last night it all took place that night so because it's probably eight o'clock i don't think i don't know people don't protest you know after in the nighttime or do they, or maybe they do. I don't know, but I mean, usually like, yeah, I, I think it's big for that to kind of just like public safety, but I'm sure they can protest again, you know, starting in the morning. It's just more so like a safety issue at night. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, I'm down to keep the protests to, like, cute hours. As long as, like, the mainstream media would actually portray the protests that are happening, like, legitimately, which they're not. Yeah. And it's, like, so many of them are just, like, acting. They keep calling them riots. And it's, like, girl. And she even said it's actually not even that. Like, this is just, it's a couple blocks where this is all happening close to the federal buildings.

It's not happening all over Los Angeles, as they're saying.

I mean I still feel safe in my neighborhood and you know I know people and well well you know for the most part right but you know you do feel a little bit just kind of weary like is you know, you know ice just you know in the parking lot right now I was actually driving down down Cherry because I live close to the Home Depot and I actually saw a post earlier that they were there the one here in Signal Hill so I was just kind of like peeking to see if I can see

any like trucks or anything like that but it looked actually pretty empty and so I mean hopefully they're not there and hope or hopefully a false alarm but you know they're pretty much they know they know the spots really they know the spots and right now i think they're really emboldened they're seeing the chaos and with more chaos they're like you know this we have more reason to so it almost feels like it almost feels like they're just like yeah like putting

on a show so that they can have like all this like video and show what's going on so they can just like obviously we already know what's going on yeah so they can spin the narrative yeah yeah but.

Yeah it is just like a couple blocks but those little couple blocks and like those little like videos they do like make you feel like oh my god like it's all happening yeah and like we're all gonna die or we're all this is the this is the revolution so like get your gird your loins i don't know yeah so i also saw a video today that on saturday i don't know if you guys heard on saturday this saturday um it's like i don't know trump said it's like america's birthday or like something a celebration

at the in dc but they're spending a lot of money and he said if anybody is out there protesting he's gonna meet them with military force wow and it's this saturday so you know everybody stay tuned watch on tv see what's gonna happen with that but i'm sure there's gonna be protesters yeah yeah i'm sure they're not gonna stop people let me see exactly what that.

Like it's something i don't know personally i feel like i feel very like rageful in this situation because i feel it's like why are we doing this again you know because i remember being in high school and doing the walkout for immigration yeah and out of that we got daca right and but like that's still not enough right and the thing is like why we continue to protest and my thing is everyone's always people peaceful protest peaceful protest it's like girl we've been peacefully

protesting for decades like how do you expect people to stay calm when there is no change and they still feel disenfranchised like i'm at this point, I'm like, burn the shit down. Like there needs to, I'm, I'm, I'm like pro-violence. Like get that shit. Like you're not listening to us when we write letters, when we message you, when we're out there with our pickets and how you want us to protest. Like, what is it going to take for y'all to listen and understand that real change needs to happen?

But also property damage is not violence. I agree.

That is facts. Facts. It's how it's spun. And I was actually watching something on TikTok commenting on how the protesters shouldn't have Mexican flags. And I don't agree with that. Say that one more time. There's some TikTokers, influencers who are advocating not to have Mexican flags in the protests. Like as people are picking and marching. Because they want to focus on the optics of it.

And so they're like media is going to take these pictures of people with Mexican flags and make it look like there's an invasion from Mexico by Mexican people. And I'm like, I mean, I guess, if you're stupid. Yeah. I mean, head for the country was when they voted. That is true, yeah. And the thing is, I don't agree with that, because they're advocating to only American flags. And I'm like, because they're like, we want to see that this brutality is happening

to American citizens. And I'm like, it is happening to American citizens. Why do we have to have American flag to show that we're American citizens? That's already inherently racist. It gives me the ics when I hear that. And, like, when you're saying no Mexican flags, it also gives me, like, all lives matter vibes. I don't know. And, again, all this land used to be Mexico. Exactly. So, it's, like, the people never left. We've always been here. So, it's, like, what do you want to do?

The border crossed us. Exactly. Exactly. Right. Yeah, I don't understand why people get, like, so, like, upset when they see Mexican flags or, like, Spanish billboards. I feel like that's also, like, things that people get mad at is, like, seeing Spanish in, like, the American sector. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Which is just racism. Yeah. That's capitalism, sis. You like capitalism. Right. That's what you get with it. That's not. Not when you do it. Yeah. Only when we do it.

So that thing that I was talking about earlier was it's basically a parade that's being held in Washington, D.C. that's going to mark the U.S.'s army's 250th anniversary. So that's what he said. He's like, if there is any protest at this military parade on June 14th, we will be met with heavy force.

So that's like a straight up threat that is that's a straight up threat that is but what was seeing that's fucking crazy because he always talking shit and it's just like what was that same energy when the federal building was being taken over by your homies well because that suited him because of his homies and then speaking of his homies the people who are funding. The detention centers that ICE are putting individuals in was a major, motherfucking contributor of his motherfucking campaign.

So it's almost like a kickback. Like, hey, he's doing this for them motherfuckers to make money. So it's all about money, but everybody over here like, oh no, like our safety, our safety, fuck. Get the fuck up out of here with that. It's ridiculous and if you believe that, I hope you choke on a fat dick. Just trying to distract from the Epstein files. Oh yeah, I heard that, the muskin. That's the whole reason. Yeah, that's wild.

But yeah, prisons are a big lucrative thing now. And it makes sense. And they have to spin that Mexicans or immigrants are monsters, so you can justify treating them like monsters. But in South Africa, they're killing white people. Oh my god. Oh my god. You say what? In South Africa? There's a white genocide. You know about the white genocide in South Africa?

And make-believe shit too. let's allow them to flee that country and come to the u.s yeah yeah so they're here now but and they're here now so they actually got vip treatment they came on a plane yeah wow yep makes all sense right with seats like most motherfuckers would have to get under the the plane with the cargo, but i mean you see the common the common denominator here right you know we're seeing what's going on so i mean you don't have to be a,

I mean, you could be blind and probably still see that. Like, it is what it is. Yeah. I mean, they look plain dumb as fuck, though. They look plain dumb as fuck. Yeah. I will say that ever since everything's gone down, like, everything is, like, eerily quiet. Like, I remember I went out after work to do some grocery shopping. And, like, the streets were pretty empty. And it was really quiet. So, I'm like, oh, this is really weird.

Yeah. It's definitely weird vibes. It is. And also what is also weird, there's a lot of ceremony season. So, like, you know, I'm not sure how that's going to play out. Like, I know the Tonys was recently and the BET just had their awards last night. And I mean, I seen a video saying, oh, there's ice right outside of a fucking graduation ceremony. Oh, yeah. Right.

So they just everywhere. And then like, and this is the time where the people that we support in regards of mainstream media and mainstream entertainment, if you support these motherfuckers and they ain't speaking up, they ain't using their platform for the good. Then like, should we really be rocking with these motherfuckers at this time? Because like the only person that really said something yesterday on the ceremonies, which I've seen online was Doshi and like literally called it what it is.

Yeah and it's just like but where's like everybody and i know it's like you know what this is this is business like i had to look out for my livelihood but also like do you yeah you you will be i enough i mean i feel like if you're so high profile you you're not gonna if you get even if you get snatched because there was that one what was it that streamer who got snatched up by i don't know who took him they was like oh in vegas that was he like a tiktoker i don't know that fucking streamer guy

that like white boy anyways but like if you're so high profile like like a celebrity and you get what pulled into jail or like pulled into like detention or pulled into questioning because of your like beliefs like nothing's really gonna happen to you anyways so it's like you need to speak up right yep exactly but nobody is paid a fine yeah you can pay for a lawyer yeah but yeah that's we need to look at that too for the motherfuckers who are staying quiet who we also like to you know.

Not support that we usually support. But maybe they're quiet for a reason. Maybe they know, maybe they know somebody. You know, right. And sometimes motherfuckers don't got to bark to be actually doing work behind the scenes. So I do understand that, but also like, cause I don't bark, but you know, I make sure I keep people informed. And it's just crazy. Cause I know I was, I think I was telling you earlier, but one of my coworkers, her friend, brother is a U S citizen. Born and raised.

USA. U.S. of a fucking A. Ice are just now going on fucking looks. Because now he got picked up. So now they got to try to get him his passport so he can come back. And it's just like, what is they actually doing? Where y'all getting these photos? Where y'all getting this data from? Where's this data coming from? Because if...

Right? That's the other thing is, like, they build themselves up to be this, like, we have all the data on you and we know everything you're doing, but then you can't even get the right person. You're getting the wrong motherfuckers every other day. What the fuck? That's true, though. We're all this money. So I guess it's just to cause trauma on purpose. Yeah.

And cause mayhem. they they're doing this shit on purpose so that every shit everything get riled up and they take the attention away from the motherfucker who it needs to be on which is that motherfucker in office, because ever since him and his boyfriend broke up ain't nobody heard shit right yeah it's a lot it was weird just weird watching all this shit on the tv and it's just like what is just like trying to think of like what is like the most,

valuable thing that you could possibly do at this point with your like time and your effort and your resources and it's kind of like hard because it's like well what the fuck.

Can you do any ideas well i mean i think you just need to keep talking about it you need to keep it in people's minds because if you don't people are going to forget people have short attention spans right you know and i think we need to educate people on like the situation and like how to respond and react to ice if they're in the neighborhood and actually long beach let me pull it up long beach has there's an organization yeah long beach or a community defense network,

You can call 562-245-9575, and you can report if ICE is in the area, so that way they can send out a warning. Nice. So it's like an ICE, like, watch out, neighborhood watch. Where is this warning coming from? For people who's out in the community. No, but how did you get this warning? How do I receive the warning? Oh, well, you probably had to, you know. Text the number and maybe get, like, a text alert.

I mean, I think that's a good way to start sharing resources and yeah, having these conversations and, you know, for people, at least for me, like I, that, that's why I did take a minute to kind of post about it, even though I haven't been, because I know that like back in my hometown, there's a lot of people that were undocumented that I knew, you know, actual students that I went to high school with. So, and I still have them on Instagram. So I always kind of think like,

you know, I wonder how they're doing or like, you know, so. It's hard. It has to be hard. I was away and then like one of my friends, their partner is DACA. But now they're like, you just got you because you never know what the fuck is going to happen. So they had to go and, you know, try to work on that and see if, you know, but it's just like I wouldn't know. I would just be mentally unstable. I would. Like, if I had to literally go through that and just,

like, I don't know if a motherfucker just gonna come in and wow me the fuck up and shit me out. Yeah. Couldn't eat. I mean, especially if the person who's, like, taking you away doesn't even, like, identify themselves. If somebody wants to roll up you in the street and just try to take you away. What the hell? Yeah. Right. Anybody? I'm just gonna let that happen. I'm just gonna let that happen. I'm just gonna let that happen. And it's a fucking whatever the fuck.

Anybody can. Especially. Where your credentials. They don't even have, like, they're not even pretending to have, like, full army fatigues either. They're, like, in jeans. Oh, yeah. In tennis shoes. Fucking leggings. No, like, what the fuck? It almost kind of feels like at the point where it's, like, you just have to make the decision, like, you know what? I'm going to be on the wrong side of history. So let me just go ahead and just. And roll you out. And just take care of business.

Like, let's say I carry a weapon on myself just because I carry a knife. Like, let's just say, right? and I carry it for protection. I'm walking down the street and that happens to me and somebody like is grabbing me or assaulting me. I don't know who the hell they are. Right. Yeah. And then I were to, you know, protect myself. Could be anybody. Then what would happen to me? Yeah. Federal crime. That motherfucker didn't say nothing to me. Exactly. But what would happen? It would spin it.

Yeah. Federal crime or something like that. And then, you know, at the end of the day, I go to jail. But it's like, they're not, yeah, they're not giving, they're not showing identification. They're not showing warrants of arrest. They're just going for it and literally kidnapping people. Yeah, that's what it is, really. And just terrorizing communities. Like, what do you expect? How do you think people are going to respond if these

random people come in and start snatching people up? What do you expect? Right, you don't think nobody... Let somebody snatch your motherfucking family up. Yeah, yeah. You're just gonna sit there and be like, oh, okay. Yeah, exactly. The fuck, yeah, get the fuck off... What the fuck? Yeah, like, I landed back in L.A. from New York on the day the raid in Paramount happened. And, like, it's just right here up the street, like, literally.

And you just see all the helicopters, and it's just so much of a commotion of trying to, like, vilify the situation. Right. I mean, I feel like also they forget like LA is like not like cute and like they're gonna fight back yeah like we already seen them fighting back we've seen them on the car and like those kind of guys like despite what everyone's like saying like we need to like be more chill and calm like one it was peaceful protests.

For one yeah and for two when they come and agitate you and they are like stomping on you and they're like having horses jump over you and smash you and like beating you with sticks and it's like you're expecting people to like remain calm in that situation when like thugs without fucking identification are just doing whatever the fuck they want and you're saying what who's the fucking the good guy and the bad guy and it's like girl i think it's a little bit chaos i think so if there's

what was i saying anyways these guys these types of guys who are on the cars it's like we have people like that who live here so like that's what you're gonna get like you're not gonna get some kind of like stand downtown like you're gonna go into santa anna and you're going to compton and you think they're gonna just like right take your shit they're not i mean you know look at watts riot the rotten king right uh uprising the zoot suit you know uprising back in the

day like we have a long history of everyone trying to fuck around and finding out literally i feel like if you treat people like animals they're gonna act like animals.

And you get a question and then you act like you act shocked because i'm the joe is yeah i mean look at someone same thing right exactly and then what happened voices were heard yeah but it was okay because white people mostly yeah no but also like, Gavin Newsom also said, like, he agrees that people have the right to protest in this very moment. He said that he believes that people should be out there and they should be calm, nice and peaceful and continue to do what you do.

And they are. So, I mean, what are you going to do? Attack the citizens again? I guess we'll see as it continues to play out. I mean, I think videos like they're locked and loaded. That's not lethal bullets, but they're still locked and loaded and ready to shoot. Yeah. And that's a problem that I have, is if you want people to protest, then why are police out here? Let people protest and let people do what they're going to do.

Because protests need to be disruptive, because otherwise you're not going to listen. I keep re-watching the video of that Australian reporter getting shot with a rubber bullet. Oh, yeah. And I just keep looking at the officer who did it, and he's just standing there like nothing, and all of a sudden he just does it. And it's like, what the fuck? Yeah. And these are the people that you...

Are that we need to be like respecting and saying like oh don't dox them and whatever the fuck like and that's another thing like if if you're on the right side of history you're doing something right and just then why you need to hide your identity like you just need to own it stand on stand on it right stand on it right oh i'm trying to protect my family we ain't worried about your family yeah they ain't do shit they you out here you

made the decision to take this line of work right did you guys see that video of the raid that happened in DTLA where I guess the the car like that was.

Protester that was blocking the car oh yeah oh yeah and he ran him over and then i actually fell unconscious and then the car you know reversed back and then actually just took off i'm like if you did that in real life like what which it is real life but if you did that like you know just on a normal day you'd be going to jail that's a felony hit and run like that's true i mean what what the hell yeah it's cool yeah that's why i don't believe in peacefulness this

time because we're seeing all that and all the hostility like it's hella violent towards the community who's trying to protect themselves exactly it's it's fucking crazy yeah you're meeting them with anger yeah and force and expect them to be fucking kind the fuck is your problem yeah and you see all these like lame ass people in the comments who are just like i don't know you know like defending the cops just saying like what are they saying you know

what i'm talking about just like the people who are like on obviously the wrong side just trying to like be like oh they're well they're violent so they should be getting hit or whatever the fuck they're saying and it's just like like who was that that was the feds like that was guy that was at the one-on-one throwing bricks at their windows as they was passing about it's a 50k reward and shit, like motherfucker don't nobody care.

Don't nobody motherfucking care but I guess I've seen it recently that somebody said and I don't know if it's true because they don't even look like the same individual facially and or body type but like they found who he was yeah there was a face that they put out but I was like that don't even look like the same dude, well allegedly you know they have all these like technologies where they can scan your pupils and your whatever the fuck and they can just find you like

that in your phone yeah that's what they claim so they can't find right motherfuckers they want to get out the country exactly so i don't know they probably just grab some random guy, yeah but that's also pointless to do like to grab a random person and frame them as the, You're going to show justice. Because they're like, oh, we have the technology. We know who it is. We got you. It's fear. Everything they're trying to do is very fear-based.

If they can scare you, they can get you into accordance. And I was actually reading something about like, oh, people want this to be peaceful. And peaceful works. I was reading the person said that peace works when your oppressor has a conscience.

And if they don't then like it's not it's not so you have to meet them where they're at unfortunately face to face and we know he has no conscience exactly or or these people like we're doing this administration it's like really crazy, but you know I think a lesson for us is just to know that like you know history has a way of repeating itself and you know violence was used before you know anger and screaming and protesting and I feel like honestly right now that's kind of like

i guess like really our only resort you know this is one way that we can exercise our our rights but even then as they're being violated it's like you know we just got to kind of stand together in the numbers and keep having conversations about this and yeah i don't know just you know keeping our heads up high and checking in on mental health and making sure that our neighbors are okay because you know we're we have to take care of each

other at the end of the day you know that's facts yep i think they have to figure out a way to like stop ice obviously i mean but it's like how do you stop ice melt it right good job.

How do we melt ice i think that's what people were trying to do that's why people were interfering getting in front of buses you know yeah stopping yeah traffic and shit yeah traffic and paramount they got like cinder blocks and like the home depot carts and put them in the street so they can block the way so i think it's that that's what and i think that's why important for people to be out there for the federal building the whole time because

then they're going to just start doing their shit at night and moving people at night and there's going to be no way to interfere i'm all about interference okay that makes sense i didn't think about it like that yeah i was thinking like the other day where i saw like like a regular like sheriff car like a suv or whatever driving by and then i was just like like feeling all gross about it just like looking at it and then i'm like. Wait, I kind of always felt this feeling when I looked at them.

It's like, yeah, like there's like super shitty psychos right now, but like they've always still been super shitty psychos. And I feel like they're trying to brand themselves as if like they're like more hardcore, but like they've always been the same flavor. Yeah. They just have like, I don't know. A different packaging. Yeah. Yeah. That's it. And I think that's true. Like there's been deportation, you know, forever.

Like Obama did a lot of deportation, you know. Yes, he passed some laws to make it easier and do some other things, but he still deported a lot of people as well. So I think this isn't a Republican thing. This is something across the board, right? Immigrants have been under attack under every administration. Correct. True, true, true. So don't get jaded, y'all, because this has always been happening to you.

Uh but i do enjoy seeing like the images of like the hot dog lady on the freeway, did you see that i actually did not oh it's like you ever seen get a street dog on the 110 right, but i'm like dang the 101 working y'all we even worked through protests was she actually selling on the freeway oh yeah so you gotta see we got we gotta make our money one way or another and we're hustlers so but i'm like dang is this like what it's gonna look like when we're at war like the 101 is our battleground.

Like, I guess. Like, the freeways is where we're fighting. Wherever we need to meet them motherfuckers at is where we gonna meet them at. And if that's gonna be on the 101, that could be at the fucking Staples Center. That could be at motherfucking Beverly Hills.

Whatever the fuck they wanna do. That's a great idea. We should just move all the energy into Beverly Hills. Well, I heard we saw that Beverly Hills was having, like, a pro-Trump thing. Like, there was a bunch of people out there with the American flags out in Beverly Hills. I could see that. Yeah. It is really like off-putting when you do this, like see the one-off like Trump flag every once in a while. And I was like, what the fuck are you doing in my neighborhood, bitch?

I'm like, I'm gonna beat your ass. You're in the wrong hood. Yeah. There's actually one in Belmont Shore that I've seen. Oh, yeah. There's some in Lakewood. Yeah. I was like, whoa. Yeah. You know. I mean, Lakewood's motto is like times change, values don't. You know, I think that says enough. Values don't. We're always racist. Segregation never. But what you thought, right? But yeah. Oh my god. Damn. Any other ideas or comments about...

The hard times that LA is going, well, the country is going through, but like in regards of like, hopefully it's, I don't know how long it's going to last. For anybody who's not in LA, who's listening, no, we're not like. The war isn't outside our door. Right, we're not under fire. Like Trump go get on the fucking news talking about, oh, if I didn't, if I didn't send the National Guard and the Marines, LA would have been, would have burnt down.

Oh my God. I was like, burn down, bitch. We already did burn down. Right. Every summer. I actually read that when he deployed the National Guard, he didn't give them. There was nowhere for them to stay. They didn't have housing. They didn't have food. They didn't have nothing. They were sleeping on each other. Yeah. So this is how well you're taking care of these people. Yeah. Literally. And then I heard some of them didn't even want to deploy. A lot of them didn't deploy. Right. Wow.

Sad. Because that's not their goal. Yeah. They took an oath to protect the civil liberty of citizens. Yeah. And I love that some of them didn't deploy. Right. That's not my oath, motherfucker. This is your shit. Yeah. And I heard with the Marines, they were trying to come up with a protocol of how to come face to face with civilians and citizens because Marines are not trained to deal with American citizens.

Right. They always on the rule high. yeah exactly they're on the go they're in war treat us nice bitch right so that's very interesting you know I wonder what all that looks like now let's see so they gonna pop up in mass too that is funny because even when you do like ever see like a army military person in like civilian world they always are just like quiet and awkward and don't talk yeah so it's like you're the.

You're supposed to be like the advertisement for America bitch and you're just like acting weird you're a terrible spokesperson you just make me feel guilty that I didn't serve this country. No, no, no. But it's very interesting. You talked about like history repeating and here's Trump releasing Marines in LA and the Zoot Suit Riots. Have y'all heard about the Zoot Suit Riots? I don't really know.

I don't know a lot of history about that. Yeah. So the Zoot Suit Riots happened in, let me pull up, in the 30s, I believe. And the Marines attacked some Latinos. And at the time we wore Zoot Suits and that turned into kind of the Zoot Suit Riot, if y'all ever heard like of the musical. Yeah. So it's interesting that it's Marines again coming in facing some Latinos.

That's very crazy. Well, in this little moment while you pull it up, you had said if we had any other suggestions on how we can kind of like, you know, be active. I want to give it like a shout out to Shira LA. It's the Coalition for, I'm sorry, Human Rights in Los Angeles. And it's an organization that actually supports and like is able to advocate for immigrant communities and families. They support them with like lawyers and, you know, different types of resources.

So their website is chirla.org and you can give there and it really helps, yeah, support just, you know, any sort of legal services, labor disputements, any, you know, anything that comes with immigration law or employment law for immigrant communities. Okay, that's good to know. Oh, thank you. Thanks for that. We always, you know, got to help each other out. And I'm sure we're, you know, we're going to get a lot of conversation on what we're talking about today.

So I think it's a good way to kind of just, you know, share some resources here. And what about you, sir? I ain't got nothing. You haven't been affected personally? How are you feeling as a black man in America? I mean, the same that I felt hundreds of years ago, I'm recarnated. So you're flawless. So, I mean, it's bullshit. I mean, but I haven't been, I mean, I'm always affected because I treat people how I want to be treated. And I will never treat nobody like this.

And it sucks because it's also like you don't know what you can do and what avenues you can take to protect someone. You know what I'm saying? But I know that I stand for righteousness. Right versus wrong. And what's happening now is flat out wrong. Did you read Anne Frank? I mean, back in the day, yeah. Just ask. That was, oh. Just curious. Did she? Would you harbor Anne in your attic? Yeah. I'm just kidding. You don't have to put that on. I don't want to get you

arrested. Since obviously that's what's happening. I'm like, shit. I mean, shit. My kinfolks, look. He's like, well, maybe not. In reality though as a individual who is one with the universe I would die for righteousness for like for right versus wrong that's why I live life to the fullest every day I can because I will.

Die for righteousness you know what I mean like right will always I don't want to use the word trump but top, wrong oh oh well everybody whether it's and how is your family taking it i mean my fan you know what's so crazy is because they voted for is my dad did not however my dad is also like so like non-political but my sister is telling me that he is actually trying to go to a protest himself oh him and his woman and i'm like what the fuck and his woman used to be a his woman used

to be a republican and we had brainwashed the fuck out of them over time enough so that she learned and that he i guess became like more silently woke okay and so like i guess my sister because also i feel like i was like the first political person at all in my family just probably being gay is part of it but like my dad don't even think he voted before i did like i started voting as soon as I turned 18 and he like never I don't think was voting at all wow and then eventually he started anyways.

So now he's actually trying to go to a protest. I'm like, what the fuck? Like, that's nice. That's a lot of, like, transformation. From you and your, like, Republican woman to now she's wanting to go to a protest, too. Well, you didn't say, they didn't say which part of the protest. They say on the good side. Because, I mean, you never know until you're so like, man, what the fuck are you doing over there? They're not trying to be in the clans hood.

But yeah but also like personally like my fiance fiance's mother is an immigrant but she is a citizen but it's also like they don't give a fuck they don't give a fuck they're doing it to citizens like fuck fuck your immigration i'm scared to get snatched up too and i'm gonna just a regular person like they're gonna snatch me up just for talking on this damn podcast yeah like the fuck you know what i mean like they're gonna

snatch us all up and that's the moral of the story is we're all going to get snatched up. Right, and that's what I don't, that's what I don't understand why people don't feel like this is just targeted towards one group. One group. They're seeing how far they can get and they're just going to try to, if you ain't on the, if you ain't on their side and back in the day, they just say, if you ain't with me, you against me, then you got to go.

Yeah. What's that saying? When they came for, for them, I didn't say anything and blah, blah, blah. And when they came for me, there's no one else to speak up.

Yeah. i mean that's the reality yeah that's what's happening i mean i am even scared because like, my boyfriend or my fiance looks like he is latino because he is and they don't give a fuck they're gonna round you up for being brown yeah so i'm like so what he has all his information he's just brown like they're not looking for they're not looking for no information right exactly so so i mean i personally do feel like like oh like please like.

Text me that you got to work and please text me that you got to the place that you went to so like i know that you're like didn't disappear yeah terrorizing yeah it is terrorizing yeah i'm terrorized good job y'all did it y'all terrorized.

Oh man actually guy um asked me on sunday when we're at at the at the bar at the men's room he had said he's like are you scared i'm like about what he's like well are you scared that they're going to like snatch you up and it kind of got me by surprise i was like i didn't really like think about it but like you know 24 hours later seeing everything going on the news and again like it actually kind of like sat with me and then i'm like oh shit like you you it could

potentially happen like it really could i'm like i'm pretty brown and yeah you know i i don't look white passing at all or you know i i mean you can tell i'm latin or mexican so yeah it could potentially happen but i as i said i'm not like scared that you know i'm gonna be deported i mean.

There's i mean it's happened to other people but i feel like they're i think they're trying to stop that or i don't know i you know but there's a possibility you know when you look like if you look like something you know then they're gonna be like well why not you know we'll take you too but unfortunately not everybody has like that privilege of feeling like okay well i'm gonna be okay yeah right so so yeah the terror is

real y'all it is help us help us somebody i almost feel like oh we're gonna roll up that gate and the they're gonna cops are gonna or the ice is gonna be right out there and they're like we hear you right we hear you talking walter's the only one let's go home they're like sorry you're gay also.

Don't say shit I'm calling my lawyer now and that's the thing y'all we need to know our rights too right like if ice cups knocking don't open the door for them they need a warrant and it has to be yeah it needs to be legit, They'd be breaking down doors, though, too. Oh, really? Yeah. Damn, record everything. Yes. Literally record everything. I actually heard they said to record horizontal, not vertical, because court will not take a vertical video compared to a horizontal video.

I keep hearing TikToks and, like, videos about that. Interesting. Yeah. The thing that court do is, like, kind of confusing sometimes to me. They're just like, don't do it. We said you can't. And then you continue to do it.

It's real video, but it's not evidence. Sorry. yeah great yeah that's pretty weird yeah it is weird but but yeah and i think if you're out protesting and you get arrested there's like groups like jail support la that will can can help you with bail or help someone that is arrested with bail and orle lb is the organization out here that is part of the rapid response team so i think what happens is people report ice

spottings and then they send people to go and do like warnings and to like start protesting, yeah so and it posts it where the raids are so you need to start reporting those i actually do have a friend that was telling me that he was at a party in the park like a little picnic or something something like family barbecue or some shit and then there's some like random racist white person came and was like upset that they were partying and so the late they lady called

ice on them and they literally took some people away and it literally just happened as simple as fucking that. Wow. I mean, it doesn't surprise me, to be honest. But, I mean, all the racist people are very emboldened right now. So they just feel like they can really just do whatever the fuck they want. And honestly, they really are. Yeah, they really are. They really are doing whatever the hell they want. Are you personally affected, Mr. Doctor? Mr. Doctor?

Not like personally affected. I don't know anyone who's gotten picked up by ICE. I do have a few friends who are undocumented and they're kind of like laying low, like I said. But in what's today, today's very Tuesday, all my sessions this week have been addressing. We've had to talk about ICE and the impact of what's happening here in California. So like everyone's being affected and not all my clients are Latino.

Know you know i have a very diverse clients and all of them are talking about it and talking about how how it's impacting how they're scared and how they're worried how they're worried about for people in their community so i don't know i think that's why i i'm feeling so much about this because i'm hearing about it like eight hours a day and i'm having my own feelings about it and seeing the videos and yeah the therapist needs a therapist it does i

do we always do we always do but Check in on your strong ones. Yeah. So I think that's why I use that word rage because that's like I really feel because it's just disgusting what is happening.

And I love seeing people protesting and people like fucking shit up. And I think we need to do more of that. And that gives me hope, you know, that gives me hope. Some light at the end of the tunnel. There's actually a protest going on right now here at Long Beach. I love it. So yeah, so they sent out, so there was a protest at, it's gonna happen at City Hall at five.

Oh, okay. There were also one happening, there's a few of them happening throughout LA, but the police department did send them out, letting them know that this is, you know. Structured, nonviolent protest, but just want to put it on people's radar. So there's a few happening in L.A. and Pasadena, but also it was two here in Long Beach. One was like at one to three and then five to seven downtown Long Beach at City Hall.

And I think it's in coordinates with I think there's a City Hall meeting today. So I think that's probably a great timeline for why that protest took place today at City Hall. Yeah, it says it's near City Hall. Some protesters were blocking the rightmost lane as they marched between the convention center and the civic center. They're calling on Long Beach City Council to invest millions more into anti-deportation fund. That's what the movement is for. I love that.

So, some things that you can do if you are not trying to get out in those streets, also is you can support legal aid organizations. You can donate or volunteer with organizations that provide legal support to undocumented immigrants and families affected by ICE. Some examples are the Immigrant Defense Project and National Immigration Law Center. If you're multilingual, especially in Spanish or indigenous languages, volunteer for translation or phone stuff.

Know. Two, you can write letters or call elected officials, which, you know, always works. Not. Contact local and national representatives and to demand they support pro-immigrant policies, like abolishing ICE, ending detention quotas, etc. Also, Bail Bonds Funds donates to immigrant bail bonds and bond funds to help release people from detention. One example is the National Bail fund network or a local fund specific to immigrant communities. You can offer...

This almost sounds like I'm going to be saying something illegal now if I say offer housing or support to undocumented people. But I mean, do what you do with your own time. You can also educate yourself and others. Learn about ICE practices and share that information on social media. Blasting it out and showing the really nasty shit that they're doing, I feel like it really does help just show people the carnage. And I feel like when people see the nasty carnage, I don't know.

I hope that it strikes a chord in somebody. I don't know. Does it? Do you guys think that works? Seeing that? The people that voted for him? No. Sure. It doesn't. I don't think it's moving anybody. Right? To be honest. And I only say that because I've had deep conversations.

Conversations actually like with one of my girlfriends like her man is a trump supporter, and he's always like gloating about like oh look i love you i love you and he's basically just trying to say like wow because he voted for trump and he would wear you know his trump hat when we were around in the house or like we would go visit and she has to tell him like dude like none of these people like trump and you're you're inviting them to your home he's like what's my home like well

then don't invite them then basically like she's basically saying like why would you you know So they had started having problems, because it was just making us feel uncomfortable. And he has not switched his tune at all. Like right now he's posting and he's like, you know. You came here illegally and the ironic part about this is that he's actually not white. He's Korean. Korean American. Child. So I'm like, all shapes and sizes. I'm telling you, yeah. But I think once you're in that headspace,

it's really hard to break out of that delusion. Delulu. Literally. Because you next. Because you get indoctrinated so much. Exactly. Exactly. You're a fucking ex. Yeah. Exactly. I'm like, you're here because of immigration. Like, you're here, you're an immigrant. Like, your family, you know. Yeah. Like. But then people do this, I came the correct way. The quote unquote, you know. It just means you had money and you had privilege.

And that's not reasonable to expect everyone to have. Exactly. Exactly. And yeah, I don't know. It's just crazy that, you know, I think we.

Were minorities in the eyes of the nation but for him he feels like one step ahead of i think like latinos or just other like if like he's made it because he's at where he's at he's like with the white counterparts yeah i don't know yeah i mean proximity to whiteness is a thing right like i think you get certain privileges to your proximity even if you're kind of, even if you're not white, you know, I think I've heard of the, what is it, what is it, not token, model minority,

yes, which a lot of Asian people gets swept into, you know. I think if you do have, like, whiteness proximity, that you should try as hard as you can to, like, bend your influence in there. Because just like how my dad had, like, a Republican girlfriend or whatever, well, I guess now she wants to go to protest against them, so... That took time, though. It did take time, but that's all we have. We have nothing else to do. We have nothing else to do but, like, the real work at this point.

And the thing, the hard part about that is that's not everyone's job. Some people are not going to be good at talking, convincing people to change their mind. That's a process. You need to be patient and you have to be diligent. So that's okay. That is not your part of this revolution, you know. But we need to start identifying people who can do that work and who can go and talk to people like this. Because that's the only way it's going to happen.

Or if you can, you need to build your frustration tolerance and your patience to have these difficult conversations. I think we also need to start finally pushing our dollar for real. And that's the only way that anything seems to get done in this country. That's the way that the evil side is doing it with all their fucking money.

They all are just like pitching into the same fucking shit i think we all need to just get on the fucking board and like put the money because i as far as my whole political career has gone, i have never put any donation of money to any like anybody ever ever ever ever and that's like my my political stance is like they shouldn't be getting my money it's like they should just be running on prayers and thoughts on yeah thoughts and prayers and like they should.

Just be doing what i want them to do and that should be the end of the story they shouldn't need money for anything but i mean like i guess i understand that you need money for what advertisements to do reach people but i mean i don't know they pay they use some of that yeah the campaign funds for like advertisement radio print they use it for for staffing they use it for yeah like renting out you know arenas and all that stuff to like you know have

these conventions and things of that nature so yeah it's it's really really costly but that's that that should change too like why are we like capital capitalism capitalizing on like elections like this is democracy well you know like we the people should have to pay for that we shouldn't have to pay for that don't we pay money in taxes like i don't know i mean it always is like pretty weird that it's so clear that even when like other organizations like

i don't know like let's say like abc news or whatever holds like the election what is it like debates or whatever or even like the primaries they don't even have every single person who's on the ballot they just have main people who have the most money and it's like okay well like if you could literally have a platform where like it doesn't matter how much somebody spends on advertisement you could just have them speaking.

Because they're on the fucking ballot but it doesn't even work that way it's just like, It doesn't work that way. But it doesn't. So I don't know what to do. Let's just continue burning Waymo cars. Let's do it. I'm down. Because I guess that's where we're at. Throw some bricks. Throw some bricks during Pride Month. Right? Do something. But yeah, throw your money at something. I don't know. Throw your money at it.

I mean, that's important. People are getting arrested. So we can support bail funds for the protesters.

Yeah because i think that's necessary as well yeah and i would say even it's free to do this but to vote i think people some you know we get complacent and then people are like well you know we're in california or we're probably going to be okay or you know maybe not having those conversations with our family members maybe you know like your dad he didn't vote for a long time but i you know you've done it right like you've got him to kind of be more open and accepting and And, you know,

I think that's like something that other people can do, you know, like it affects everybody. So, you know, we can kind of advocate like, you know, it's free, just register. And when there's an election, especially, especially during the midterm elections, that's always the lower voter turnout. It is. A general election is always, there's always numbers there, but midterm elections, history says it, you know, So the voter turnout is always very low.

And those are the ones that matter because those are the local races. And those are the House of Representatives. Those are some of the state Senate seats. So I think it's, yeah, every election has consequences. Whether if it's a general presidential election or if it's a midterm or if it's a local city race, every election has consequences. So make sure you get out, register, and you vote.

There you go. Yeah, I agree. I think we need to develop more like community aid and focusing on our community because, I don't know, we've been voting for a while and we're not getting listened to. So I think we need to focus on, I think we need to not focus on politicians saving us. I think we need to focus on us saving us. You know, I think maybe more community based, more city based for sure. I agree. I like had like a snap fit and like went on like a apocalypse shopping spree.

And i bought like a gas masks two gas masks and like a lot of like the breather cartridges because you know you need more than just one to last you for like a little while for at least one to two three days so about a couple of those and then i bought these extremely high-powered flashlights that will blind a motherfucker if i need to so that's kind of like safe because i saw on like on instagram like some people's like protesting and they were showing like,

ways to like combat i guess criminals safely that's not like a weapon and they just like had high power flashlight on strobes just blind the fuck out of you or like also just like laser pointer and it's like yeah just blind the fuck out of your assailant and you're not actually hurting them guess that do make sense so do that so i bought those i bought the high power flashlight, to get my assailant disoriented.

I bought a tent just in case for whatever reason our house collapses and not house, our apartment collapses and we need to live in the street. And then I also bought a sleeping bag for it. It's also like camping analogous. It sounds like you want a camping trip. I even bought like a outdoor, like portable toilet that even has like a thing. And then I bought like a ready to go anywhere fireplace.

And then I bought like solar panel okay it sounds like you're getting out of hand now and then I bought a solar panel.

Phone charger basically like you can charge it through the sun so, I want to buy like don't know what that's for I want to buy an electric generator but I haven't like they're very expensive you should get like an electric battery like a big one I want to get one but I'm trying to like figure out which one oh yeah they matter what else did I get I got some girl you're going camping right but it's also like suitable, for For everyday use. Everyday revolution. The collapse of society.

If anybody hears this, that just means that we're at a point where the collapse is headed. And I'm just preparing. Too sorry. I know where to find you then. I also bought radiation pills. So if like a bomb explodes, then I can eat the pill. Girl, we're too close. You're even closer to where it would land. Exactly. I need the more pills.

Uh-oh well my producers tell me that we're over time, well anybody any more any happy thoughts to close this out any thoughts of hope keep protesting i love the protest that reminds me did you guys ever see that video of nancy pelosi when she came out she's like well i would say good morning but it isn't, okay i understand that's how you feel and that's kind of how i feel like there is no hope no feelings of hope because there is none,

I think just stay strong, check in on your loved ones, check in on your neighbors, you know, for the therapist, they need therapy, too. I'm okay, guys, I promise. I would say stay vigilant and be mindful because your words can affect someone. Just because you feel like you may not be directly affected, choose your words kindly and be there for others. Period. I love it. Period poo. That sounds nice. And I would say that you don't have to run yourself ragged to be part of this movement.

Rest and self-care is very important. And don't feel guilty in doing that because this is a lot and this is overwhelming. Your nervous system can only handle so much. So take care of yourself in this process so you can continue to do this work. We need to focus on being that this is a long thing. It's about longevity. So we have to take care of ourselves in order to do this. Oh, yeah. Another good idea. I saw a shout out to Hotel Turf War.

He said that he was giving rides to people to the protest, which is very needed also. Free rides. Yeah, free rides. I mean, you ain't going to fucking find parking. Yeah, exactly. You don't want to take an Uber out there. So if you want to offer a ride, offer a ride. There you go. Different ways to contribute and help. I like that. Go like out there, y'all. Go protest. Stay strong. Throw a brick. Because it doesn't matter who you are. You're going to get snatched up,

so you might as well fucking beat. If it ain't now, it's going to be later. Also, all oppression is intersectional. What affects us is it affects someone else. So we understand that we're stronger together rather than divided. My oppression is your oppression. I saw some protest video, and they're like, the people united will never be, and he didn't say divided. He said some other word.

And i was like bitch it's very easy it's divided you know sometimes those i don't remember what they said but they said they didn't say divided there's a lot of very easy phrases that these people just mess up a lot it makes me angry.

Also like why aren't people out there with like boom boxes and speakers like blasting like, bumping music to like you said why yeah because that that gives them the energy no why aren't they oh why aren't they exactly it would give them energy because they don't have your solar powered panel thing right maybe i need to be out there with the you do boom box i'll be the dj of the apocalypse yeah all right okay i found my voice got your reason all right everybody is

that all that is it that's it from all of us here at the queer lbc podcast i like to say thank Like myself, Nino, Dr. Mikey, Christoph, and our very special guest, Andrew. I'd like to say thank you very much. Thank you guys for having me. It was really a great time. And I would be happy to be back again. If you guys ever had any other interesting topics. Also. We would be happy to have you back. Yes. Awesome. From all of us here at the Quirrell BC, you're good enough. You're smart enough.

And doggone it. People like you. Good night. Night. Good night, sweet. Music.