Our fierce podcast leader, Dani Marrufo, recently got together with her close friend & family member, Demi Rodriguez, to chat about voting in the Latinx community. Read the transcript of our recent Out of Session with Kindman & Co. episode below to hear their thoughts about challenges to feeling confident as a Latinx voter, immigration status, and the importance of engaging in voting as a Latinx person. You can also listen to the episode by visiting our podcast page.

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transcript of Voting Confidence, Immigration, & the Latinx Community with Demi Rodriguez

Dani Marrufo (00:01):

My name is Dani, and you're listening to Out of Session with Kindman and Co. A Feelings Forward podcast where we leave our therapist selves at the door and have messy real conversations about being human. Today we are going to be talking about being Latinx and voting. And on this episode, I am joined by Demi Rodriguez, a first-generation Latina with a bachelor's in communication and a minor in Chicano study. She is Mexican Guatemalan, and we'll be talking about her lived experiences growing up in a household where voting was deeply influenced by her father's citizenship status and immigration experience. Please welcome my longtime friend and lovely human Demi. Alright, so as we all know, the election is approaching. How are you just generally feeling about going into that and voting?

Demi Rodriguez (00:53):

Yeah, it's getting very real, very quickly. I think it brings on a medley of emotions. There's excitement, there's a bit of anxiety, there's a little bit of fear if we're being honest, but I think this is one of the many historical events I think we've all been living through. So it's definitely still exciting. I am not losing my hope. So that's, I think kind of the bright side that I try to always focus on, that there's always hope for us to get a little bit better, get a little bit stronger, and connect as a community.

Dani Marrufo (01:36):

Yeah, and I think I'm excited about unpacking the Latinx community experience that you've had and how that has influenced voting. I don't know, I'm excited to get into a few things, but whatever would you be afraid of? No. Yeah, I think there are many things to be fearful of currently, but without getting into that too much, I first want to talk about just generally what was the conversation like in your home about voting? How did you become the human you are today? What was your voting journey, please?

Demi Rodriguez (02:23):

Yeah, I remember being very little, not talking about voting. It wasn't something that was discussed frequently. It was kind of something that we didn't talk about until I got older. I remember when I was in elementary school, we had a fake election and it was for, I think it was George W. Bush's second election with John Carey, if I'm remembering correctly, I really young, I think I was in the second or third grade, we had a fake election, and that was the first time that I remember voting and participating in voting. And I remember going home and not really talking about it. It wasn't an exciting conversation that then opened up a bigger conversation. It wasn't until I got a lot older, more so high school that I started asking my parents questions, specifically my dad, because he was a naturalized citizen for me, I thought voting was so important and so special that he got to do that, and that it was like, look, this is just one of the many things that you now get to participate in.

(03:40)
And for him, it was very much, oh, my vote doesn't matter. One person's vote doesn't matter. That was the mindset that both of my parents had. So I think that had a huge impact on me, where I think I could have gone the direction of, oh, my vote doesn't matter. Look at how it doesn't matter. For me, it kind of lit a fire underneath me to learn more, to get more involved, and to really learn about the voting system and the electoral college and things like that so that my vote truly could matter. So for me, that was really important. But yeah, I just remember being told a lot growing up that our vote didn't really make a difference.

Dani Marrufo (04:19):

Totally. And as you're talking about that, I'm just thinking about collectivist culture where maybe as an individual we don't feel very valuable. Yeah, the single vote, I can see how that translates. It doesn't matter. But I think it's also true that as a collective, our vote really does matter. So I was reading an article from UCLA from eligibility to the ballot box, examining the racial and ethnic voter turnout gaps in the US and California. And what I thought was interesting about it is that Latinos, we are a large population in California, but often the voting numbers are much less than who actually is eligible to vote. And I don't know, I am curious if you kind of saw that happening in your community as well.

Demi Rodriguez (05:13):

Yeah, for sure. I think even within, if I'm thinking of a smaller community of just my family compared to the larger community of being Latina, I saw it very frequently. I don't remember seeing my cousins go to vote. I don't remember seeing my tia's go to vote. It was just never talked about. It was something that just wasn't even an event. It wasn't even an occasion. And so I think that's very real, especially both of my parents. They both work crazy hours. When I was in middle school and high school, my mom would start her day at seven o'clock in the morning and not be done until seven or eight o'clock at night. Oh, wow. Same thing with my dad. My dad was leaving for work at five o'clock in the morning, would get home with traffic and everything maybe at around seven. And so they felt like, I don't even have the time to go. I don't even have the ability to go. And then when they did get there, when I felt, especially my mom, I was able to get her to go vote. It was like, well, I don't know enough to vote. So I think there is that big disconnect of maybe registering and being able to vote, but not fully executing the next step in going and turning in a ballot or voting in person.

Dani Marrufo (06:39):

Yeah, I think the confidence piece that you're bringing up is really interesting. I know, so at Kindman and Co. we have these things called FUN(ds) where the whole team kind of gets together and we do a variety of, I guess, team building or just hanging out together once a month. And at the last election, I forget, actually, I don't even know what it was for the last time I voted for something. I remember going into it and feeling not confident. We were going to talk about, oh, this prop, it means this and this is what this prop is. And we were all kind of assigned, I don't know, something to research. And I just remember feeling the least confident. It seemed like a lot of folks in the room were very welcoming, they were encouraging. There was nothing about their energy that was off-putting. But just in myself, I had this low confidence. When you go to the polls, where is your confidence level? How do you feel?

Demi Rodriguez (07:49):

Which is, it's so funny you say that because I am a research girly through and through, I can just sit down, give me a topic, and I love to just research it and deep dive. So I try and take that approach with voting also of just going through, for example, I think one of the big things, especially when you're talking about confidence, is probably the propositions, right? Yeah. The props are so confusing. They are literally written in a way for people to misunderstand them. And so for the last presidential election, 2020, I got myself, my mom and her husband, we all sat down on the dinner table. We included my little sister in it, and we researched every prop together. So we made it a family conversation and we got everyone involved. And it's funny because even doing all of that, once I actually got in person to vote,

Dani Marrufo (08:51):

So much prep!

Demi Rodriguez (08:53):

Even after so much prep, I had my sample ballot with all my answers pre-marked from the research I had done, and I still panicked and was like, what if I'm voting for the wrong thing? What if I didn't understand the prop correctly? What if I didn't do enough research? Did I give myself enough time? Because you, it's funny, my parents felt like their vote didn't matter. And for me it was like, oh no, my vote can matter so much. I want to make sure I'm doing this correctly.

Dani Marrufo (09:22):

The anxious girlies are just like, oh, but it matters so much.

Demi Rodriguez (09:27):

Yeah. So you feel not confident either way. You feel confident that you don't know enough or you feel not confident in the sense that your vote doesn't even matter to begin with, so then you're stuck. What do you do from there?

Dani Marrufo (09:38):

I don't know. I would say I still don't feel very confident in voting. I kind of find myself freezing in the little cubby that I'm put in, I'm just like, oh gosh. It's like, please, I dunno. You have to put in your info. And I'm like, did I smell everything right? I don't know. Yeah, it kind of gets overwhelming for me and anxiety-provoking. But what I think is interesting is I think I'm a relatively smart person. I can read, all right, English is my first language, and I'm just thinking if I feel this anxious and honestly confused by some of the terminology or language, how do other people feel who might not speak English as their first language or might not be fluent? I know that your dad immigrated from Mexico. Yes. So how do you think that the challenges with language impacted him and his voting?

Demi Rodriguez (10:43):

Oh, I think that was such an unspoken reason on why he wasn't voting and wasn't participating. I think especially because I would bring it up and be like, your vote is so important. And he would be like, it really doesn't matter. But I think

Dani Marrufo (11:00):

It's really, honestly, it was really sad.

Demi Rodriguez (11:03):

And if you think about it, it was just him constantly being told that his vote didn't matter and didn't make a difference. But I think a lot of underneath that, or a lot of that wasn't being explicitly said was yeah, the anxiety of it, the nerves of is he going to understand all of the words? Is he going to know what they're asking him? He struggled with that a bit. I mean, even to this day, he's been in this country and he's been a citizen for over 20 years now. He still does struggle with the language a bit. And it's, I think, so common in the Latino community to be in a home where you're primarily speaking Spanish and then having to go out into a world, a political world and translate it yourself, because let's be honest, depending on where you're going to vote, they're not going to be so kind to you, if they notice an accent or if they notice you struggling with the language. That's true. So I think we were, especially when I was younger, we were in Redondo Beach, it wasn't the most open community. And so I think he had a bit of that fear of the language part for sure. And he never wanted to ask for something in Spanish or ask for certain paperwork in Spanish because he felt like assimilation was so important, yet he could never fully assimilate because of that language barrier.

Dani Marrufo (12:33):

Wow, Honestly, that's really sad. And I think to watch somebody go through that experience in this unspoken way as kids, we kind of just fill in what we think is happening. Yeah. Did you feel that sets of, I guess almost like otherness when you were growing up in Redondo Beach as a Latina who was maybe interested in politics, how did you..

Demi Rodriguez (13:05):

Oh, yeah. I was othered constantly. And it's so interesting now as an adult to reflect on that time because I think there were a lot of things that were said and done that as kids, I maybe just brushed off or I definitely internalized a bit, and now I'm able to reflect and make the connection on why I feel that way. I remember for that fake election we had, or the kid election we had in my school,

Dani Marrufo (13:38):

That is cute, and a really great way to just get kids into voting at a young age.

Demi Rodriguez (13:42):

It was. And I remember they announced at the end of the day, they had counted all of our votes and they announced it. And in our school, Carey had won. And obviously, in the real world he did not. George W. Bush won. And so I think that was the first time I remember then coming to school and being like, oh, who actually won real life? And our teacher having to be like, sorry guys. It actually wasn't who you wanted. But that was the first time that as kids, as young kids, kids under 10 years old started talking about politics. And I started hearing the rhetoric and the ideologies of people that were close friends and being like, oh, actually I think your family doesn't like me, or I think what you're talking about is about me and my community. And being so self-aware of that at such a young age was really jarring.

(14:38)
I remember specifically one friend, I won't name her, but there was one girl who we were very close friends and she had views on immigration and minorities that were very conservative and very against immigration. And I mean, when you're a kid, you definitely understand those things, but when you're being told it, you follow what your parents think most of the time at that age. And so just hearing her and being like, oh, we have not talked about family, and you're actually talking about my family, yikes, was kind of my awakening of being like, oh, wait, we're friends and we live in the same neighborhood and we have our parents pick us up from the same place, drop us up from the same place, but you actually don't think of me the same way was So I remember upsetting and being so distraught that, oh, wait, there's people out here who don't like us.

(15:44)
And just for being ourselves was definitely wild, I think. So I'm able now, as an adult, I reflect on a lot of instances like that where we were probably othered. And for me, it was funny. I think for my two older sisters, they followed my parents' assimilation route heavily. It was what made them feel understandably safe. And for me, I went Latino pride, and so I went the total opposite direction. I was like, I am other, and that does make me important and that does make me special. And I love being Mexican and Guatemala, and that was what I took out of it.

Dani Marrufo (16:23):

Minors in Chicano studies.

Demi Rodriguez (16:24):

Exactly! And I think that almost scared my parents. I think for them it was like, no, no, no, no, we're not supposed to do that. And so I think now as an adult, they love that about me, and they have seen that importance. They've reclaimed a lot of themselves and their culture and have stayed away from the assimilation route now. But yeah, I think it is very interesting to see what the community I was brought up in actually thought of me as I continued to get older.

Dani Marrufo (17:00):

Definitely. And I think especially when it comes to politics, people are talking about immigrants, this and immigrants that, and I think it's really easy to disconnect actual humans when you just use terminology. But instead when you were a kid, your friend is talking about immigration or immigrants and you're kind of just thinking of your dad the whole time. You have a personal tie, you can pair a person with that term immigrant, not just one person, but multiple people in your family. And so for you, it's very personal. And for this kid, it seems like she's just kind of saying what her parents think, and then you're just sitting there devastated, wow, my friend is talking about my family in this way.

Demi Rodriguez (17:50):

Yeah. And I don't even think they made that connection, which was just so interesting. I think it was something you don't even have to think about when the world is made for you.

(18:04)
True. And so for me, I felt instantly defensive and protective of my dad. And I remember being like, my dad is an immigrant, but also being like, but he has a citizenship status right now, being like he's safe. You can't touch him, because that was also such a big fear. Even after my dad got his citizenship status, we as a family I think had a lot of fear about that being taken away or what if magically something gets voted into and it changes everything. So my parents feared it, and for me, I was like, that is why we need to vote. That was my takeaway from it, from the same fear that we had as a family.

Dani Marrufo (18:46):

Did you feel alone in that stance? I don't know. Did it feel lonely? It seems like you were the only person that really was wanting to vote at a young age and maybe saw that value as valuable, but did you actually feel alone?

Demi Rodriguez (19:03):

I don't think so. I think at times maybe, but I think as my sisters got older, they voted, they would get older and they would vote. I remember seeing my sister Destiny voting and when she registered and things like that. And so I didn't feel too alone, but there were definitely times where I felt alone or I felt a little bit lonely being in a family that is trying so hard to blend in when my point of view was we're not blending in anyways, so we might as well be strong in our community and come together as a family rather than trying so hard to hush and silence the Latino side of ourselves because no matter what somebody sees us and knows we're Latinos. So there were definitely times where I think, yeah, for sure it felt lonely or felt like my family didn't understand. But I think now, especially that I'm older, I understand that it was so much fear based and so much of them being concerned about us and just wanting, understanding that they might not have the opportunities that their white counterparts did, but hoping that us kids could

Dani Marrufo (20:18):

Definitely, I don't know what it was that you said, but something in that just really made me think, oh my gosh, growing up, I used to think that voting was such a white thing to do.

Demi Rodriguez (20:32):

Yeah, Absolutely.

Dani Marrufo (20:33):

And then my mind went to this place of voting meant being white, but also voting means being patriotic. And it's interesting how as a kid I would pair being patriotic and voting together. Do you feel like your family was like U-S-A-U-S-A? Were they very patriotic? I mean, you have family members from Mexico, you have family members from Guatemala. I do. I don't know who are they, who are cheering for?

Demi Rodriguez (21:05):

Oh yeah, that's so perfect because especially right now with soccer, my grandma who was born and raised in Guatemala and immigrated over to this day when watching soccer games, if it is USA versus Guatemala, she goes for USA. Okay. She will, if we watch boxing, she will go for the US boxer. She, for her, is so patriotic. My grandma is more patriotic than anybody, which is so funny. Not funny in a bad way, but it's so interesting to see the way she's taken on an American identity. Obviously she's been here for years and years, so it does make sense. But yeah, she is USA all the way, and it is so interesting to think about. I know you mentioned 4th of July too.

Dani Marrufo (22:03):

Oh yes.

Demi Rodriguez (22:04):

4th of July was massive. We always made it an event. Everyone came in their red, white and blue. And I think I had a lot of confusion. I was like, this country sometimes doesn't like us. It doesn't treat us well. Why are we praising them so much? But yeah, it was always kind of surprising that there was still that disconnect that like you said, voting is extremely patriotic. So for a family that is as patriotic as they were and was striving to assimilate white picket fence, American dream wouldn't then execute such a big expectation of being American, which is voting.

Dani Marrufo (22:47):

Your mom's house legit has a white picket fence.

Demi Rodriguez (22:49):

It literally has a white picket fence. That was her dream. Wow. That was her dream. She had my dad go to Lowe's. I remember going to Lowe's buy the white picket fence. That was her dream to have. Wow. So they both had a specific American dream they were achieving.

Dani Marrufo (23:06):

Wow. I'm shocked. Wow. I mean, I'm happy that it made her so happy to get that.

Demi Rodriguez (23:14):

It did. To this day, that fence is never going away. She says that is her thing. She loves it still.

Dani Marrufo (23:22):

Oh my Gosh. Yeah. That's interesting. I mean, okay. The patriotic thing, yes. 4th of July in my home growing up was interesting because I felt very similar where it would be like, okay, the news is talking about build a wall or immigrants this. But hey, fourth of July, and I love some good fireworks. I love a hot dog. I think getting together with family is cool, especially if there's a pool involved. Absolutely. But was I rooting for the us I was very conflicted as a kid.

Demi Rodriguez (24:06):

Yeah

Dani Marrufo (24:08):

Yeah. I was conflicted. And one of my favorite kind of stories that you've told me before is the patriotic just red, white and blue party that you had for your dad when he became a citizen. Can you please share a bit about that?

Demi Rodriguez (24:28):

I can. So when my dad got his citizenship, I can't remember if it was a letter or if he had gone to an office to officially get paperwork or what it was, but we decorated the house in everything American flag and just anything I guess we could get our hands on. And we decorated our little tiny apartment for my dad, and when he came into the apartment, we had that song. "I'm proud to be an American". I can't remember the artist It's by.

Dani Marrufo (25:07):

I think a lot of people have heard that one!

Demi Rodriguez (25:09):

Yeah, I'm proud to be an American. So we played it on repeat and danced around the living room, celebrating that my dad had became a citizen. We were like USA, we were as patriotic as you could get. And so yeah, like you said, conflicting feelings because we're so excited and so proud to have my dad have idealistically all of these freedoms that come with gaining citizenship. And he still felt like he couldn't fully participate.

Dani Marrufo (25:43):

Definitely, yeah. Freedom, but also just safety.

Demi Rodriguez (25:47):

Absolutely. I think safety was huge to this day. I mean, maybe not admittedly, I mean, I have a huge fear of authority figures. I think that's a combination of being brown in America, being a woman, being here, and just aware of the environment that we're in. But my dad still has a very big fear and was always a top-notch citizen out of fear of ever having citizenship revoked, which was so interesting because you think I got my citizenship, I'm safe, I'm here. I can live my life. But I think a lot of people who have immigrated still have that sense of other constantly with them.

Dani Marrufo (26:36):

Definitely. And I think it's interesting too, just the conversations. I'm thinking of folks in my that have immigrated from Mexico and the safety piece is real. There are folks that immigrated from Mexico in my family who are just afraid of going to San Diego or afraid of just driving long distances because what if they get pulled over? It limits their family vacations, it limits. Their world becomes so small, they feel like they can just stay in this hub of home because anytime you exit that you are at risk. And it's also interesting, the things that are talked about this, I'm thinking of somebody in particular where when he's brought into the conversation, it's like, oh, but he pays taxes. Oh, but he has his own business, but he is a good dad. You have to qualify this person to be, I think you called your dad a standup citizen or something to say, oh, he's an immigrant, but oh, but he's the good ones. Right,

Demi Rodriguez (27:57):

Exactly. Absolutely.

Dani Marrufo (27:58):

Yuck. Gross. That's awful. I feel frustrated.

Demi Rodriguez (28:04):

Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's so real. Even you saying the driving and not feeling like you can leave your community. I was just talking to my dad and he went to a work conference and he is like, I was trying to go to the work conference and go right back home

Dani Marrufo (28:22):

Where was the conference in, California?

Demi Rodriguez (28:23):

.. in Texas. So he had just gone to one in San Diego. He had gone to one in Texas right after, and he was like, I'm just trying to do my work and go home. I want to feel comfortable and things like that. And I think it's a lot of unspoken things, like things that you've seen your parents adapt to. Even like you said, making family vacation so small. That was such a perfect example where I connected with it instantly. My dad is the most responsible driver to this day. He follows the speed limit to a "T" does not go over. And I remember going on a family vacation and he got a speeding ticket and us literally crying. We got pulled over and us three daughters in the back instantly started crying because it was like, are they going to take my dad away? And the police officer made him get out of the car just to talk to him. I think because we were so overwhelmed to tell him you're fine.

Dani Marrufo (29:24):

Police officers, just like, I can't hear you honestly over these little girls crying.

Demi Rodriguez (29:31):

And so gave, oh my gosh. Gave him a ticket. That's terrifying. He gave him a ticket and I instantly was like, are we okay? Are they taking you? And my dad was like, no, I just got a ticket. I have to pay it. Dad was driving too fast. And then once we felt that relief, then my sisters and my mom started making jokes because my dad was the most responsible driver. So it was like, what are the odds that out of everyone in the family, they used to call him the turtle. They would say that the turtle got the speeding ticket.

Dani Marrufo (30:02):

Was it straight up the turtle or was it in Spanish? No, it

Demi Rodriguez (30:04):

Was turtle. It was in English, which I think is funny. So they

(30:08)

Demi Rodriguez (30:10):

What are the odds that the turtle of the family got the speeding ticket because he was always so responsible. But yeah, that fear, that safety, I think I still don't even think it's gone. And then you talk about generational trauma and even the trauma that's in your blood, all those studies that they've done. I think that's why I'm always not surprised when I have certain fears that align with my dad's experiences.

Dani Marrufo (30:34):

Of course, of course. And you've seen him live certain experiences, you've had your own experiences. Fear is very real on an individual basis, on a generational basis, and I'm just thinking of people walking into polling places where it's a very patriotic place. I live somewhere that is a majority white folks that I see at the polls. Yeah. I don't feel, it's not like an exciting, I'm going to go vote, but you get there and it's a little bit overwhelming for you. If you can think about advice that you would give people to feel more comfortable when going to vote or how to make voting feel a little bit less white and more of a Latino thing. Everybody votes we can vote. What would you tell people?

Demi Rodriguez (31:36):

Yeah. I think what has helped me the most is getting my parents involved and getting my family involved. So I think I mentioned this a little bit earlier. For the 2020 election, we all did our sample ballot and then myself, my mom and her husband, we all went to our local voting place or polling place, and we all voted together. We all checked in together. We waited in the massive line together. We brought my little sister and we were talking to her about the responsibility of voting and the excitement that can come with it. So I think especially with the collective community that we have and the collective culture we have, family is the best way to make yourself feel more comfortable educating yourself as much as you can if you have the ability to volunteer in your local polling places. I think having family members or having a community be able to see their neighbors, see their family friends, see their community there, then it makes it feel more like home. And rather than having other volunteers or volunteers from other counties have to come into your community to run a polling place because your community doesn't have enough volunteers. If you have the privilege and the ability to be able to volunteer your time, I think that would be huge in helping communities feel safer and a little bit more grounded in the experience.

Dani Marrufo (33:06):

Definitely. Yeah, and I think what you're talking about is actually seeing brown folks, seeing people of color, seeing Latinos either voting or volunteering. I was just kind of painting this picture in my head of what I think would be the ideal voting situation because I go to the library that's by my house and it's a's very quiet, which I understand, but it's very serious. You check in, you go, you wait in lunch, whatever, they give you a sticker, you're done. Honestly, if I saw some vendors outside, like a fruitero or there was a taco dude outside, I would be like, oh, sick. These are my people. I'm going to go vote and then I'm going to go get some food after. I would feel more inclined to bring my family. At least I know it's safe and I don't know welcoming. So I want that.

Demi Rodriguez (34:10):

Absolutely sign me up because I think that, I think a lot of where my idea comes from, because we grew up in Redondo and then we moved to Gardena. So in Gardena we have a huge black and brown community. So I would go check in and it would literally be my neighbor from down the street, which checking. That's really fun. And so I was able to say, Hey, okay, I'm actually confused about this one thing. The machine's working funny now everything's high tech, so having to put in your ballot. And I was able to raise my hand and ask for help because I was like, I know her. She's seen me since I was little.

Dani Marrufo (34:46):

She does. That's really cute.

Demi Rodriguez (34:47):

And so I think, like you said, creating a community where afterwards you can go and hang out and still feel that sense of community would make all the difference. We just voted and then left. We didn't have any of the extra stuff, so then you could, and I think also taking advantage of early voting, I think having those, the early voting options also helps with a little bit of pressure. Then you can have a big event on a weekend when people have more time, when they have the ability to spend time with their family and decompress, then it won't be seen as such a chore. It'll be seen as an exciting activity the family can do together.

Dani Marrufo (35:25):

Totally. Totally. It is interesting. A place that I like to, I don't know, give back in my own way is I do a lot of blood donations, and so I don't know, it's just something that I started when I was younger and I was stuck with it, but I've donated a lot in California and there's that classic experience where it's just like you donate blood, here's a bottle of water and some crackers or whatever. Here's some fruit snacks. I don't know. Very typical. It's just a plain table with this, I don't know, refreshments after, thank you for your blood, goodbye. But when I donated blood in Hawaii, it was totally different experience. I was like, oh my gosh, this is amazing. You donate blood, you finish, there was a buffet table. Oh, that's so cute of just amazing Hawaiian food, like chicken long rice spam masumbi's, there's rice, there's curry, and then people sit together and stay there for a long time because they want to talk with other people. It's warm, it's welcoming, it's amazing food, and I think that's what gets people to go and donate. Whereas here it's like I don't even want to sit down for the 10 minutes in this creaky little chair because by myself, I just want to go donate and go home, so I..

Demi Rodriguez (36:54):

Become so clinical.

Dani Marrufo (36:56):

Yes, yes, doctor like. Yeah. Okay. So I guess what we're saying is voting and then having a carne asada with family

Demi Rodriguez (37:07):

Would be awesome! Or to have a lot of local organizations team up and so you have your polling area or be able to have snacks. The lines are long and they're only going to get longer. So having, like you said, vendors out there donating snacks or have local foundations giving back to their communities and hiring different local vendors, that's our favorite thing to do. When we have family parties. We always will hire a local.

Dani Marrufo (37:39):

Yeah, your mom gets good vendors.

Demi Rodriguez (37:41):

Yeah, we'll get local vendors because it's like, well, that's where we go for our snacks anyways. You're going to get a good vibe and you're going to get a good community. Totally. I think that would make a world of difference. We

Dani Marrufo (37:51):

Should host it. I was going to say that is the ideal. I'm glad that we're putting this out into the world saying, here's what two Latinas would like to see at the polling places, but can we make a deal? Maybe we can vote together and then do something that feels culturally welcoming and warm after.

Demi Rodriguez (38:14):

I would love that. Let's do it

Dani Marrufo (38:15):

Absolutely. I'm down. Well, I appreciate you coming on this podcast. Thank you for having me so much. Happy voting. Yay!

Dani Marrufo (38:27):

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of this podcast, and thank you again to my good friend. Demi, before I go back into session, we are going to be bringing you to a few orgs. So first we've got Civic Sundays. Their motto is Show up, do something. They host election actions every Sunday like phone banking, text banking, postcard and canvassing, things like that. And Kaiman and Co is actually going to be hosting a Civic Sunday on September 1st from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM We're going to have food. We're going to have a place to just hang out, and we're going to be leading election actions. So please come and join us.

The next org we are bringing you to is Voto Latino. They're an Instagram page who honestly just offers a lot of resources, updates, and is just a good page to see what Latinos are doing in voting. It's not California specific, but it's a great way to add more Latino voter info into your feed. Thank you for listening, and we hope to catch you next time on Out of Session with Kindman and Co.

Dani Marrufo is Latinx, lesbian woman who is passionate about supporting Latinx, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ folks. She is constantly navigating the intersections of my queer identity & religion/spirituality and very excited about helping poly and queer-identified partners to feel more secure in their relationships, communicate effectively and compassionately, and bridge any relevant cultural differences to have increased curiosity and enjoyment in their partnership.

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