Texas Representative Linda Garcia has been fighting for our community, both within her state and all over the country. She was one of the brave representatives who fled and basically initiated a strike because of an impending vote to enact racist gerrymandering plans in the state of Texas. In doing so, she and her team were able to buy themselves some time and raise awareness about what’s happening in local and federal governments. Our dear friend Linda Garcia has called us to action and told us exactly what we can do to help. 

Representative Linda Garcia has 17 years of experience in the TV and film industry, helping to build programming for the U.S. Hispanic market at Azteca, Netflix, and Lionsgate. She founded In Luz We Trust, a company dedicated to restructuring negative generational money beliefs to create a positive experience through investing. She recently engaged in a deal with Wells Fargo and People’s Self-Help Housing to educate USDA farmworker households for a financial literacy program. Rep. Garcia is a published author of the book Wealth Warrior: 8 Steps for Communities of Color to Conquer the Stock Market. Wealth Warrior received a bronze medal for Best Self-Transformation Book and a silver medal for Best Business. Rep. Garcia’s work has been featured on Yahoo Finance, Univision, People En Español, Bloomberg, CNBC, Dallas Morning News, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, Parents Latina, and was a contributor to Time’s Next Advisor. Rep. Garcia’s achievements have earned her recognition from Latino Leaders Magazine and the City of Los Angeles. She also hosts a weekly podcast, Investies, where she makes complex economic topics accessible and actionable for a broad audience.

In this week’s episode, Representative Linda Garcia shares her experience fighting back against the current administration as well as what we can do to help. She explains what gerrymandering is, how it would immediately affect our communities at the local and federal level, and actions you can take to fight back against these attacks on our communities. Now is the time to get involved. We can do this, together. 

Resources Mentioned:
Investies: Your Weekly Guide to the Stock Market, Investing & Economy

Native Land Pod

 Latino Vote podcast

Follow Linda on:
IG: @linda4texas

IG: @itslindagarcia

Follow Erika on:
Instagram @‌theerikacruz
TikTok @‌theerikacruz
LinkedIn

Website:
http://www.theerikacruz.com

How to work with Erika:

Sign up for the free webinar “The Magnetic CEO Method” here!

Join the waitlist for the Courage Driven Latina program here.

Join the waitlist for the Magnetic Mastermind here.

Podcast production for this episode was provided by CCST, an Afro-Latina-owned boutique podcast production and copywriting studio. 

Episode Transcript:

Erika: Hello, friends. Welcome back to this week’s episode of Chin Revolution Podcast, where we talk all things courage. As well as creating the future we deserve, and today’s episode is a powerful one, [00:02:00] especially if you’ve ever wondered why your voice feels like it does not count. We’re talking about gerrymandering, redistricting, and how some lawmakers in Texas are trying to silence Latino communities through political maps.

Just don’t add up. And how this affects not just Texas, but the country as a whole. And my guess is somebody who has been on the podcast before, and she was on the podcast to talk about investing and her book the last time, but she has since pivoted her career. So for those of you who are thinking about making a change, but fear starting over, this is also a great podcast episode for you to listen to.

Because my guess is somebody who knows how to fight back with both strategy and, and that is Texas State Representative Linda Garcia. She is also the author of a wealth warrior, which is all about helping individuals of color master the stock market. She’s a Latina change maker, a financial educator.

First Gen [00:03:00] Powerhouse that is representing House District 1 0 7. Not only did she walk out in the historic Quorum Break to protect voting rights, but she’s also on the front lines of the fight for fair representation. So in this episode, we are going to dive into what gerrymandering really is and why it’s a threat to our future.

The ripple effects on funding for schools, roads, jobs in our communities, as well as what it means to take a political stand, even when it’s risky. And most importantly, we’re talking about how you can take action before it’s too late. Whether you’re new to politics or you’ve been showing up to every city council meeting, this conversation is gonna help you see just how much is at stake.

Personally, I’m pretty beginner when it comes to politics. Obviously I’ve taken, you know, the government courses when I was in school, but we all know those are not up to par and it things are changing every day, especially, uh, since the beginning of this year, there’s been so many different changes and.

What we look at in [00:04:00] this episode is just how powerful our collective courage can be. So grab your cafecito, your water, your wine, or if you are driving, pay attention to the road. But let’s talk about what it really means to protect our communities. Let’s get into today’s interview. 

Linda Garcia, what an honor to have you back on Ana Revolution. And I feel like you are the queen of reinventing yourself. And as I told you before we started recording, you’re so good at taking these complex topics and issues and making them so accessible, and that’s what you’ve been up to and what you’re here to talk to us about today.

So the last time we had you on. We were talking about the stock market, about your book, but you have had a career pivot, so welcome back to the show. Would you mind telling us what you have been up to? Of course. Thank you so much for having me. I am a state representative in the state of Texas, and so I have pivoted, [00:05:00] and.

Moving towards politics, and it’s funny that you talk about, you know, disseminating information and trying to make it easy to understand because that was one of the reasons that really compelled me to get into the space. Because I thought that it would be a really great way to continue educating people on things that we should be involved in, but sometimes it’s a really heavy lift to try to be involved in.

I’m learning as I move through the process. I was not politically savvy prior to getting into this space, and so I think that’s important. Also, most of my colleagues are lawyers, and I think it’s important for us to have representation from normal folks that are not lawyers or not, you know, poli sci majors or, or what the case may be.

And so. It’s an honor to be here with you today, and I have called on you because I have a really important topic that I [00:06:00] wanna discuss, and I do wanna make it easy for you to understand, and I appreciate you opening up your space. I feel like these are sacred spaces that I’m coming into and I’m like, Hey, I wanna talk politics.

And these are topics that are taboo, but so is money. So I like to talk about taboo things. You know when your request came in, I was at the grocery store with two friends here in Mexico. They were visiting me, we’re here at my mom’s retirement house. And, I actually said, you know, I feel like Linda’s really good at taking these complex issues and making them really easy to understand.

And I was like, actually, the more I think about it, she’s really good at taking taboo topics. And I said that exact word, because even the spirituality, right? What other Latina was talking about spirituality whenever you started your podcast and we’re talking about that and then going from spirituality to finance and money and then to politics.

I feel like you’re so right. These are like taboo [00:07:00] things, but this is exactly what Shingo and our revolution is about. You know, like this is why I created this podcast because I want movements for our community and it has to be. Love-based, and I feel like you are the perfect example of a love-based revolution, right?

We’re like, yes, we fight for what’s right, but we do it from this place of, of love and what’s best for the greater good. that’s why on the logo of the podcast, the word love in revolution is highlighted because it, it can’t be. Uh, you know, us getting ahead by stepping on other people, even though that’s what’s happening to our community and that’s what we are, are looking to talk to today.

So how is it that you ended up getting into politics and what was.

The, tell us about the decision that day that you were like, okay, I need to do this. What did you feel? What happened and how did you intuitively know that this was your next step? Sure. I love this question. I had been [00:08:00] asked to get into politics. Several times in my life. The first time I was asked was 20 years ago.

I was 20 years old and I had a friend who had just, uh, graduated college and moved into becoming a lobby. I didn’t even know what that was at the time. All I knew was like, lobby is evil, you know? And, um, he was Republican and he said, Hey, I would love for you to consider. Becoming a politician, but I think that you should become a Republican politician because Latino Republicans are going to be the future.

You all are Republican and you do not yet know you’re Republican. I was mortified by him. I was like, absolutely not. This guy’s crazy. I didn’t even understand what he was talking about. 20 years later. [00:09:00] He knew exactly what he was talking about. Yeah. Uh, then I was asked by my sister-in-law who helped get Jasmine Crockett elected as a state representative, and then as a US State representative.

She would try to talk me into becoming a politician continuously. And I was like, absolutely not there. No, there’s no way. In hell. Why did you resist it? Oh, I had zero interest. I say that, I say that, but there was this one moment in my twenties where I told myself that one day I was gonna become mayor of Dallas and I started to work for the city.

I became a city employee and I started to observe. Politicians, and then I was like, Ew, I do [00:10:00] not, I have no interest. I don’t wanna do that. There’s no way. And so I moved far away, but there was the little glimmer of something there. And also mayor, like I, you know, I have these crazy big dreams of doing things.

I, it’s wild. So fast forward, I’m at a Christmas party and. I get a text message, you should consider running for something. Something. I didn’t, this, the title was so overwhelming. I blocked it out of my mind and I was like, oh, here’s another one of those requests. And then the request turned into a phone call the next morning.

And then it was like your current state representative who you voted for. I don’t know what I’m voting for. I’m just voting Democrat down the ticket. You know, she wants to meet with you. And I, you can’t tell your state representative? No, I, I’m smart enough to take the, the, the meeting, you know, definitely I take the, yeah, I take the meeting [00:11:00] and before I even sit down, I was like, I don’t know if you’ve looked at my social media, my website, I’m letting you know right now.

I’m not changing the way I dress. I’m not changing the way I talk. I’m not changing anything. So if you don’t wanna have this conversation with me, then it’s fine. She’s like, have a seat, relax. It’s okay. So we have this conversation and she tells me that the chances of someone running against me is very slim because nobody knows that she’s gonna go on to run for Senate.

Her her space is gonna be open, and the deadline to file is tomorrow. And I asked her a very important question that we should all be asking at the top of a conversation, how much does this position pay? And she told me 7,000. And I was like A [00:12:00] month. She said A year. A year. Erika, being a state representative in the state of Texas pays 7,000 a year, and I quickly did the research on my district.

It’s 24,000 per capita is what people in my district are, are making. I know what my neighborhood looks like. It’s a Latino neighborhood, very, you know, humble neighborhood. And I’m like, where are you gonna find someone in our district that has the flexibility to leave, move to Austin legislate and only make 7,000 a year?

And it was really like, that’s why we’re asking you. Wow. And if we just think about the representation in politics, this makes so much sense. Unless you have a, you know, some level of privilege, like maybe your parents are funding your, your college and, and part of your life. Can you go do something like this?

[00:13:00] It’s no wonder that there’s a lack of diversity if the pay is $7,000, that is wild. Okay? Please continue on with your story. Yes, $600 a month. You get to have the vote, which gives power over the laws in the state of Texas. And really quickly, it didn’t take a long time for me to figure out, this is why we’re losing our rights in the state of Texas because we are not properly represented, you know, as you just pointed out.

And so I, then I got mad, then I was pissed. And then I went home and she gave me three hours to make a decision. I prayed and prayed and prayed, and of course I had to go back and think about, okay, this has presented itself before me multiple times, serious inquiries, and, and I was [00:14:00] like, God. I don’t wanna do this.

I have zero interest in doing this, but if this is what you want for me and for whatever reason you think I should be doing this. Then fine, I will surrender to this crazy idea you have. Because when the book came, it was the same thing. I was like, I can’t write a book about the stock market. I don’t have a license.

I’m not, is the SEC gonna come arrest me? Like I was afraid of that too. It was the same type of fear, but now it was amplified times a million because getting into politics and having people attack you and what I’m going through right now is on another. Level, you’re, you’re sacrificing your family, you’re sacrificing everything, right?

And that, that is why I, I made the decision because I wanted proper representation in my district. Also, here’s [00:15:00] where. Synchronicity start to play in. And I knew that this was the right move for me because I think a lot of the times when we’re pivoting or we’re making really big decisions, I think it’s important to call on whatever you pray to, whatever you believe and ask for confirmation.

I don’t think that’s, I think that’s something that we should all try to practice and there should be some sense there of, um, being able to do so. The, the young man that had taken me out to dinner and asked me to run as a Republican sends me a message right after I register on. I hadn’t heard from him in years on Instagram, and he said, my father lives in your district.

And we have been trying to convince him all day as soon as we found out that Victoria was running for Senate [00:16:00] to run as a Republican. ’cause he’s a Republican. Still a Republican, to run as a Republican in your district. ’cause he lives there. And as soon as I saw your name, I told my family and everyone let her go.

She’s gonna be great. She’s like, this is what she’s supposed to do. Wow. I literally got chills all over my body as you shared that. That’s wild. W isn’t that crazy? Oh, he’s been watching me for 20 years to see where I’m at, and he is like, this is it. This is what you, where you are supposed to be. He knew that, he knew that Latinos, uh, you know, a lot of them were gonna vote Republican.

Like he’s, he had an, you know, intuitive hits. And so those were all, you know, I’ve received so many confirmations like that, uh, afterwards, which has made the pivot easier, but still not, um. How can I say Erika? Even now, right now, what [00:17:00] I’m going through right now, in this moment, I, I have to ask God, like, this is hard

and there’s a part of me that’s getting tired, you know? And I’m like, you keep asking me to do these hard things. And I keep showing up, but I wanna rest. Yeah.

That is so valid. Thank you for sharing, honestly, like what you’re really going through, because you know, maybe the people listening might not be in politics, but they may feel the same the same way. And I think it’s easy to see people online and think, oh my gosh, she’s such a ana. She sets such a badass.

Like it just comes easy to her, but. Thank you for sharing the behind the scenes of how difficult this really is, and thank you for [00:18:00] representing your community and Latinos. Right? Because this isn’t even just about Texas, this is about the whole nation and the whole community. So for context, would you mind telling us what’s currently happening now?

What’s happening in Texas? Why are we on this interview? Absolutely. And I want you to please feel free to stop me if at any point anything gets too technical and you don’t understand, it’s really important for me to share the message because this is me coming to you and coming to your community and ringing an alarm.

It, this is not a time to look away. this is going to impact all of us. So I wanna explain what has happened. Donald Trump has called. Our governor in my state of Texas and has requested that five congressional seats, which is a US representative, think a OC think Jasmine Crockett to take away five [00:19:00] seats, which includes Jasmine’s seat and

 turn those seats Republican and take them away away that are currently Democrat.

Got it. Correct. Okay. Yes, yes. and so. He has made this request, and in order to do that, this means that he has to, we have to redraw the congressional districts and water down, black and brown voices in Texas. It’s important for people to understand that Texas has the second largest Latino population, uh, right after California in the state of Texas.

Latinos are the majority. We are also the state to the large, the second largest black population. There are more than 40% of, uh, registered voters are registered Democrat. We believe that [00:20:00] this state has been gerrymandered so much that it is Republican based on how gerrymandered the maps are. We don’t believe that it is accurately reflecting that, and we have facts to prove it.

By the way, the maps are cut, and so Trump has called for five more congressional seats to go from Democrat to Republican. Now, while this might feel like a Texas issue, we have to understand that congressional seeds make up a body that votes on national issues. And so the big ugly bill that was recently passed that is voted on by our United States representatives like a OC and Jasmine Crockett.

And so it’s important for us to know how this is going to affect us. Now, the other thing is that Trump has [00:21:00] violated the Constitution over and over and over again. What he’s doing right now in Texas is uncommon in the sense that for state politics, a president will never get involved. Those are two separate jurisdictions.

However, multiple times Trump has gotten involved in our state politics, which is really dangerous to the state of Texas, and he’s getting away with it because he has allyship with Governor Abbott. So he is trying to withhold his power. Please. I know this might sound hyperbolic. He is working towards getting a third term.

Obtaining a third term would be a violation of the constitution. He has violated it before, it will not matter. We need to be on alert. I’m pressing the button. On, you know, I’m ringing an alarm. Please [00:22:00] pay attention what we have seen. So do you have questions so far before I, um, I don’t have questions.

You’re doing a great job explaining, uh, the, I just wanted to clarify. So the term gerrymandering is directed to pretty much, um, the district lines, right? So, uh, creating. I, I don’t, I don’t have the words for it, but that’s the definition of gerrymandering, right? Yes. It’s creating for, for the people who may not know.

Yes. It’s creating district lines that will pull, maybe there’s an, a population that doesn’t vote, and so they will pull a population of white folks that are voters and will go out and vote and put those in areas with. Where Latinos don’t vote or black folks don’t vote. This is why it is so important for us to vote when we say our vote doesn’t matter.

That is just not true. That is [00:23:00] a lie that has been disseminated by the powers above so that you continue to sit in complacency and not participate in democracy. so. What happens is, even though these are congressional maps and related to our Congress folks, because they are changes in the state of Texas, this falls under my jurisdiction.

We have a body of 150 legislators in the state of Texas, and we have to. On certain policies, we need two thirds of the vote in order to make a quorum. Quorum just means the body of people that are together that can execute that vote. In the Constitution, it is written as a tool that we can break quorum, not make quorum.

Uh, that is. Typically used as a tool when we have a very bad bill that is going to hit the floor and we’re trying to block it, stop it or raise awareness around it. [00:24:00] It’s a tool that is not used often, but is used when we have a serious issue. So we have decided to not make quorum, uh, the Democratic Party.

We left to Illinois. Under the protection of Governor Pritzker, who is on our side and helping to protect us here in his state, in hopes to raise awareness and educate Americans on what Trump is trying to do in the state of Texas, which I hope that we have been somewhat successful in disseminating the word.

So for folks listening, would you say that you can also say you kind of went on strike? Yeah. Yeah. That’s a great way to put it. Okay. That’s correct. Strike be going on. Strike is legal. It’s a form of using that tactic for negotiation awareness. That’s exactly right. You couldn’t have described that any better.

Okay. So can we just [00:25:00] take a moment, to give people context with how much. Courage it takes. To leave the state and the, I I can assume that, you know, people on the Republican side that wanted this, that, that didn’t want the quorum to break, wanted the bill to pass, wanted to vote on this, wanted, you know, what, what Trump’s agenda is to go forward.

Um, they’re probably really upset with the de Democratic party, right? Which, like, this is your legal right. Um, just like they’re able to do that. So are you, but as. A Latina, a woman of color, first time in politics, the amount of courage it takes to make this decision and essentially go on strike must be terrifying for you.

You know, it was a really easy decision to make in that, not that it didn’t require courage, because it did, because it required courage, because we were going up against [00:26:00] Trump. Hmm. And we have yet to see anyone stand up to Trump in this way, which is why I think we’re garnering a lot of national attention because people like our governor in the state of Texas, just do whatever he wants.

And we said, no, absolutely not. Um, and so that does take courage because then you get bomb threats. They say things like hunt them down we’re, we have elected officials, people in power that are saying that about us. And, you know, we’re getting, I mean, so much hate and attacks and threats that are currently taking place that we are having to move through, but making the decision itself, Erika.

There was never a question or a pause ever in my mind, and maybe that’s because I’m not a career politician and I was never interested in politics, and [00:27:00] so I’m not playing that game. I am really here to represent the people. I’m here to represent my people and in order to represent my people and to fight this is.

The next move and it was just logical. It was nothing I had to think of or contemplate. Now, the contemplation came in on whether I would bring my son if I broke quorum. That was, you know, a different story. He was on summer break, he doesn’t have the proper childcare and you know, leaving your son with someone eight hours plus a day.

That’s a, that’s, I’m not comfortable doing that, you know? Uh, and I’m a mom to a young child and that was part of the deal. And I had to try and look for the silver lining of this is gonna be a great educational moment for him and his life. I don’t know how it will impact him, but I know that it will impact him.

Uh, and hopefully it’ll teach him how to be a [00:28:00] fighter and stand up to bullies and stand up to what’s right and not fold to power. Definitely. And, uh, so calling it a strike, when, when is the strike over? Or, or like what is it that would first, what’s at risk? Actually, let’s go there. So what’s at risk specifically for your district, if they, um, if they move forward with these proposed maps, like what would happen specifically to your community LA to your Latino community?

Sure. So it would be dismantling it completely. Um, and I say completely because it’s already been dismantled once in 2021. We are currently in gerrymandered, maps. And so this is just going to amplify that and completely strip people of their voice. So to make it as easy as possible for folks to understand, for every white person that [00:29:00] votes.

 when we’re looking at the Latino population, it would take three Latinos to vote. When we’re looking at, the black population in Texas, for every white person that votes, it would take five black folks to vote.  so they’re holding, a lot of power in our districts. In other words, just making, it’s just self preservation.

So that is the biggest risk. We are the minority party, Erika. So it’s important for people to understand that we can’t completely kill this. If we were to completely kill it, we would have to be gone until May of next year. You have to remember, we’re making $7,000 a year. We are subject to fines out of our personal account of $500 per day.

We have warrants out for our arrest. We’re receiving threats. We’re going up against the president of the United States. Our goal was to raise [00:30:00] national attention to perhaps drive in Allyships strong Allyships. We feel like we have, uh, conquered that and we feel like we’ve won that in a, in a sense. Gavin Newsom has promised that if this goes forward in Texas, he will trigger his own maps and he will make all of the, he will rymand it in the opposite direction and make sure that all of the representation there is Congressional Democrats.

Which is not something that we are advocating for or in favor of, but we are trying, at this point, we have to fight fire with fire. Mm-hmm. There’s just no way around it. The thing about the way California does their maps, which is the way that we should all adopt across the United States, is that it’s not politicians drawing the maps.

So in the state of Texas, the politicians draw the maps and in the state of California there is a separate commission. There’s a body [00:31:00] that is not PO politicians that are making it fair and they do it, you know, when is when it is constitutional. So this is to avoid any conflicts of interest or any. Okay, got it.

Yes, like a checks and balance type of thing that’s built into the state’s policy. Correct. Okay. And so he is simply, you know, for this moment, he’s meeting the moment and he’s gotten to a place legally where he can, uh, produce new maps and he is going to take these maps out for the people to vote on, which is the way we should all be voting on maps for the people to vote on.

Um, we’re pretty confident that Californians are gonna vote in this favor and trigger. The change. And so those are really big wins for us across the country and potentially for democracy. I would be lying to you if I said that it is [00:32:00] still gonna not hurt our people because the maps will potentially pass and our people will be hurt.

Now, next step for us is to get back to the house floor. Uh. Because we have killed the session. That’s a win. We killed it. But he called another session Governor Abbott, just today. And now we go onto the floor and we put up a fight where we present ca a case on why this shouldn’t be done. Um, and then we’re hopeful potentially that we build a strong enough case.

The reality is that it may not pass, but there’s still a little glimmer of hope there that the courts will see our case. We sue the state for these racial maps. Mm-hmm. Um, and we have some sort of victory. We’re doing the best we can [00:33:00] with what we have. Yeah. It, it sounds like it. So. Uh, just a follow up question for people at home to, or people listening to understand, how would that affect, how would these, these changes in, in maps affect the five-year-old little girl that’s going to school in your district?

Like, how does it affect the individual, the Latina five-year-old? Yeah, so let’s not even take it to. The state. Let’s go ahead and if these maps pass, how they will affect it will affect five year olds across the country. We’re already seeing with the big, beautiful bill that hundreds of thousands of people will die.

And I don’t want this to sound hyperbolic. I want us to understand that we are removing healthcare. From millions of people and making it inaccessible school lunches and making all of these things inaccessible. Mm-hmm. This is [00:34:00] only going to get worse. The idea that Trump is going to fix something we’ve been watching what he has been doing, those issues are going to continue to increase.

We’re watching US citizens get sent to alligator Alcatraz. We’re watching families get torn apart. The agenda here is to only increase that we’re already being profiled. Let’s not pretend like you and I are safe. You know, I just got off of a, a, an interview with another podcaster and they asked, do you think that this will move into the direction of, you have a different political view and you’ll get, you know, picked up by ice.

It’s hard for me to say no, I don’t think that could ever happen when right now we are legally exercising a quorum break, and we have our governor calling for the removal of our seats. [00:35:00] He has, uh, you know, issued warrants, has, uh, court cases against a lot of our members to remove them from their seats.

When we are not elected by the governor, we are elected by the people. He doesn’t get to remove us. The people get to remove us. It’s like they are forgetting that we are here to serve the people. Um, and they are just trying to serve power. Yeah. And you know, as people are, are listening to this conversation, everybody I think can agree, this is horrible.

We don’t want this to happen, but obviously this is benefiting somebody. So who is it benefiting? Yeah. This is an important question because what I want people to understand right now is that this is not about Republicans versus Democrats. This is about the dismantling of democracy. This is about making sure that those that [00:36:00] have power continue to maintain power.

I am an investor in the stock market. I, I just watched at and t report their earnings. They made $8 billion off of the legislation put into the big beautiful bill. While we are watching a lot of people’s resources being completely taken away, we have to. Be able to look at the consequences of what was voted into office.

And I think to a certain extent, you know, obviously this is what the people voted for. And hopefully in observing that, waking up another group of people that didn’t vote, that feel like their vote doesn’t count to actually come out. Make a change because us as legislators here in the Texas House and even what you know, Newsom is doing in California, it’s a heavy lift.

[00:37:00] Like all of us have to pick up our part and our part has to be moving forward, getting civically engaged because we are currently at a war. And I, I hate to sound this way, Erika, you know me. I try to look for the silver lining and everything in life. I try to be as positive as possible in everything in life, and right now I am letting you know that I don’t see a silver lining, but I am calling on the people to help us create one.

And how can people support? So the people who are listening to this podcast, they’re probably thinking, this is horrible. I wish I could do something. What is something that people can do? we are rolling into, midterm elections. These are the most important elections of your life.

This is it. This is, this is it. There [00:38:00] is campaigning that has to take place. I don’t want you to just think about the day you have to go out and vote and making sure that you do that. I would like for you to potentially take a Saturday, identify the candidate that reflects you and shares your issues. And contribute five hours of your Saturday to go door knocking or making phone calls for that potential candidate.

And just do your little I I’m not asking you to run an entire campaign, I’m just asking you to help someone through the process of getting someone elected. I also want to call on you if you are listening to this and you have had a. small glimmer of potentially getting civically engaged or running for something one day, whether it’s city council or whatever it is.

Please listen to that part of your heart and move towards that direction. I am calling on you. We need you in these spaces. It is [00:39:00] time. [00:40:00] [00:41:00] Beautiful. What about. A lot of the listeners, and you’re actually from both of these locations, so you were, um, you’re from Texas, right? But you also spent part of your life in, in California.

And a lot of my listeners are in both, they’re Chicago, Texas, California is, it was mostly where my listeners are. How is, uh, everything that’s going on in Texas, um, like is that connected to the ICE raids that are going on in Los Angeles? Is this, is it all part of a bigger plan and how are they connected?

Yeah. Thank you for that. I also just wanna say, I’m originally a Cali girl. Oh, you are? Okay. I couldn’t remember where you were born. No. And then when you went back, but I know you spent a good amount of time in jail. Lot of time. Yeah, both. Yeah. All my California friends think I’m from Texas and all my Texans friends know I’m from California.

So I feel like I am half and half. You know, and then also, I’m just gonna insert myself as you know, also from [00:42:00] Chicago, big shout out right now to Chicago, who is holding us down. I can’t say thank you enough, like Chicago’s holding us down right now. So, you know, those are, those are really big Latino, uh, populations live in those three places.

But yeah. the issue that I am asking you to pay attention to right now is the umbrella.

That is what is above what is happening right now. The ice raid is just one of the tentacles. The ICE raids is just one of the issues of what is taking place right now. The biggest, most dangerous issue is the one that I am highlighting right now if he manages to win more congressional seats. This is in your hands.

This part is in your hands. If he manages to win more congressional seats than you can expect for the ice raids to get even worse. You can expect for all of the other [00:43:00] things that are currently getting stripped out of America. To get even worse, you can expect for him to maneuver his way to a third term.

You can expect for more authoritarianism, you can expect for more of, more, of, more. So, you know, I think for the Latina listening to this podcast who is, is driven and obviously like community oriented. When we look at the numbers of the Latino population in the United States and we recognize how fundamental.

 immigrants are to the, to the economy, to the ecosystem in general, right? This country would, would fall apart without immigrants and without Latinos, but it sounds like Trump doesn’t care about that. So he doesn’t care about, about like, shaking it up and, and causing disorder, or almost like even with inflation, right?

Inflation doesn’t affect him and his friends. Like they’ve got enough money to go around. It’s really only affecting [00:44:00] us. So is that also kind of part of the plan to, um, really cause chaos? Because if you think about, I don’t know, a carwash being graded in Los Angeles. Well, I mean, a lot of the workers could be undocumented and then the business owner is now out of employees.

Mm-hmm. And so it’s, it’s really affecting. The obviously individuals, but it’s also affecting the country as a whole. But he would still want to do that because his focus is on maintaining power and is part of that maybe causing disorder in other places? Yeah. Here’s my perspective, and this is, uh, this is in my personal opinion, when you start to take away immigrants that are doing the work.

That Americans do not want to do. What starts to happen is you’re actually getting rid of,

 Innovation. You’re actually getting rid of innovation because immigrants are [00:45:00] doing the work that many of us. Have no desire to do. We are. Mm-hmm. We, let’s, mm-hmm. You know, we don’t wanna clean bathrooms, we don’t want to pick fruit. That gives us the space and time for us to focus on innovation and the things that we do wanna do.

And so what starts to happen if you remove the foundation of people that are doing those jobs? Yes, there is a level of deterioration in that space. Mm-hmm. But also it retracts any of the innovation that’s taking place. Honestly, I feel like this man’s ego is so big that it, I could see the space where he wants us to do these types of jobs.

He wants us to move into, um, a place where there is less innovation coming from the people. He is so far deep in his ego. He is so, un evolved as a human that I think he doesn’t really understand the consequences or maybe he does of what he’s [00:46:00] created, what he is currently creating. Got it. And I wanna go back to the beautiful, the big, beautiful bill.

 so you’re an entrepreneur. I’m an entrepreneur. I mean, we could easily look at this and, and think, oh, we’re gonna benefit by X, Y, and Z, but. We are not focused on that. So tell us a little bit about, like how, and, and correct me if I’m wrong, because I actually have not read the bill, I’ve only seen highlights of it from people that are, either like tax specialists or, or accountants that I follow.

 but based on how some of the people that I follow that are very much into entrepreneurship, they speak of it as it’s such a big benefit. So obviously it’s benefiting some people. And you and I could look at that. As like, oh yeah, we benefit this way within entrepreneurship, but it’s obviously causing a lot more harm than good.

So I think my question is more like, even if something benefits us, like how do you, how do you cope with this still isn’t a good [00:47:00] thing. Even if I could benefit financially from it. I think what’s really important for us to understand is that this is what happens a lot of the times in bills, is that there are all of these topics that are put together under one bill and someone has to vote yes, and someone has to vote no.

Right? And so. What they’re leveraging, the things that might benefit one person and will disenfranchise another person. The problem here is that the person that it disenfranchises is less represented in the space. A really simple example to give to something that you’re speaking of right now is inflation.

For you and I if. Fed Chair Powell from the Federal Reserve were to lower interest rates. You and I would could potentially benefit, we could get a loan with a really [00:48:00] low interest and purchase a car or purchase a home, purchase an investment property. Those interest rates being lower would benefit us.

Mm-hmm. But what happens, and the reason Fed Chair Powell hasn’t lowered interest rates is because it causes, right now we’re trying to lower inflation and lowering interest rates, creates more money and more liquidity in the market. More people will start to borrow lo borrow loans. Mm-hmm. That’s how money is created in the market.

And what happens is that low income communities who can’t even get a loan or benefit from getting a loan at at at, at all. They’re watching their food go up higher in price and they can’t benefit from it. This is why Fed Chair Powell hasn’t lowered interest rates because he’s trying to protect the very low income community that has enough money, hopefully to get them to the end of the week or to their next paycheck.

And [00:49:00] sometimes we have to. Those types of adjustments, like I can’t get a loan right now because of inflation. It’s a period that we have to deal with until we get out of that and we can cycle through and benefit again, and inflation will not be impacted. Makes sense. Um, now I have more of a, a personal question for you because as you just explained this, I’m like, holy shit.

You like the universe source put you through the journey it put you through to be able to be in the position that you are in now. Because I’m sure that leaning on your spiritual practices in your connectedness has literally gotten you through your life. But then learning about how money works has probably prepared you for this.

Political position more than you even imagined, right? Like understanding money and the way that capitalism works has been a huge benefit for you. So even if you didn’t have experience with politics, you have this other experience that benefits you in a way that maybe somebody from our community wouldn’t have.

I mean, we are, we really do [00:50:00] lack the financial literacy in our community, which is why you wrote your book. But, um, I just wanted to make that observation that like the way that you explain that, I’m like, wow. That is amazing. Yeah. You know what’s really, um. Yes, I serve on pensions, investments, and finance committee, so all of the bills that I’m getting to look at pertain to money.

I also serve on Doge, which is very controversial, but it is also a committee that looks at all of the technology. My investments are all in technology, so I have been studying technology companies for over 10 years. I passed a bill on, um. I, I’m sorry. I, uh, joint authored a bill on financial literacy and making sure that financial literacy is a course that is taught for kids in high school.

Amazing. Uh, you know, so my background, it is definitely [00:51:00] contributing to like my slice of my expertise and I hope it continues that way. And you better believe my spiritual practice is getting me through all the crazy. Oh yeah. Linda, I feel like this conversation has been so informative for people. is there anything I didn’t ask you about that you think people should know?

I. You did an excellent job. I just wanna commend you for being willing to take on this topic and help me share with your listeners what is taking place. And I just wanna make the plea one more time. Please pay attention to what is happening right now. If we don’t, we are going to regret it in the future and we will pay the consequences.

We are currently paying the consequences of the last election and we just can’t afford to do that again for this next election cycle, which is midterm election. [00:52:00] And are there any resources, uh, whether they’re podcasts, obviously we’re gonna link your, your social down below so that people can follow you and, and keep up with, with what you are sharing and what you’re up to.

But I’m wondering if, for people, I mean, before we started this interview, I told you, just so you know, I’m not really in politics, so my questions might sound really basic, but you’re so good at explaining this for somebody who maybe feels like they’re in my shoes, where they’re like, I don’t know that much about politics, but I understand that politics.

Politics isn’t just politics, right? Politics literally dictates the life, the quality of life, what we have access to, what we don’t have access to, and we’re all seeing that more and more ever since the last election. So for people who are in my shoes who are interested and they’re just afraid of it because there’s maybe so much information out there, they don’t know what’s, what’s like noise and what’s actually authentic and, and what, where to look.

What would you suggest? Absolutely. There’s Native Land podcasts, which is a great perspective from the black community, very [00:53:00] empowering. They focus a lot on national issues. There is a Latino Vote podcast. It is with a, um, Republican from California, a Latino Republican from California, and a Latino democrat from Texas.

Wow. So I I love to, yeah, exactly. I love to hear. Different perspectives and thoughts because I feel like that’s how we become sharp and we can listen to the other side. So those are two excellent podcasts. Latino vote is a must for me. I listen to it every Friday when it comes out because I’m getting a lot of my education in this space from them and understanding where we are as Latinos.

I also would like to offer my podcast, it’s called Investee, and it is. Focused more on the market and the economy, but since I’ve taken office in January, we weave in those topics that I feel are really important and we should be focused on. Beautiful. [00:54:00] Linda, thank you so much for coming back on and thank you for just being you.

Thank you for always putting the community first and really being an individual and a leader in. The Latino community, I feel like you are definitely a trailblazer and, I mean everybody that I, that I, everybody that I know that knows you, we all think so highly of you, so just thank you for really your devotion to the community, whether it was through spirituality or the stock market, and now in politics.

Thank you so much, Erika. I appreciate you uplifting me right now and edifying me ’cause it has not been easy. But I’m honored to be here and honored to be able to ring this alarm for our people. And for those of you listening, if you took anything away, which I know you did, so your favorite part, please take a screenshot of the, of the podcast and make sure that you tag both Linda and [00:55:00] myself.

 we will tag her socials down below, but Linda, it’s Linda for Texas, correct? The handle? Yes. Yes. Linda, number four, Texas. Okay, perfect. Yeah, so tag us both. We wanna see what your biggest takeaway was and Linda wishing you the best of luck. Thank you. [00:56:00]