Ramiro Luna-Hinojosa: How Somos Tejas Builds Latino Power, Grassroots Leadership & Texas Civic Change

🔥 COMING IN HOT — Crispin Valentin sits down with Ramiro Luna-Hinojosa, Executive Director of Somos Tejas, to expose the real blueprint behind grassroots organizing, Latino civic power, voter mobilization, and what it actually takes to create sustainable community change in Texas.

This episode breaks down:
 • Latino grassroots organizing in Texas (2025+)
• The psychology of movement-building
• How organizers galvanize neighborhoods and cities
• Why political systems resist change
• What activism really looks like behind the scenes
• Real stories, real strategy, real impact

Whether you’re in community work, politics, advocacy, or Texas civic engagement—
 👉 THIS IS A MUST-WATCH.

📣 Collaborate, Partner, or Sponsor The Global Latin Factor Podcast

We proudly collaborate with community leaders, nonprofits, creators, small businesses, chambers of commerce, and mission-driven brands uplifting Latino culture, voices, and stories.

If you're interested in:
 • Sponsoring an episode
 • Featuring your organization
 • Booking an interview
 • Partnering on community events
 • Co-creating media projects

📩 Email: info@thegloballatinfactor.com

Let’s build real impact together. 🌎🔥

Transcript

Welcome, welcome you all to another episode of the Global Latin Factor podcast where we talk about Latino everything. Thank you so much for being here. Make sure you subscribe to the channel. Why not? Because uh we give you different stuff, not all the same things. Amazing stories. So, subscribe right now to the Go Land Factor podcast. Be part of the community. Be part of the movement. It's so necessary for you to be here right now enjoying the stories and us advocating for the things that we're doing here and the stories that we're sharing. I like today we have Ramro Luna Inosa. He's an activist for so many years in activism and part of Somas. They're doing amazing work in the community. And now to the episode. Ramito, thank you so much for having us. Thank you so much. I appreciate you uh being here. I know again I always say it, but it's so true here in the DFW area, Dallas. Mucho traffic was too much traffic sometimes, so we have to like um you know, make our way over here. But thank you. Thank you so much. And uh we off 75 so that doesn't help at all with all the traffic. Uh and beside before we get started, we're going to do a segment that I like to call. If you have not subscribed to the channel, I don't know what you wait for. You really are missing out on these amazing individuals here that are uh here in the community doing impactful things like this gentleman that we're about to talk about. Ramo Sasto, are you ready? Ready. Tacos or tortas? Tacos. Tacos. You got a preferred taco that you like to go to? You know, good old like pastor is a good go-to for sure. Bistc fajita or Yeah, absolutely. You get the one of each. Yeah, I'm a traditional. Yeah, get the rainbow of tacos in the plate. Corn tortilla, flour tortilla. Corn for sure. Harito de Marindo, cordas or pooseas? I like pooseas to be quite honest. Yeah, papooseas. Then the Salvadorian brothers did it right. It's so good. You know, like once you get a good poosea, you're like, "Oh man, this is that's true." That true that or tamarindo? Um, tamarindo. Yeah. Are you team salsa verde or salsas roa? You know, I go for both. Like any every single time that they have both salsas, I always go for both. If I had to choose, probably a good green one. Yeah. Yeah, you're funny that you said that cuz our guest yesterday said the same thing. She likes to mix both of them at the same time together. Yeah. Okay. This is going to be maybe you remember you know what kind of dishes they are because of where you're from. Carneasada style or m style or the norta carada carada. Yeah. Cabito or tacos trump. Cabriito Manudo or Pole? Depends what day it is. You know, if it's a Sunday morning, some good old menudo always, you know, it's a good fix. But po. Yeah. So, pole if it's Yeah. P. P. It's about that season right now. It's getting a little colder, man. Some great pole goes great. Valentina, Tabasco, Cholula, or Tapato, hot sauce? Valentina all day, every day. Black label. Uh, I like the original. My dog's name is actually Valentina. Get out of here for real. My people don't know. They think that I make it up cuz my name is They think my last name is uh Valentine, but my first name is Christine. My middle name is Valentine. So, it's not like made up. They think it's my last name. There's a really good story behind Valentina. She was like this revolutionary in Mexico. So, it's one of the sometimes we do like uh single episodes we call it and we discuss and I had seen a post about it on Facebook talking about the story of the Valentina sauce and her actual story based off a real person and it was pretty neat. Yes, that's why my dog's name is Valentina. Tell me a little bit about it since we talking about it. Later on I I'll expand on that. But tell me about the Valentina story. So the hot sauce was actually named after a Mexican revolutionary and it was this young woman who dressed in a man's uniform and took on the ranks and she actually did so well that I think at one point she was about to be uh promoted and that's whenever they found out that she was actually a female as opposed to a male. So she was the Mulan before Mulan was she was like our Mexican Mulan. So yeah, beautiful story. True story too. Awesome. I heard a little bit about as I remember I saw the post but I didn't know a little bit more of the details, but that's pretty neat. I definitely going to cover her for sure. Okay, so when you let's say you want to celebrate something, let's say you were trying to fight for something that the immigrants really need to win on or anything like that, do you like to dance kumbia, salsa or some bachata? Maybe some some kumbia for sure. But I, you know, I like to listen to some like rancheras or some hip-hop, something like Yeah. You know, to definitely get me in that song. Absolutely. I don't know. Something about the energy behind left behind cuz the same thing for that the our guest Nancy, she wanted she liked a little bit more of a different type of music, more like alternative type. Yeah. Or some or something that you see, you're like, man, I'm about to, you know, I'm about to. That's funny. a dish that people must try for Montter. If you go to Montter or somebody tells you about Montter, you must definitely got to give this dish a try. What could that be? You know, I'm a big fan of tostada cylas. Mhm. So, tostada is um it's a just a straight tostada with h sour cream, shredded chicken, and guacamole. And it's so simple, but it just hits the spot. And I feel like it's health. I tell myself it's healthy. It's healthy. Yeah. You know, you got your good fats. You got chickens, leans, you got the tortilla, which is not a lot of grease depending. I I think it is. I think tacos are healthy, too. Balanced diet for our cultura, our our heent, not a European diet type for our gut. I think it's better. So, okay. So when you hear the word Latino, Latina, Latinx, I mean just just because the podcast name is the Global Latin Factor, don't think that we're going to take it offensive if you don't like the term. But for you, when you hear the word Latino or Latino, Latinx, what is the first thoughts that come to your mind to you? You know, I think it's um it's our community and who we represent. Um and for me, I agree. A lot of times it's just semantics on how do they describe us? But ultimately like whenever I think about our people is just so much culture and diversity and depth, you know. I think whenever you were asking me those questions, it was very indicative of our community and our culture and our contribution because it's so deep and and gastronomy and art and and all the elements that make up culture that that's kind of like what I what I you know think of when people were asking me why the global land factor or what does it mean to to me it's like the global land factor is the imprint of our community to the entire world. Like literally today, you probably if you're listening to this right now, you ask yourself, have I run into some salsa? Have I run into some chocolate? Have I run into some reeton? And it was our contribution. Pizza without tomato that came from the Americas. You would not have uh pizza currently right now. Yeah. I mean, corn is everywhere and you know, we're the motherland of corn. So, yeah. Yeah. I I definitely fully agree with with that notion. Like for us, it's beautiful to see how how there's so many things that we've impacted the whole world with. And so, yeah. Yeah. I mean, we're beyond powerful with that, you know. We literally feed the world, give the world spice, and keep it excited, not so boring and dull, you know? Right. Okay. So, for you, do you care if anybody calls you Latino? Do you prefer another term, human being? Anything else? Um, you know, I feel like what I really care more about is like the treatment as opposed to like how they address, you know, as long as there's no disrespectful tone in any in any of that space. Um, yeah, because again, I think a lot of times we get co caught up in some of the semantics of elements that you're like, well, what's really being going on at the root of like how we're being treated, equity, and other elements? And so I feel like I mean I go with Latino, Mexican, Mexican-American, you know, immigrant. I mean I I am brown, you know. So it's just like person of color. So um yeah, I like it. I like it. Okay. So let's start a little bit of the interview and your story. You were 7 years old when you arrived to the US, but prior to that uh were you living in Mterrey or you were living elsewhere at that time? Yeah. You know, I'm from Montter Ree. Um, my whole family lived there until we were seven or so when I was seven. Um, I'm the youngest of three children and um, first my dad came to United States, got settled settled here for for a while and then right after being settled here um, he felt like, yeah, it's time for the whole family to come together and um, we came here to to really we came to Laredo for two years then from Laredo I came to Oakliff. Yeah. Awesome. Okay. So, before I know seven years old is kind of young, but if you can recall as much as possible your earlier years in uh Mexico, Montter specifically, what what do you remember the most out of those times that that time growing up in that? Is it vague or do you remember something very vividly? I know I do remember some vivid pieces. cuz I remember how much fun and and just carefree and it was a really good place to be a young kid I would say just because I was I think I I was at Ravi I mean and it's funny because I still have colleagues and people that we consider family from Montter that they're like oh yeah I remember Ramiro and he was a pelono or whatever you know they'll say like little things about like how I used to be and I do remember having my little young you friends and just uh I remember the holidays like Christmas in Mexico is a whole different vibe. Oh yeah. You know you go over there you can fire you can get pop fireworks and so padas everywhere ponch the food the Yeah. So I definitely remember like a very vibrant way of living you know. Yeah absolutely. during that time. Do you remember any of uh those uh living that way or any examples of people that could kind of sort of you saw examples of something that you might want to do in the future or nothing like that or that was kind of too young still? You know, my my mother was a really good example of of what it meant to give voice to to your community. I remember even as a nurse she would um fight for for the rise of the nurses at some point. I actually remember her picking a fight one time with a bus driver and to me that was like I think whenever she retells the story I've always felt like you know a lot of times who we are is sometimes even in in our genetics or you know knowing that we come from people who were fighters and then and then all our parents to me showed me a very good example of u of just speaking you know giving your voice and just standing up and so can you share the story of us on the bus what happened exactly how did it all get started? you know, she don't get mad, but I think she'll be okay. If you want to. No. Yeah. Actually, it's a funny story and and I'm very proud of of her for this. Glad because whenever you're ready, just let us know. Yeah. She uh So, as a young kid, I had asthma. And so, um there used to be a bus ride where they would park their buses right in front of our house. And so, she would ask them, you know, whenever you're parked there, just turn your bus off as as opposed to having the fumes. Yeah. Especially if you got a kid with asthma. Uhhuh. And so I guess the bus drivers wouldn't listen to her. And one day she just got in and grabbed one of the bus drivers and just threw the keys like you know just far and stuff to the point that they had to they they called the cops and they took you know they had to have court in order to see what you know how what was going to be the outcome of it. And so as she's having to talk to a judge, she was like, you know, look at me. I'm this, you know, small, you know, and the bus ride was a big burly man. And she's like, do you really think I'll go ahead and pick a fight with this one? So I think it was her, you know, being smart and and knowing like, hey, you have to play different roles whenever you have to, but you always have to send up for family, for community, and do what's right. And uh and I think is that like I said my my family they come from my great my great-grandfather was a revolutionary as well. So Oh nice. So knowing that um I I come from a community or or a family that knew to do right. My my dad was a very hardworking man and I used to remember he he is a very hardworking man and I remember how much he gave back to even our local neighborhood. And so uh for my inspiration of advocacy and service has been from both both sides of the family I would say. That's awesome. Okay. So you finally get to the US have to wait a little bit longer before you actually make it to Texas. During that time even though you know you already crossed over you have to wait for the right time. During that time I remember you were saying on the interview something about uh I don't know if dur during that time but it felt like one day you said that I'm going to be big enough that I'm going to have a voice to speak for others. Do you remember that that I would say if there was a pivotal moment when I knew I h I there was a reason for advocacy or to be an activist and and I I didn't know what the term was. I just knew that there was there should be people or groups that people could turn to. And it was whenever one of my family members uh was deported and um yeah and and coming home not to see him there and kind of like knowing the implications and how that disrupted the whole family structure. Um I was a young kid. that I was in middle school. And I think um seeing that firsthand really uh one made me realize the dangers of my life as an undocumented immigrant and and just the need for for people to turn to, you know, and and I say that because a lot of times I think um we we don't know that there's support out there or that you're not alone. And as somebody who's an undocumented immigrant or who has been undocumented, um there is a need for more leaders. There's there there is support, but there's also a need for more support. And um that's really I think to me what was a pivotal moment in my life to realize whenever I I get older I want to to make sure I fight for those who don't always have a voice or not always seen and um and to also um free our our people in the scope of opportunities and and how we're perceived, you know, right? Because for for somebody to have, you know, deported my family and for them to be seen as as criminals or or a nuisance whenever, you know, he's hardworking man who's providing for his family who's uh who's doing everything that's right except by crossing or making that, you know, civil offense. But other than that, you know, so yeah. Yeah. That I would say that definitely was one of the pal moments of my life. Did you understand what was happening knowing that he got deported? You got the whole concept of what happened? Oh, yeah. Very much so. I I am very grateful for my families that they never really hid um our existence and and like our the fragility of our freedom. Um and I say that because for a very long time I lived separated from my mother for close to 20 years. She stayed in Mexico while we lived in the United States. And so I knew that there was a reason behind it. It wasn't because she didn't want to live with us. It was because of fear of, you know, what would happen if something were to if our family was ever disrupted and we had to ever go back to Mexico. She was a nurse, so she wanted to continue knowing that there was some kind of safety net for us. That's interesting that she made uh that type of decision knowing also again as to mentioned the attorney gentleman you were talking when you sharing that story that she had the foresight to be able to know that possibly could something happened but you had somewhere to go somewhere to stay in case something did happen right yeah and I feel like um one she was very wise in that regard but also a wisdom that I didn't understand at first you know I think a lot of times I saw it more as paranoia of saying like no we'll be okay and then until it happens and you're like, "Oh, wow. She was right." And I think that also reaffirmed her wanting to stay in Mexico for that period of time. And it wasn't until our family became more uh safe because uh you know, we had people that became citizens and residents within our family. So having you know, like my dad be a resident and all that and um finally made her decide yes, it's this time. Did you miss your mom that time? Did it down on you at all? Terribly. So, yeah, I remember how difficult it was. I I I I also say I would say that that shaped me tremendously and I say that because I remember vividly that being one of the most painful experiences of my uh of my childhood because there were times that she'll come back to pay us a visit for as long as the nurses, you know, in her profession would allow them to have like a vacation or so there were times that she would get permits to come and pay us visits. And I remember how difficult it was for us to kind of like bid her goodbye as she left to Mexico, not knowing like when she would return, how long she'll be able to or you know, how long we should be there for, right? And I remember growing up from like 9 10 years old all the way to 20 to and seeing the transition of first it was my dad that would drop her off, then my brother became older to get a license to be the one to drop her off, then I was the one that dropped her off. And I remember this is such a cruel existence that I don't want to ever normalize. You know, I don't ever want to be okay with saying, "Okay, this is just the way it is." And and also beyond the scope of my family to know that there are so many families that are separated because of a system that is just antiquated, because of a system that is cruel and a system that's just broken in many ways. and and the human implication is one that is is you know we don't really understand. We'll talk more deeper in that system itself. I have one additional question in that part. Whenever you were going through those struggles the dark times knowing that you were out without your mom because she made a decision for the better of you. What kept you what pushed you forward? What inspired you? what where did you drew energy and uh and kind of like a little bit of calmness to keep moving forward and become a better person? Um my dad was a very strong man in the sense of knowing that I had a good role model and example to to see as to why I needed to make sure that I didn't um cause too much trouble. And I say that because you know also if you're growing up in the south cliff side of you know Dallas there south it's a lot of options to not do not do the right thing sometimes and it's fun sometimes not doing the right thing with and I say that in the sense of you're young and a lot of times I I give a lot of people from our community the grace that they deserve in the sense of saying like hey we grew up in very difficult times and u we have so much talent out there in our neighborhoods that um I'm grateful that I feel that the fear of knowing like if I ever get in trouble is not uh a fine, it could be deportation for me. And I feel like um having a good example from from my father and and my brother and sister, they were also um really good people. And actually even my friends from the neighborhood, they they may have not always done, you know, the most proper things, but their character were good, strong characters to just make sure that I was always um doing good for my people, you know. Yeah. Aren't we allow allowed to have those good characters and more be allowed to be make mistakes and grow out of those? Cuz how can we just grow go through life being perfect? How we ever ever going to grow if we don't ever mess up? And I think that's also what's been beautiful about uh working in the community is that you see so many good people that everyone has their character flaw. You know, I think a lot of times we we hyperfixate on whatever that flaw is, not to see their humanity or or see their needs and such. And so, um, yeah, I I definitely agree that there and and there's also so much need for leaders that that have those character flaws that understand how to deal with people that are also in that struggle, you know. Awesome. Okay. as far as your path going to school and everything everything uh did you decided to go to college pursue? Yeah. And it was something that again at first it was more like a um I I wasn't fully sold on the idea. Once I got into school I really fell in love with um with the courses that I was taking. But soon thereafter, I really discovered my true love and that was advocacy, activists and organizing because fresh into college uh freshman year I discovered LUAC and after that I I definitely paid way more attention to my activism than academia. Okay. Explain to me the acronym for LUAC. What does it stand for? And what exactly was it that they you saw there that just got your whole attention? Yeah, I mean to to this day I I have a lot of respect and you know um appreciation for LUAC in many ways. Um LUAC stands for League of United Latin American Citizens is uh the oldest and the largest Latino civil rights organization in the country. Um and they gave me a platform. I uh I became a member and soon within the first year and two I was already an officer to the point that I had a district position then a statewide position as a young collegiate student and uh and I feel like that's that place really allowed me to to understand the mechanics of politics and um like I said it's a big jump from going from a community that you're just trying to get by to being like, okay, what does it mean to fight for your community or to push for immigrant rights and um a lot of it was my individual reading that I was able to uh you know come across and then a lot of it was some of the teachings that I learned early on from LUAC. What was the most impactful read that you did at that time that really like shaped what you wanted to do? There was this book uh called the life of Mahatma Gandhi by Lewis Fischer and uh I was you know I think sometimes good books it's like almost like love you find each other you know you find uh something that you're supposed to read or and at that time I I remember I told myself you know what I I it's kind of like I need to be an activist but I was like what does that even mean you know like how do I even start and Um, I had heard of, you know, Muhammad Gandhi just through, you know, just p education pieces, but I never really dove into who he was. And then one time I was able to come across um a writing from Martin Luther King and then I was reading on Cesar Chavez and they both credit Muhammad Gandhi as being their, you know, their inspiration. I was like, "Well, let me go to the source." And for somebody who wouldn't that wasn't like a well- read person or that I wouldn't pick up books just for the sake of reading on my own, it's a pretty, you know, good sized book. And uh and yeah, just fell in love with his philosophy, his way of um living his life and uh I I used it as like my road map in the initial stages of my advocacy and activism and organizing. What is one philosophy that you still sticks to you to this day? I don't know if I can pronounce it right but he used to it's called graaa and it's truth force and love force and I think his whole concept was exam you know experiments with truth and and and I say truth because in the whole scope of the work that we're doing I have a truth that is very dear to my life which is you know that our community deserves equity dignity freedom you know and so that's on the work that I do is to exemplify that to say you know this is what happens whenever you know we have more resources to these neighborhoods they're going to flourish it's not because of and so all that to say is is that and then just knowing that it was going to be whenever I read his full story it showed how how long it took and how it's not going to be something that's going to be one overnight and a lot of times you're going to have losses and so I think just knowing like there was a person encountered a tremendous losses and still continued on his journey and the fact that they won without they say that it's one of the few times where you you win a battle without firing a gunshot or a firearm and so that was his way of winning without fighting in a sense you know and and I thought it was beautiful it was a beautiful concept that's awesome so LUAC during this time you're finding these reads as well for you is it the purpose stay at school and keep going or lack just took over everything that you wanted to do because that's the passion that you found. Yeah, advocacy definitely took my entire that's why I was like that's when I found my true love because even to this day advocacy and activism organizing I would say it's my true love of that's what I do you know and sometimes I I don't have enough balance or harmony in my life because I dedicate my work my life to my craft or what I people don't know what those terms are necessarily can you kind of simplify explain to us what it is for somebody to do something like that in regards to advocacy and organizing and yeah so advocacy and organizing and activism or sometimes interchangeable terms that people use a lot of times for for me the differentiator is like whenever you're advocating a lot of times has to do with either legislation or policy or anything that has to do with propositions. And so the the concept of fighting for rights through that process of of different um administrations that you have to go through activism sometimes I I related more to the act the term of activism of grassroots uh doing actions. I mean in the scope of activism that I've done has been direct action from marches, protest, civil disobedience, planned arrest, hunger strikes. We've done all kinds of gamuts into that uh school of work I would say. And then organizing is also very grassroots is whenever you mobilize beyond just one action but really give power through the community by them knowing their leadership and how they can you know fight for their rights through mobilizing different communities long term. Awesome. And grassroots itself is entails the community. So you're literally going door to door and talking to people and getting meetings going to get them going in whatever that you want to, you know, advocate, talk about, gather. Is that correct? Very. Yes, very much so. And like I said, I um it's finding like the light in every single person for them to light more than you know their immediate surrounding. I think a lot of times in the scope of organizing, that's probably one of my biggest gifts is that helping other community members know that there's not only a need, but they have this very powerful talent that if they utilize it, it can give life to so much beyond, you know, themselves or Yeah. Okay, that's awesome. So you also with doing the example of doing the things you also have to t kind of sort of like inspire other ones to be able to see their light and what what else they can do in the community as well for the same purpose. Okay. After you leave LULAG, it's like LULAG is like schooling. You learn a lot of the system. You learn a lot exactly what activism means, what can this all the way to the point to where you're, you know, like you said, as high as you gotten. But then after that, you kind of sort of wanted to go a different way, right? uh what else presented itself after that with you and a few group of individuals around that time. Yeah. So I uh at that time I decided that it was time for us to be broader or more radical than sometimes the parameters of more established organization. So we created a cool a group called the North Texas Dream Team. And it was one more time North Texas Dream Team. And when you talk about radical, that term sometimes in the news gets twisted and looked at as the most evil thing possible that you can think of. When you talk about radical, what does it mean to you? You know, to me radical is the most sensible thing that you could be doing in this, you know, day and age. And and I say that because for example, to say ceasefire, that's radical. into being like no you're saying let's not create a genocide in Palestine like you're saying let's stop the war you know DEI is seen as radical and it stands for development equity and inclusion you know um the fact that you say our community should not have big polluters in their neighborhood and that's seen as radical and it's like no that's the most sensible thing that you can and so I think um we definitely really show the need and how much our community's pain. And I think whenever we show communities pain and that pegs people to say, "Oh, that person's radical or they're they're not, you know, they're being too extreme." But I I feel it's us showing how how extreme it is that our communities doesn't have equity, opportunities, freedoms. And so um so these days in 2025, radical could be literally doing just slightly outside of the norm and you're not conforming with just the status quo of what people want you to do for your community and just wanting to do the right thing and have the right access and all of a sudden that becomes kind of like a radical idea. Mhm. Wow. Yeah. I mean, even the way that people peg individuals like whenever I don't know some there I think about a lot of like I said terms that people just throw around of like being like yeah um Antifa to me it's like well to me that means anti-fascism and fascism is not right and and it's literally an idea. It's not even an actual group. Exactly. There's no group that exists. It's just something that people just came up to and said, "Hey, there's this group that's called this." And it's like, "No, maybe there's people that are fighting against fascism." But there's definitely there's definitely a huge media spin on making things that are not right, you know, seeing that, yeah, that's right. Or the people that are fighting for freedoms do this uh Yeah. do not give us the the respect or or to call us radicals, whatever. We're not. Yeah, that's crazy. Like itself when I heard about it and what does it mean? Oh, is it like a little organization? Like all of a sudden everybody goes to Gho and or whatever you print stuff out and all the certain Oh, it looks the same. Oh, they must be organized now just because they have the same signs or things like that. I'm like, "Wow, that's trippy. That's interesting." Okay, so tell me about the group now that you're in the uh the new group that y'all began with a few of your colleagues, right? Yeah. So it was a small group of our friends and we wanted to be more in the sense radical to and that by that I mean to really push the limits for the north for for the dream act. And so um and the dream act is it was a bill that would have given students a pathway to citizenship as long as they me met certain requirements which is like they must have been here as you no criminal record going to college. So really giving an opportunity to some of the cream of the crop of s, you know, of our community to to have pathway to citizenship that may have not that are without status here. And so, um, with, uh, with this group of college students, we were like, well, let's let's put everything that we have into into fighting for these, uh, for this piece of legislation to advocate and become activists and organize. Mhm. So to use all these tools at our disposal and we did like we started with with very sensible like uh tactics and we were like well let's let's do calls and phone call and call our representative and they were like well that's not getting their attention so let's get a postcard writing campaign. I remember we used to collect postcards and we're like we're going to get a thousand postcards so that they know that our community is behind us and then that wouldn't get their attention and we're like you know what let's do a sit in and so we ended up saying well let's just stay inside and that's whenever the more like acts of civil disobilians take you know took place and and it was inspired by the civil rights movement taking pages from you know Muhammad Gandhi's teaching and such and so like because we even we did hunger strikes we did you know fast. I I participated in several fasts myself that were definitely difficult and um but all that to say was North Texas Dream King gave me the platform to to one move more free to do whatever activism I wanted and uh and just be more authentic within our work. And um and I did that for a few years until deferred action you know and I think a lot of times people say well Obama gave you deferred action and that's not the full story. I think uh there was a lot of work a lot of work that went into it in the sense of making sure that we're applying pressure not only to the Republican party to the Democratic party to show that you know there were different ways to have that freedom until finally you know we were able to accomplish our goal uh and actually I wouldn't I wouldn't say accomplish our goal. you have a a very interesting take when it comes to dreamer term that whole uh system itself uh that you have mentioned before in a podcast. Can you tell me what is your take on that in regards to what kind of it feels like not you're not a citizen technically but you're okay to be here temporarily as a resident but there's not really no answer or pathway technically yet for you to be you know a residency or a citizen eventually right can you do you remember what you were talking about at that time I'm not sure what term I use sometime yeah well some but in in general the feeling of it what does it feel like to be a It is a very cruel existence in the sense that you're not even, you know, you're not even a secondass citizen because even that term citizen doesn't exist or doesn't apply to us. And second class in the sense is the way that we're treated and and and you know, it's it's a very cruel existence because we're treated in a manner of having limitations. You know, whenever people say, well, if you're undocumented, you just don't have ID or or a license. But ID and a license is much more than just that piece of paper is what it represents. You know, license, mobility, being able to move freely with safety, security without fear. That is so important. And so at the stake of, you know, our human dignity whenever they say you don't have an ID, no, it's access to so many elements. you know, it's the fact that I'm not able to identify myself freely without being persecuted or or the fact that I have to hide, you know, and and again, I think that's the cruelty is that they cast us in the shadows knowing the brilliance that we bring. Like whenever we talk about like Latino and we started this conversation of the gift that we have given the world I think it's a gift that it's the gift that keeps on giving I guess for lack of you know for of course for for the right term is and I say that because so much more and so much contributions are being done on a daily basis and my I think my biggest one of my biggest pain points is knowing how much you know talent sometimes times is is not given the platform to really thrive and I think it's something that it's a detriment to society as a whole, you know. Yeah, absolutely. Uh I don't know too much about LUAC, but I know that sometimes they walk a fine line to be a certain way and doesn't give you the liberty of you doing the things that you want to a little bit more of like this is not working. We're doing it. we need to do a little bit more of outside of the box per se to be able to do some movement and that's the reason maybe why you have you veered off at that time. Yeah, that's a very Yeah, that's exactly a good observation because again I I feel like whenever I I use the term radical, it was in that scope and and I think radical really is being authentically unapologetic of your existence and what you deserve just as your home. just for human nature what you you know and and so in that scope I I was very open to saying you know if we want to fight against these legislators and call them out in their face and I don't have I I didn't want to risk you know playing nice or even the whole concept of constructive assimilation that's not something that to To me, it rubs me the wrong way. I feel like you can be authentic and you can appreciate different elements without having to say I'm going to be exactly the way that you want me to be. Doesn't mean that you know that you can't participate in all these other customs. It means that you can move freely and be what makes you feel the best. And so within the scope of our advocacy and activism, we wanted to be as authentically unapologetically us and say we we want to fight for our dreamer movement or for a dreamer community. We want to create a movement that is our own. Yeah. If we want to do a hunger strike outside of detention center or processing center, we we can and we don't have to ask anyone for permission. And that's exactly and that's literally exactly what we did. There were times that we did hunger strikes right outside the detention center and we were like, we're going to be here and we don't have to answer to any other entity outside of, you know, the group that we're creating. That's awesome. It's it's very interesting what you were saying that it's um it's so sounds so unnatural to be able to have somebody be in conform and be just in line in this and cannot be outside of that cuz that looks like you're doing some weird stuff instead of just it just sounds so unnatural for an individual and entity to be able to just keep you there and just be that in the way that they wanted to be the way that they want to mold you instead of being free and able to move however you want to. So weird. I'm not talking about L. I'm talking in general in regards to the system. Yeah. No, I agree. And I think it's sometimes part of the also like the nonprofit industrial complex that and I say that because as I you know now I'm part of SOTas it was so it was such a deliberate uh attempt to make sure that things where I was like we could improve this whenever you know it's our turn to build our own structure because yes there are so many limitations that we have as organizations and and I say we because I'm still in that experiments of truth of being like How do I make sure that I maintain integrity or you know my staff to this day you know we still get challenged on like are we doing the best way are we being the best stewards of resources are we doing good for our people right awesome okay let's get to 501c4 yeah and actually it's a multi- entity nonprofit in the sense that we have a fiscal sponsor for our C3 and we have a C4 so we have both can you explain us the difference they don't know That's a really good question. So, um, we started as a C4. And so, just so people know what the construct of a C4 nonprofit, uh, entails is that it's a nonprofit that that focuses or that works on advocacy or that can do advocacy that can make endorsements if they so wish for politician because sometimes you can't if you're a nonprofit. Yes. we can uh there's tax limitations in that regard and and um but you're able to move more freely to advocate for policies or propositions and we've been very successful in some of the propositions like we help promote a proposition to decriminalize cannabis to a certain degree here in the city of Dallas. do we pass a proposition to help uh ensure that non-citizens are also able to b to serve in boards and commissions that are appointed by the city of Dallas. Um and so that's what a C4 entails is that you're a nonprofit that also can have some political affiliation. Gotcha. A C3 nonprofit is a nonprofit that cannot do any type of endorsement or really can d shouldn't dabble too much in the policies or politics of things. Um and they their focus is mostly on resources and uh and education. And so we started because at the beginning stages of the organization, I felt like there was a need for us to really flex our political power and to show our community what it meant to advocate beyond the scope of voting. You know, because a lot of times it's like, oh, well, I can't vote, so I don't have a voice. And it's like, no, you still have a voice regardless of whether you're a citizen or not a citizen, whether you're of age, whether you're not 18 yet and can't vote. And so I wanted to create an organization that showed the holistic approach to civic engagement. And the difficulty was that we were born right in the heels of of COVID and the quarantine. Okay, let's uh touch up a little bit more on that part because you you have done some remarkable parts as far as number go uh number wise goes but before that the idea to my understanding whenever you were creating I believe it was your inception of the idea to create it and then of course you got other people involved and it was more of like what if there was a organization that was treated like a politician like running a campaign but it wouldn't be like a a particular person it would be like the entire entity as a whole will be able to do all these other things. Is that how sort of the idea came about? Yeah, that's a really good um Yes, you actually hit it in the sense of like there I saw campaigns flawed by design in three main elements and I created SOAS to address those three elements. And so time, space and resources to me were elements where we could grow tremendously. And and I say that because whenever you run a campaign and um as I used to run campaigns as um before Somas and you're limited to a specific time of whatever the candidate runs for um you're you're focusing in that district and you're using your time to focus on the communities that are turning out the most because you want to invest your resources and energy on those communities. Unfortunately, a lot of times those communities don't look like our neighborhoods. They don't look like us. And so to me, it was a science that I didn't agree with in the sense of saying like, well, if we're looking for true empowerment, then we are not going to run the campaigns traditional manner because we're not looking to have traditional voters turn out. We're looking for the what they call low propensity voters or non-traditional or first-time voters. And uh and so I was thinking well what does it look like if we create a year round campaign that never ends and instead of having the candidate at the helm we have the community at the helm and if it's less transactional and really you know in depth and and so I wanted to focus on the education piece of it and um that's really what gave birth to that to to say well let's let's address some of the the and I actually I I I wanted it to be the answer to a not a question but to an attack that I feel we often have and I say that an attack because people say oh it's voter apathy and and to me I see that as an attack against our community because if you're saying you're apathetic that means that we don't care but honestly we are very caring people it was a system that was designed for us not to be participants of it. You know, in in its inception, the system of voting participation did not have us in mind. Did not have us in mind at all. Exactly. And so, we haven't been invested in the information for the most part had it been placed in our language, it's not culturally appealing to us. Um, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Like there's elements where the communities that we see as voting deserts or food deserts, you know, and it's so like our communities are working so hard to survive. And so you have so many layers of if you were to look into those same deserts, there also the areas that have less uh broadband connectivity access. And so it's it's so many things that you're like, well, I need to address it more than the than the space of we're not voting. It's like no let's address it as what is the root cause and that really is what gave birth to this C3 space to say oh this is this is just the tip of the iceberg and and I say that because whenever I mentioned how we were born at the cusp or or whenever co started um that's what made me realize no we need to do more and so we began our we transitioned the whole experience from civics to community and that's when about the 20,000 doors knocking that your organization did in order to what were you doing at that time? You were doing multiple things when you were doing that, right? Yeah. So again, it was like well let's uh before co we were we had the idea of a non a year round campaign that didn't focus on the candidate. It was focusing on the community and we started knocking on doors then for the sake of voter turnout and education. Got you. COVID hit and we were, you know, rightfully so, saying, well, it's doesn't make sense for us to focus still on voting whenever our communities need more than that. We need PPE, vaccine, informations, all these other elements to make sure that they're safe, right? And so we transitioned all of our energy from voting to that to make sure that people had access to PPEs to uh you know face masks to anything that could help them continue um to survive and and so um the the 20,000 uh initial doors part of them were co then we transition to vaccines and in the midst of that there was also census information. M and so I think that's really what gave SOS like the life that it currently has now where to this day we still do door knocks you know and is very organic at times we were door knockocking to let people know hey did you know that there's this uh program called the afford affordable connectivity program that gives you access to free internet for a year sometimes we focus on the census some whatever organic need is we just use tools from campaigns to support our people. I know you said it's fairly natural, but in a Latino community, somebody knocking on your door is very strange. Yeah, very weird because a lot of times, no offense, my folks, but a lot of times Jehovah witness knocking on your door or somebody trying to sell you something. So, how you maneuver those to be able to be have them to be more open to you to be able to listen at least for a couple of seconds for you to give them some information? Yeah. And actually I think that's that's been part of our secret sauce in the sense that um we've been an organization that also does co you know that focuses on culture. So sometimes we'll say hey come out to come out and vote because we're throwing a party and we're going to have tamales and chor and so or we'll say we're out here just giving you information to receive free vaccines. And so I think the fact that people saw us as as more than just this transactional, you know, we need your vote for this election of a lifetime and say no, like we just want to panga for BTOS was a very neat idea you came out and it's awesome. We're already planning the next one. The next one's going to be so cool. Like let me know if you need some. I'll be happy to help in which way I can. Come through February 21st. I'd be love to be part of it. I know the organization, but whatever you need me to contribute cuz I have some hidden talents and gifts. I'll be happy to contribute as much as I can. You know, I I'll go ahead and and you know, give y'all like a sneak like y'all will be the first organization to hear it, but we're already planning the next pachanga. And we haven't said it out loud yet, but I'm free to say it to y'all. So, February 21st at Martin Week Park is the is you know what we're planning for. God willing, we'll be able to put together an amazing event for y'all. And it'll be the same thing where this time we want to have like almost like a food truck show. Like we have some really cool ideas that were that we're playing with. And it's more than just voting. Like I said, we'll be providing tons of resources. We're trying to get either some, you know, free heaters or free raffles of things like that. And I say heaters because it's going to be in February. It's going to be colder. So our community's needs would, you know, be different and such. But um the reason why we have it in February is because it is going to be the Saturday of early voting for the primary and we want to make sure that you know our people we we have we we have to celebrate every whether anything is going on and we have good music and food is victories or defeats we still partake. Exactly. So I want us to be able to vote in the same manner you know. Yeah that's true. I like the way that y'all put events together as far as the way you organize it. talking about lucha leave and different things like that that is just a little bit outside of your typical thing and not more more of like I need your boy come over here and give me your boat then don't worry about it you don't I don't know you anymore you know what I mean so I like the way that y do it as far as and to create habit of us being a normal thing to be able to vote because that's not something that as you mentioned earlier was included we were not included in that now we have to kind of create a habit of like hey get over here and do your part, but still let's have a good time at it. Yeah. And you know, and if we're going to do it, we got to do it our way with some sasson, with some good music, some so yeah, you're very very I'm glad that you you you perceive that because that's what our aim is. It's it's like if we're about to break ground into these new spaces, we're not going to do it by, like I said, fully assimilating to these spaces. We're going to say, "Oh, we're here. We're going to have some lucha lie. We're going to have some goombas playing and we're going to say, you know, we're taking a seat in our in the table, but as our most authentic self. But isn't it us though? We always innovators. A marucha cannot just be a maruchan. We have to add all kinds of other stuff to it. You know what I mean? We have to just make different stuff of our own the way we want to make it. That's how it is. It's just like seems like it's in our DNA forever. I fully agree. Uh you were also part of uh that time where the 2300 uh kids were had to be escorted at one time undocumented if I'm not mistaken. Were you part of the ones that were having to help with that? Yeah, I mean in and so I've been an advocate now an activist for 20 years and my my goal was always uh to follow the footsteps of those great leaders that that I read, you know, in my younger years. And I say that because every time that there was some fight in our doorstep and there was a need for people to speak up or organize around or advocate, that was, you know, how whatever platform we could use, we used it at that time. Um, so yes, we we've been involved with numerous. Awesome. Okay. So for Somos Teas in 2025, I know you have the pachanka going on for the voting, but is there any other things that you're working on that people should be on the lookout for or things that you might see in the future that maybe hasn't been spoken yet that you want to see some steas? Yeah. Uh I mean we're planning for 2026 already and I'm really excited that we have some time to really put together ideas so that for next year you know we have a really well curated program for our communities uh young leaders and for the needs of our people. And I and I say that young leaders in the sense that we have a fellowship program that we're going to be launching pretty soon in the next couple of weeks. What does that mean? What does that entire? So the fellowship is like a scholarship program but it also infuses this concept of like um internship as well in the sense that people are learning an actual um the academia of of our the social movement. So, long story short, I had a few educators and professors come together and put a course, a college level course for us to give through SOM Teas. And this one is a 30-week course that includes um the civil rights movement, uh teachings of civics, it includes uh financial literacy, it includes um mental health. And so it's a very holistic like different themes that we touch on, right? And um what I really enjoy about it is that it has a very um dense element of of academia, but it's also tied with very heavy work of practicum. They're also knocking on doors. They're also helping us organize. And so we're going to have college and high school students partake in this program, but they're getting paid. So, college students will receive a $3,000 uh, you know, stipen for being involved with us. Um, and they get to see some really cool things, experience some really strong work. And so, we're going to be relaunching that next year. We just finished the one of our latest um, classes this year where we had 15 students really do some really cool stuff in the in the capital. Yeah. Uh since next year is not a legislative year, instead of following the the legislative cycle, they're going to follow the election cycle. And so we're going to alternate every other year. Sometimes they follow the election cycle, sometimes they'll follow the legislative cycle, and in the midst of that, they're also learning. Uh again, a lot of a lot of the work that we do is inspired by the by the civil rights movement. So like Black Panthers used to be like, well, we're going to teach our students our history. And so for us, we were like, well, let's let's teach our community also our history, who we are. And so so is it more Hispanic, Latino based type of themes or not necessarily? It has quite a bit of Latino Hispanic themes, but it's not confined to that. We we do a lot of themes that talk about the AAPI community, our black brothers and sisters. We talk about, you know, LGBTQ rights. So, it's a really it's it's a very um may maybe it's like a study in the humanities in that space where it's like uh and it's not just for Latinos like we had a very diverse group of students and we really highly encourage diversity so many in addition to getting the money the experience uh is there any certification you get off it and why is it important for the kids to see these as well? Uh I think it's a really cool experience because we're also hoping to train or we are training the future leaders and and I don't know if future leaders is the right term because they're already the leaders were just continuing their journey into of leadership and um a you know a a lot of them are now working in campaigns. They learned the mechanics of um of what it is to to work in the movement and in politics in civics. uh I foresee several of them one day running for office and so it's a really uh they get a certificate of completion but it's not something that is like credited by a university or anything of that nature. Uh but again it's really the experience of being able to work with elected officials for firsthand being able to to talk to leaders that they see on maybe different media platforms directly one-on-one with one another. Um and and really seeing how diverse leadership can look in our communities. Yeah. I mean, it's a great idea because a lot of times when you think politics, you be like, "Oh my god, it's so freaking crazy and big and scary." But when you break it down to what it is, it's just technically just people understanding them and all of a sudden now you're getting them to see this and have empathy for other people. Then what can it be in their future later on that they can possibly contribute to society, right? Mhm. Awesome. Neat. I like it a lot. Uh we're running short on time, but thank you so much for uh being here. I appreciate it so much. When you were on your way over here, I don't know if I skipped uh I kind of tried to stay in sequence of all the things you were part of. I don't know if I skipped anything, but as far as uh when you were driving over here, was there anything like man I wish he asked me about this or I wish we talk about this. Anything that comes to mind? No, you really covered everything. Thank you so much for being such a good host. And I was really impressed with, you know, just not only how you perceived the things that I was hoping people, you know, appreciated of the work that I do, but also just the research and the work that, you know, I've done. Um, yeah, just really be on the lookout for someone. Honestly, like as somebody who's an immigrant, a lot of times we don't see ourselves in those executive spaces. And for For me to have staff right now, to have our own office, to create it the programs that we want to without having to ask anybody for permission is so beautiful that the more people that can get to benefit from it and and uh appreciate it. So follow Somaso's community. Like I said, there's two SOSA and SOS community. The community one is more community servicecentric. If you have any ideas on things that we should do, we're all open to it. Uh February 21st, like I said, we're going to have a really cool event. Be on the lookout for it. If you want to apply to this scholarship internship program, you know, it'll be a really cool program that I I think I have really good students that would attest that they've really enjoyed the experience that we we curate for them. And um yeah um again I think if anything I could I just wanted to let my immigrant brothers and sisters know like this is our home. You know we are going to continue to fight for for dignity for freedom to make sure that we're living without fear and I'm just very grateful to be here. Um two questions. First one is um being a person that sometimes your the status could be a little fragile or uncertain at times. Where do you get the courage to be able to push forward? Cuz a lot of the times we're talking about earlier maybe arrest and that could lead into all kinds of other stuff. Where do you get this courage to be able to push forward and be able to put yourself in the in that position because other people are citizens and everything else and they'll rather just not watch from the sides instead. I I definitely give so much respect and and appreciation to my parents. My parents to me were the first uh line of inspiration and the one of the first reasons why I I knew I had to fight for our community, right? And then secondly, my community like a lot of times it's so interesting how the people that that you're fighting for or the people that you're being inspired by. And I say that because so much learning has come from just my community alone. Whenever I needed support, my community was there for me as well. And in our in our ecosystem, we say, you know, pblo pueblo and it's very true. You know, it's people like you, leaders that I see doing good work. And the fact that I can, you know, run into your and be like, "Hey, what's good, brother?" And then next thing you know, we're here. And it's so cool just to see like great people and great leaders doing amazing work. And I'm actually very humbled by, you know, so many people that sometimes don't get enough credit. You know, like today I was having some chocolate at Hoku Andre and I'm like, man, that's some leaders right there that are always good people. And like whoever I I, you know, work with, there's so much beauty and light in them that sometimes I think I I get too much limelight and they don't get enough. I think that's my aspiration. Awesome. Sounds amazing. There's uh I was looking up the our purchasing power for Latinos in the United States and how big it is. Uh 1 one point 4.1 trillion dollars and the entrepreneurs in general as much they're generating also in the trillions as far as how much we contribute to. Um, I say that to I want you to be as honest as possible with your thoughts, your your thoughts, your own words in regards to the things that are going on right now that have been happening for the past nine months in our community and what can we do to kind of sort of have hope that things are going to get better and what can they do when things are real questionable with people that are attacking them just by the way that they look. Yeah. And I definitely understand the fear because I lived it myself and it's been my community and my family has gotten me out of that fearful mindset or space. Um, and and it's okay to be afraid. Like I I don't want to say, "Oh, you have to put on this face that you may not be there yet." But know that you're not alone. And know that it's they want us to be afraid because they're afraid of us. Ultimately, they're afraid of us. They're afraid of what it looks like if they were put in the same playing field as they are. And they, you know, right now things are dark, but is dark before the light in many cases. And we're going to win because we come from u an ancestry that has been fighting, that has been winning. And I don't, you know, adopt this term that we're colonized because to me, the fight is still not over. and we're not done fighting. We're continuing to grow and we're going to win because also who they are. And so I um I would definitely say to continue living, continue finding joy. Joy is so important. I think right now people don't um give enough credit to joy and we can't allow them to take our joy away or for them to take us out of our center. Um so definitely we're here for you. You're not alone. And yeah, you know, it's it's uh interesting what the um what the news can amplify because this times have we seen them before many years behind, but with the way the technology and the way that these media companies run. It's so easy for them to amplify the message of fear instead of knowing that this happened before and it's not new to us and there's always a we're bigger than that and we're more powerful than that. But that energy and that panic that we enter into our minds puts us in a weird state of staying be joyful and things like that. Yeah, there's stuff going on, but it has happened before. Let's uh pray for the best and just take some actions to be even better when this is all over. Yeah. Like Martin Luther King said, you know, the moral arc is long, but it bends our way. And I feel that um we're going to win and they're again they're afraid of us because they see our beauty and they're afraid of how powerful we are. I think we we owe it to our essence not to allow them to to take that power away from us. And my goal and the goal of what we're doing is that they're going to respect us or they're going to fear us. I don't I don't care how they take us. But our presence is undeniable. And the people that are with us, they respect us and they they know who we are. the people that are against us, they're going to fear us because they also are going to realize our power. And I feel that it's one of those elements that I'm not here to plate or to make them realize or think that that we're going to shy away from being our most authentic selves. And um yeah, awesome. Awesome. Before I let you go, all you social media once again, I know you mentioned it, but can you tell us again all your social media and any I know February you have a day event coming up or any other events here in the near future? Uh, yeah. So, SOS Teas Somas community, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn. We're in pretty much every single, you know, social media space. Um, somsteas.org is our website. sustas community.org or uh is for the community side. Um the big event that we're going to have, the first one is going to be in February. We're going to be launching our fellowship, the applications in December and January so that we start the fellowship also in February. And uh yeah, just be on the lookout for us. What is saludos? Any saludos? You have for anybody? I know you were giving shout outs throughout the time, but anything else that you want to say saludo wise? I mean to Mia Lasto and all of course. Yeah. And honestly, you know, for everybody from Oaklair, from our neighborhoods, Pleasant Grove, West Dallas, all all the, you know, hoods that have all the good food and all the flavors, I just want to say like, yeah, this is for our people. All that we do is for our people. What is it? A very important lesson that you learn doing that you would tell your younger self that will help somebody else out? What would that be? You know, I think I learned the importance of grace and patience. And I think those are two words that live in the same room. And I say that because um at first when I was younger, I was a bit difficult on myself, a bit difficult on others. I lived more for this militant like, oh, we got to do it this way and it has to go this way. And I think in this space of creation, we have to be very gracious with everyone. know that we're all fighting our battles and that we all just deserve some, you know, grace in this space. And then again, I think within that scope, you realize that patience, things don't happen in your time. A lot of times there's a divine and cosmic time that we don't understand yet. And that as long as you're doing right, you're you're in the right time. And yeah, awesome. And uh usually sometimes throughout my day, I heard a while back, but I really like this quote. I'm not immortal. I am mortal and I will die one day. Not to scare me, terrorize me or anything like that. But it makes me realize we are not here forever. But it also helps me hurry up and do things with that. I wish you a very long and prosperous life after everything said and done. What do you want people to think and feel about your life? My, you know, my dad is a the best way to describe him is and I think whenever people are thinking of what they want to I I think greatness is thrown around too much and people think, "Oh, that's what I want to be." I I feel like it's it's better just to be good to just sometimes whenever you're great, you have to step over other people or try to be too overly, you know, ambitious or and and not not ambitious in a bad way, but putting somebody down in order for them to for you to be better. And I think just being a good person to our people, being good is so whether they saw me like at a store or they saw me something, he was like, "No, that's So, I just want to be on. Amazing. Uh, do you think this is what you're doing? The work you're doing is your calling. Very much so. Very much so. I'm very very much happy that I was able to find my my gift, my talent, and I try to spend the most time to use it, you know, rightfully so by my creator. And uh, but this is what gives me life. So I think sometimes I I don't have enough life in balance in my life where you know I overwork myself or I don't give other parts of my life enough respect. But I'm glad that I found something that I can you know wake up to and be happy that I'm doing and be very happy to to end my my nights with. You know I mean uh since the first time I ran into you were doing something at at that time that it uh included SB4. we were trying to bring awareness that this was happening and we needed to do something and my contribution is trying to put something together to put it out and people can kind of sort of get informed and that's how I ran into I seen probably following each other mutual things because you know a lot of times like like-minded people find each other and we were seeing what you were doing I'm like oh that's pretty neat and then even in the short time when I was sitting with you I'm like oh wow this gen we didn't talk about that part when you were with against um Ren P in all the way over there and all that stuff, right? But that's also part of your journey in regards to being really out there and the courage. I mean, look, bro, you so so super inspired and so the courage that you have in regards to what you do, uh, again, sometime with the status being a little questionable and I don't think I will be the one to get up there and do things or other people even that citizens don't even get up and do the things that you do. I'm beyond proud of you what you're doing and I know the community itself appreciates it and I know that in the long run uh that they definitely are going to see that uh of the work that you're done and the impact cuz sometimes a lot of the times we don't see what we've been working for after many years after but I'm sure and I hope you get be able to see the fruits of the labor all the things that you've done with socas and everything else and without a shadow of a doubt you are a Ramro Luna inosa you are a global land factor thank you so much for being here thank you so much for I appreciate you. This was another episode of the Global Latin Factor podcast. Remember to subscribe right now. Man, you're getting such amazing, passionate individuals here on the P podcast telling their story and great examples in the community that are doing things actively in the community. And remember, we are just like you. We are people. We are the spice spice and flavor in this melting pot that we call the world. Till next time.