Scratchwerk ^EDU
"Scratchwerk ^Edu," hosted by Ronnie King, CEO of Scratchwerk Tech and founder of the MyVillage Project, is a dynamic podcast at the nexus of Black communities, technology, business, education, and current events. Each episode dives deep into the role of emerging technologies in promoting equity, enhancing workforce development, and reshaping education.
Join Ronnie as he explores how technology can be leveraged to uplift and empower marginalized communities through insightful discussions with experts, activists, and innovators. From the practicalities of tech entrepreneurship to the impact of community-led initiatives, "Scratchwerk Edu" is an essential resource for anyone interested in the intersection of technology and social change.
Learn about the success of tech incubators such as "Coding in Color", which has trained over 2,000 students in emerging skills and secured over $800k in funding to support young Black tech entrepreneurs, and discover how initiatives like the MyVillage Project Community Fund has united organizations and disbursed over $4M to support 220+ Black-led nonprofits across the country. Tune in to be informed, inspired, and involved in reshaping a more equitable tech future.
Scratchwerk ^EDU
Conversation with Dr. Maira Martelo - Bridging Cultures With Stories of Resilience
Join us for a compelling conversation with Dr. Maira Martelo, who shares her inspiring journey from Cartagena, Colombia, to the United States, where she's making a significant impact. Her dedication to marginalized communities and educational leadership, especially her transformative work in Duval County Public Schools, paints a vivid picture of resilience and commitment. As we explore Dr. Martelo's experiences, we unravel the misconceptions about undocumented immigrants, emphasizing their undeniable contributions to society despite facing systemic challenges.
Our discussion takes a deep dive into the healthcare systems of the U.S. and Colombia, highlighting the high costs and complexities of American healthcare compared to the affordability and predictability of the Colombian system. Dr. Martelo offers valuable insights into the tough choices immigrants face, balancing work commitments and personal decisions against the backdrop of these healthcare challenges. We also delve into the power of education and literacy, where personal stories illuminate the transformative impact of community support and financial literacy.
Dr. Martelo's story is a testament to the power of community support and strategic collaboration. Her role in advancing initiatives showcases her ability to leverage connections for impactful change. As we navigate cultural misunderstandings and the intricacies of language, Dr. Martelo's reflections on building bridges through collective power and political organizing are both inspiring and urgent. With gratitude and camaraderie, we emphasize the need for grassroots efforts and remind listeners of the resilient spirit required to create meaningful change in challenging times.
but the only people I will get in the shower. Shower, make sure that I have a voice, do all these things. This is how much I love you y'all.
Speaker 2:We appreciate it.
Speaker 3:We haven't heard the shower line yet, but we have heard this line before, Like if it wasn't for y'all, uh-uh, not today.
Speaker 2:Oh man, Half of this interview is to talk to you. The other half is trying to figure out how we can set up shop in Columbia.
Speaker 1:I have two houses. I have two houses fully paid. We can make it work so I don't have to worry.
Speaker 2:Hey, listen, that turned into a complete joke about five years ago. To like send me some links and things to look at. I need to. This might not be a game anymore. You might need to figure out, like okay, now how do? You get property in columbia again.
Speaker 3:Remind me yeah, y'all heard me tell the story about claire huxtable right, felicia rashad and debbie allen during the civil rights movement, and it was so bad here that their parents were like we ain't staying and took them to. Mexico. They were raised in Mexico. And then have you seen the Cosby show Myra, not that much. Okay, well, the mom Claire.
Speaker 3:they wrote Spanish speaking parts in the show just because she actually spoke Spanish, because yeah they were like we aren't staying here and they took, took the girls and moved and came back like y'all figure that out? Oh, and we just talked about this last night.
Speaker 1:I'm serious. I told Tia like, in all seriousness, it takes a lot from me as a Colombian to get afraid, and I didn't leave my country to be afraid. In this country and I just have talked to my Colombian friends and everyone is like I'm carrying my passport card, I have cash in my house, I have food in my house, water in my house and my joke is like I just need Ruby to be able to run, but she's too old.
Speaker 3:I want you to pronounce your hometown, because I want to say it exactly like you Cartagena, so that won't be happening, that's okay.
Speaker 1:You can say Cartagena. You can say Cartagena.
Speaker 3:But I knew you said henna and I'm like it's a strong G in here for me.
Speaker 2:So you wanted to jump in when you read that part. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll say is a native from.
Speaker 3:And then you'll say, okay, we've practiced, everybody ready, all right, so go for your bio. Okay, but everybody who's listening? We have been speaking with Dr Myra Martello, who is a native of Cartagena, colombia, and I would have said it just like that. She grew up around community meetings, led by her mom to improve the quality of life of their low-income neighborhood. Kitchen table conversations, socratic circles or simply engaging in meaningful conversations has always been present in her life as a communicator, sometimes as a journalist, others as a strategist. She has always been passionate about building bridges so marginalized populations can have access to a thriving life. Activating communities' voices so they can use their natural power is the model that has guided her professional experience for over two decades. Myra has more than a decade of teaching experience as a college professor in Colombia, mexico and the United States. She also has worked as a research consultant in Colombia and Mexico, evaluating several programs that involved community engagement.
Speaker 3:Myra completed a doctorate in educational leadership at the University of North Florida, writing her dissertation on early literacy practices at home and beliefs about education among the Hispanic community in Jacksonville. Based on the results of her dissertation, duval County Public Schools created the first bilingual voluntary pre-kindergarten program at West Riverside Elementary School. In addition to her doctorate, myra holds bachelor's and master's degrees in communication. Myra currently serves on the board of 904 Word as the chair and volunteers. In medicine, myra worked at the Jacksonville Public Education Fund for over eight years. During this time, she led the one-by-one movement that achieved the passing of the half penny for schools in Duval County a tax referendum to improve facilities in one of the largest urban districts in the United States. Dr Myra Martello oh, that was awesome. This is going to sound crazy, but I know adults who asked me this, so I'm going to ask it to you, just to make sure that it's said Undocumented. Somebody said oh, doesn't that mean that, like they're over here completely with no driver's license and nothing to identify themselves, define undocumented for real.
Speaker 1:Undocumented means that they enter the country without the proper documentation or that they enter the country with a visa and that time for them to be allowed in the country is expired.
Speaker 3:And so that I can share this directly back to the person who said no, that means they don't have identification, they have identification.
Speaker 1:They have identifications, and this is something that I don't know, even if you know the average Americans. Like the issue is like first of all, you're Black people. There's nothing new about this playbook Like. That's the history of this country period.
Speaker 1:So nobody, like whomever, is surprised. I'm like, yeah, clutch your pearls. I I have I yet to find the first person of color that is like, oh yeah, this is not a, but this is us. This is the history of this country. It continues to be, so nothing surprising about that. But the issue is like the double moral of you are illegal, yet the same government created a system. So, even though you are illegal, you can pay taxes. So you're still paying taxes with an ITN number, because the promise is that when immigration reforms comes, they're going to check who has paid their taxes. So many of the people that are undocumented are taxpayers.
Speaker 2:You know, somebody said to me the other day that it was ironic that they were going to places of work to actually find these quote unquote, illegal. You know, immigrants, right, and that of all the places to find somebody to kick out, you chose to go to a place where the folks were actually working. Like these are not criminals, these are not folks that are doing all these terrible things. We're going to go to the job sites and grab them there and I think that is interesting. It almost speaks to your point there where, like these, are people that are paying taxes. I didn't know that.
Speaker 1:The average American doesn't know that, because for Americans it's like if you are illegal here, you're not paying taxes and you are living out of the system like wrong. The majority of the undocumented population here pays taxes, and heavy taxes. So you know it is one of the incredible contradictions. And now the thing is like they are deporting people with green cards. Of course, you saw the beautiful exchange between my two crazy presidents, because they both govern through social media. So Trump and Petro, colombia's president that you're like, yeah, cheer him on. I'm like why would you do that? You just put a target on us. They can strip you of your citizenship as a naturalized citizen and if they do that, guess what's going to happen with you guys.
Speaker 2:Give me your. You know, I got. I got my own crazy thoughts on why, why, why do you think?
Speaker 1:I mean. So there are a couple of things now, like following your sources of information is going to be more critical. So I don't know if you are in Substack, but in Substack is where I'm following some people like the Contrarian, like you see very seasoned journalists quitting Washington Post, new York Times. Those are the people that we need to follow New York Times, those are the people that we need to follow. So I mean, this is and I haven't read, like I don't even want to, but I come in, like I have friends who have come, who are from Cuba, who came from Chile. Like this is, these are the steps to a dictatorship and the thing is to create, like all the things that are happening, like it's all confusion. So you're like, what do you react to it? Right, so, as somebody who works now, you know, with Medicaid I don't know if you follow that phrase, but that backfired them in seconds. Why and this is sort of like I remember you running, because it's like we forgot the power that we have, like if black people when they say you know what? Our kids are not going back to your schools, ronnie, there was no need to organize anyone because all the people called all the senators. It was crazy, remember, trump doesn't reason, the man is irrational and there was no explanation. This was not like let's try. No, it was rescinded. So they are trying to be smart, but we have lunatics, so I think they are trying to.
Speaker 1:There are some people that say they are trying to create so much chaos that they can create a martial law. But, like, when you see, like right now and this is why, like we know, you have to be very cautious, right, because one person saying something in TikTok doesn't mean that that's true, but what I'm doing I'm actually probably going back to X, so I can, you know, I've like been back into monitoring all these things. Like now it's not. There is a trans woman in Los Angeles who went to renew her passport and they say, no, you cannot renew it, we are going to put you the gender that you were assigned. So she said okay. Okay, then give me my passport, it doesn't matter if you put me that in my mail. They denied that. So this is a travel ban of an American citizen whose rights and this is why when my friends is like, yeah, I'm obeying in advance because I'm an internationalized citizen, and what I said to people is like it's not worth the risk. There's no more asylum in this country, none. And literally, like I mean my plan is to go back, but I'm like, literally, like this timeline might change in any minute because it is not.
Speaker 1:You know, not that I ever feel super protected or any of those things, you know, but I've never been targeted. That's the difference, you see. Right, you know, like, for you, ronnie, as a black man, you have been a target, but you sort of like have you know, like, but now it's like nobody is protected. Now it's like nobody is protected and this is again part of the conversation is because I see a lot of people who are willing to use their allyship and I think that's welcome and I appreciate that. But I'm like, but don't be stupid. Don't be stupid, because this is not the same playbook. You know this is not. Yeah, we'll get arrested. It's like we're not talking about the same playbook. You know this is not. Yeah, I will get arrested. It's like we're not talking about the same things. But I think also, the moment demands, you know, strategy and acts of courage that go beyond a protest, and that's exactly.
Speaker 3:Let's hear it, let's hear the strategy, which is that one, I think is.
Speaker 1:You know again my why I'm so passionate about my village project? Because the only way we will be free is when we control the modes of production. That's basic economic principle, right? So when you think about all the young people like, yeah, get a job but grab your coins, I don't know that I knew these things and why that mattered when I was a kid, you know, because, first of all, I grew up in poverty, so there was never like, when you get what coins, what are you talking about? Like that is like when you live in poverty and you guys have seen that. But now, like last year, I just achieved one year of working at the Florida Health Justice Project and that has shifted my understanding of this country, because I'm talking to the disabled, to people who are sick, to people who depend on having Medicaid to get out of bed because they are wheelchair-bound, and parents who have a child with complex medical needs that cannot be fed like a normal kid. Like that's just like what country? What America? What? So?
Speaker 2:it changed your opinion because you didn't know that was happening here. It changed your opinion because you didn't know that was happening here, or?
Speaker 1:I didn't realize the amount of suffering that exists in this country, because you know and of course you have to keep in perspective what I come from, right, like I come from the third world. I survived the Civil War, so I felt like, oh yeah, I mean corruption, you name it, so that one of the number one things that I'm still like what? There are days that I make this joke and people laugh. I'm like you shouldn't be laughing about this. But there are days that I wake up in this country and I don't know if I am back in Colombia or I am the United States, especially in Florida. So that's, you know, the one thing that I'm like wow, because, like back home, there's no government, there's not, the state doesn't exist. So you're not waiting for the state to defend anything. You don't have that expectation. You know that you rely on each other and that you're going to do the best with the little that you have and you help your neighbor and your family and you just put more water to the soup and you know, some days you eat it, other days you don't, and end of the story. There is not a social infrastructure that is supposed to be there. So I'm going to give you an example, now that I'm getting to the time of thinking about retirement, right? So I'm like, oh, I cannot explain to you, and I will venture to say, ask the average American how social security works. I have heard from some Black friends, like, why would I pay into that? That's not going to be there, you know. So I'm like, oh, that's a a high risk. But what has changed?
Speaker 1:To answer your question, ronnie, is like I always thought so when I came from Colombia. It's like they cannot deny you health care if you don't have insurance. They will receive you, they will take care of you, that's. But I like this because in Colombia they call it like the trip of death, because they will, you know, even if you are like in an ambulance and they go to a hospital but you don't have insurance, they can deny you service. So that was imagine. That's a terrible standard, right. So you come here, it's like they have to take care of you. Wrong, they will receive you, but they won't take care of you. Wrong, they will receive you, but they won't take care of you. They will, you know, because if you talk to anyone who works in healthcare, the priority for care it depends on who is paying or not. Number one, and let's pretend that you have insurance. For instance, I pay $1,200 for insurance a month, which is a very expensive month. Right, I have reimbursement or whatever. But in my logic, in Colombia, if I pay such a high premium and of course I don't get the taxes which I'm fine because I truly believe that people who make less money than me are the ones who deserve the incentives I can pay for a good insurance. I have no problem doing that. But it's outrageous that I have to become an expert now, to the point of even asking for the code of any procedure to make sure that that's indeed covered in my plan. The only reason I know that, ron, is because I write stories about medical debt. So right now I give you an example.
Speaker 1:I went for my annual checkup. Everything is covered, except, I see, a fee of $80. So I called the insurance. Why? Well, because the doctor who interpreted the labs is not in network. How would I know if the doctor is in network or not If I call you and I said this is my primary care, this is a major. You told me it is in my plan. Technically it's in my plan, but it's not a preferred provider because the language is against you. So even though I paid this huge amount of money you need to like literally Ronnie. I was going to go and get you know a scan and they told me it's covered in mail and thank God. I asked how much is the copayment for a basic CT scan? Was $1,500. Until I asked the question is there another option? Oh yeah, if you get to prepare independent diagnostic facilities, $150. What?
Speaker 2:And this is not how I feel, just for the record. I'm going to put this on the record, not how I feel. But you watch enough news clips. This is stuff you hear. Enough news clips. This is stuff you hear. So for someone like yourself or you know that particular community folks would be, you know they're in a racist way, in my opinion. You know we'll go back home then. If it isn't you know all that here, right? I mean, if you feel like the healthcare isn't what it needs, to be here or whatever else you know, then go back to where you came from, which I think again, is extremely racist, as if, like, this is their country, but that nevertheless. What do you say to that? Or how do you even feel about that? I mean, are you, are you in agreement with them? I mean, why? Why be here if you feel that way?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So the difference is, by the way, I you know when when the last presidential elections were so clear that I now have a timeline of I'm going back. And the reason I'm going back is a decision, and the decision is made because I'm going to give you the data right now. If I go, first of all, I have medical insurance in my country the basic. It cost me, it's not even fifty dollars a month and it covers everything. I had my parents under that insurance for 20 years that I had lived outside of Colombia and they had. It wasn't the greatest, but it was best. It was better than here, because in Colombia you have mechanisms to defend yourself against predatory systems. In the US you don't have that. So the difference is, for so many people and in my case I'm an immigrant I have the right and the privilege of saying, yeah, I'm going back Because right now, I already just checked, based on these circumstances, if I go, if I want to have the best next level insurance, I will pay $120 a month, ronnie, to go to the equivalent of Mayo Clinic, no copayments, everything is covered at my age.
Speaker 1:But that's easy for many people to say well, if it's too bad here, why wouldn't you go back? Well, the reason because I'm still here, even though I can go back in time, is, first of all, because I chose this. You know, I came to this country, I have an education and I love this city and I love there's the work. I still have tasks to be done here. That's why I'm here.
Speaker 1:But technically, you know, I just realized like, oh, I already accumulated the points for social security. It's like right now, if I I already did the numbers, ronnie like I already, if I wanted, I could retire, even though I'm not in that age, with that money that I have contributed just to social security, I can live like a queen in Colombia right now. So I'm deciding to stay here. But the people that I listen to the stories is the Americans who have nothing. So some of them. I just did this, we just did a Medicaid presser, because this is the incredible successful campaign that the right wing people have done is that they have positioned the message in such a way that even the people who depend on Medicaid think that nothing is going to happen to them Think that that doesn't apply to them.
Speaker 1:That doesn't apply to them because they really I mean, we just had one of my storytellers she's like but that doesn't apply to me because I really need Medicaid. So we had to very gently say but remember a couple of months ago when you lost it during the unwinding, you're not protected and you have to help people understand. First of all, getting in Medicaid is extremely difficult for those. I mean, you have to make less than $10,000 some caregivers because if you have a child with complex medical needs or an elder parent that depends totally on you, there was a law that was approved to compensate them for that because it's work right. Well, if you compensate them, then they get above the threshold to have Medicaid to have Medicaid.
Speaker 3:Myra, by no means am I like highlighting what's happening with other people, because I hate these stories, but there is a part of me knowing that you came from another country, hearing you say, oh my God, and it's so bad, and it's so bad. That kind of makes me feel seen as an American. Did you come over here? Most people come from another country. They get here, we're talking about our problems, oh it's so terrible, blah, blah, blah. And they give us the side eye, like you have no right to ever act, like there's an issue where you're staying with all this money and all these things. Did you come over here in that way and has that changed due to the work that you've been doing? Or did you never think that? Did you step foot on American soil and say, oh my God, like sure this is comparable to struggle and and what? Give me? Give me your thoughts.
Speaker 1:I don't think so, because I grew up in poverty. So I think it's not only the country that you come from, Like, I have met Colombians that have been here, but they are like kids of diplomats. So I'm like, yeah, we're in Colombia, but we're not the same Colombians. Okay, there are levels, right. So the first thing that I tell you that I still, to this day, you will never hear me say this country is better than my country. I mean, I don't think that it's like, tell me how. Give me a little bit more of the context.
Speaker 1:And the main reason because I came here is because in my country, the only, pretty much the only way of moving up the ladder is through corruption. It doesn't matter your qualifications, it doesn't matter how hard you work. The ceiling is established in a way that getting out of that is, I mean, it requires multiple miracles happening in your life. You know, and the reason I can tell you like my parents didn't finish elementary school. I grew up in a low income, like unpaid street. However, I always have to say but then later I'm like, yeah, we were poor, but we were not that poor because both of my parents inherited land and inherited cattle. So you know, if you know basic principles of feudalism, it's like they were not the poorest among the poor, but we were poor, you know. So you have to keep that in mind.
Speaker 1:So I came because, definitely, this is a country and I hate you are interviewing me this time but because I am the example of conquering the American dream.
Speaker 1:But it is ridiculous that an immigrant like myself, who has worked very hard, right, and what I have achieved to this point is not only because I worked very hard, it's because I also knew how to ask questions. I have plenty of my friends who are American, even upper middle class, that would never have, they would never own anything because this country well, you know all these things about education and we're going to get hit over here. We're running it's like it worked to a certain extent, that American dream. I mean, if a kid goes to college, right, which we keep saying, education is the equalizer. That is not true, Not anymore. That's a lie. But if you are 21, 22-year, 22 year old, you're graduating from a college, from college owning 250 000 and you are not upper middle class, baby, you are poor and you will remain in poverty unless, I don't know, you get Bitcoin, which I know it worked for some people that.
Speaker 1:I'm like I'm Colombian.
Speaker 2:Hey, the cryptocurrency might be a thing.
Speaker 1:It might be a thing.
Speaker 2:I have a question, though, myra. So education-wise, I know you got your doctorate here in America here in America. I guess, in terms of your opinion on the respect for these degrees, education in general, you know the respect that maybe a US degree has in Columbia versus somebody getting their degree in Columbia and being respected here in America. What's been your experience in terms of the respect that you do get for being a doc?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that part is fascinating because, you know, I have young nephews and one of them is like super nerd like me and he's like he wants to get his master's and I'm like, great, do it the right way. And these are the things that I don't know that that right way exists anymore. I was lucky because I got all my graduate education with fellowships and scholarships. I went to Mexico with an incredible scholarship. That was literally like winning the lottery, to the point. I even talked to my friend now that was you, you know, was my boss at the time, 20 years ago, and I'm like I don't think I'm going to Mexico. He's like you don't have a job, you have to leave. I didn't understand what that meant at that time.
Speaker 1:To be honest with you because I'm like, I'm good here, I was doing well in Colombia. My life and my family's life and my closest friend's lives have changed because of me living in the country. But let me explain why.
Speaker 1:Because and this is why- I even get emotional because of the concept of the village is so important. You know, like, when I interview my mom, I always say how did this lady, who didn't have even elementary school level, how did she like move to this neighborhood where there was no water, there was no electricity, and she was like we have to organize, where did that come from? And she's like I just knew I wanted a better life, so I started organizing, I started taking classes, so all the things. It's not only financially, uh, ronnie and Tia, it's not only that is is teaching right. It's saying wait, credit cards are a trap. Don't do it this way. Do you need something? Let me, I'll send you the money. You pay me back. Don't do it this way. Do you need something? Let me, I'll send you the money. You pay me back. Don't pay interest rate.
Speaker 1:You see, it's not. You know, I didn't do. The traditional American dream is I'm going to come. Of course, I have made my fair share of mistakes. We're not going to talk about that here, right, tia? But I've been like, if I made this mistake, I don't want my nephew to make this mistake. So, literally, ronnie, after my parents died, I learned that my nephew had got into a predatory loan of 35%, 35% interest.
Speaker 3:That's crazy.
Speaker 1:That's crazy. Good kid, okay, because he's not like partying. He was literally trying to build the apartment for him and his mom. So I said you know what, forget about it. Here's the money, pay that off, because he will never have a life. And the only reason I know that is because, thank god, because of how hard I have worked and because I have the education.
Speaker 1:But again, don't forget, you know, like in in this thing about higher education is they talk about the, the, the earning gap. Right, like, yeah, all the, you know? Uh, still, longitudinal studies demonstrate that people without a college degree earn less money. Yeah, but talk to me about the wealth gap, because making money when you you know there's, you never catch up. It's simple math. If you owe money at that higher level of interest, you will never catch up. So what happened with me having a degree is like, even if tomorrow I go back to Colombia, people will give me preference because I have a degree from the United States. That's a fact. So what I said to my nephews is don't do your undergrad there, then go to another country or come here. And this is why I'm doing this with other people. The same thing here. It's like not everyone has to go to college, but those who do deserve a path that doesn't keep them in poverty.
Speaker 2:Do you feel like it should be respected more in Colombia? Do you feel like that's right, that it's respected highly?
Speaker 1:No, I think that's just listen. What we are seeing in the world is the haves and have nots. It's just you know. It's capitalism, it's just you know. But again, it depends on the circle that you move. Like there were people again here, I'm sorry. I see a lot of people of color getting these doctoral degrees for these not so prestigious universities. I'm like it doesn't carry the same weight. Let's just be realistic. You know, like if you got your PhD in an online institution, you will never go into academia. You won't. That's just how the world, you know, works. So I and I kept thinking because I've been listening to your things like you know the importance of reading and the literacy, and I'm like I want to get into this debate we're running. Oh boy, yes, because here's one person on the planet.
Speaker 2:I didn't want to listen to that podcast episode.
Speaker 1:It's Myron. Ok, I'm ready.
Speaker 2:I didn't want to listen to that podcast episode it's Myron Okay, I'm ready.
Speaker 1:So here's the thing it is not the amount of reading, it is not the level of comprehension, because technology can do many things for you, right, but you still need to know how to think, and that's why we're not teaching kids but we get caught up in. Oh, literacy levels are so bad, I'm like. But it's such a lie, because there haven't been good ever In the last 30 years. Our literacy rate hasn't improved by 50%. They remain stagnant. Because we lie, we change the standard, we say it's like you know what is a good kid? Well, no, now we are going to say no, you also have to have a car, you have to have these two cribs, and you know the standards keep changing.
Speaker 1:But you have people that I mean, I've seen it Like my nephew I just learned probably will lose his job because of AI. But what I've been telling him? You shouldn't be afraid of that because it's going to happen. It is not if it's when it happens. So that's why you have to become smarter, right, and incorporate that technology so you can. But for that, that require that you have been taught how to think, and those are the basic literacy skills that our kids, most of our kids, don't have.
Speaker 2:Well. So I love that. I love that. That point of view. I guess my stance on it is more so. I believe that we need to make sure these kids can think. We need to know how to think and work through problems. I need to learn the King's English with. I have to with that. That's what helps me think, that's what it's going to give me the ability to be a thinker.
Speaker 2:I'm saying that I think somebody in Colombia that has never spoke English a day in their life has the ability to be an amazing thinker. A student who, you know, knows nothing but Swahili or Zulu, can be an amazing thinker. And so I'm just never necessarily associating people's performance on reading this English right, because it's not just reading, it's reading that English right. So I'm not associating people reading that English with being thinkers, and the proof that I'm using actually is the reading scores. In a way, the reading scores have been stagnant. Now, I know we've been producing a whole bunch of amazing thinkers, but the English reading scores have been stagnant. And I'm going to keep saying the English reading scores, because that's ultimately what we're talking about, you know.
Speaker 1:So that's that's kind of my argument reading scores, because that's ultimately right, what we're talking about, you know. So that's that's kind of my argument. Yeah, and the argument is, I mean, so true for me because it's also about content memorization. That has nothing to do with the skill, and I'm gonna use a very specific example. So my youngest niece is had to be pulled out of the school and now she's doing homeschooling, which is a joke, you know, like even even in Colombia, because she's into arts and she was in water. So this is like, so I started helping her. Right, because it's all through technology and she's like she has attention deficit. So she's a girl. That's like. That's well and I'm like, but the difference is right, because I'm, I'm like, oh, I can see how this, this is so ridiculous. Right, because I'm like I told my sister, yeah, she will learn chemistry and biology and all these things when she has to pass that test. We all know in life that you can live in life without that. That's not what matters, right, but I will pause in the lesson and I will ask her higher level thinking questions that have nothing to do with her being able to repeat. And again, you guys are my friends and I think you know me very well. How do you explain that?
Speaker 1:Me, mayra Martelo, who is an immigrant to this country, that I have the ability to connect with these big national donors and see things in a way that is I'm not that unique? The uniqueness that I bring is my ability to connect things that are not necessarily everyone is not connecting them. That's what makes me unique. I think you know that I'm like you know, in the conversations with you, it's just like I told you, since I'm a young like, really, I don't know. You know what you have, what my village is, because that's what I have witnessed, right, so it's thinking oh, this is not only about me personally and it's not only about my nephew and it's not only about the people that I love and that I know it's I just have to be, you know, like I was put in this place. I have an incredible. Yeah, I work very hard, but I know people who have worked harder than me and haven't accomplished half of what I said, and I don't think it would be fair to say, oh, this is because this or that no, my way.
Speaker 3:I don't know if you I'm sorry to interrupt, but I don't know if you noticed our face when you said I'm not that unique, because I think both of us were like what? And I think because of that, um, if you, you really fight for us, if that makes any sense. Um, when you did get that opportunity, why were you thinking about this community? Why didn't you try to take that opportunity and shift it into something else that maybe was for Colombians or for the Latino?
Speaker 1:community. I think it's because it's an equity and a historical perspective, like when I started learning about the civil rights movement in Jacksonville and it's not to say that the Hispanic community doesn't need help, but I'm also Black. You know like our people were brought to my city. That's how you know, that's how we enter the whole continent. So for me, like when you think about restorative justice and it's not, you know that the sad part about anyone who has been oppressed is that becomes like, you know, the olympics of the oppressed. Oh, I had it harder than you and I'm like no, I also thought and this is like you know, I don't think you guys will be surprised Like when Trump won again, I said to myself I am not getting into the immigration fight and it's not because I'm not undocumented, that's not because of that, it's because I know the people who are doing that fight.
Speaker 1:My best thing is I'm going to support you so you can do that fight while I do this other fight, and I was positioned in a way to say like, sort of like I know that's where we're gonna see the worst things. And when you think about, historically, the black community, you think about historically, the black community continues to be like, because I'm like. Some people are like oh, what happens? What? Tell what this? If you're shocked, that just tells me you haven't really have a black friend in your life a real black friend, like you know, george Floyd, I'm like but where were you?
Speaker 1:um. So it's like a debt, you know, to my real roots, and it's just like if we uplift, because also you are here, even though there will be people who question, if you're here if you have the right whatever, because I'd still see it.
Speaker 1:You know, it's sort of like what can be more influential? Right, how can we build collective power? And there is a lot more done in this city by black people than for Latinos. Because, unfortunately, the state of Florida, the Latino community, is very complex. Let me just put it in that way the state of Florida, the Latino community, is very complex. Let me just put it in that way.
Speaker 1:So I thought, and also because my ties become so close through education and just to seeing how people like you know, like some people, and I always say like, yeah, you need the agitators, that wouldn't be me. I'm not an agitator. Like you are not going to see me in protest, that's just not my space. But you guys know me Like I move really suddenly with my sense of humor, but I'm saying things and I know how to build it and I think it's also matters that I'm not black. So I intentionally I always said that's whatever privilege I have, I'm gonna use it to bring others with me. So I don't know if that answered the question, it's just like it's close to my heart. Also, I'm telling you the first three months that I lived in this country, in this city, I was just like I'm not going to make it. I just that changed when I went to the North side.
Speaker 3:I was just like these are my people.
Speaker 1:Where was I? You know, even though, like the person who received me was like don't go there, I was just like these are my people.
Speaker 3:Myra, we've gotten so deep into some of that, oh hang on One second, latia.
Speaker 2:But I mean I know we have a lot of serious conversations there's, you know education and you know equity, all kind of different stuff. But I mean she could have just said I mean, and she, she dates black men too, as well, she can, yeah, there's that part too.
Speaker 1:So Are we talking about my preferences?
Speaker 3:I mean.
Speaker 1:So here's the thing, even though I'm not dating anyone, but I have said this and I mean it, and if you are a black man and I say this and you don't get it, you are not my type of black man. So the reason I say I like, I, I prefer and I only date black men is because it's a political statement oh, really, it is a political statement in this, that I see you, you know that I see you in your wholeness.
Speaker 3:I think she's saying that for some type of like, if they happen to hear her and maybe want to find out who we're talking to today.
Speaker 1:I know they're not.
Speaker 2:This is not a dating platform.
Speaker 3:I've never heard her say this in my life. Oh my gosh, tia, you're lying. Myra, a political Now are you like black men? Period. I feel like that's the sentence and the period. Okay, I'm not.
Speaker 1:You know, let's just let it open to the imagination, but it is a political statement, if you know what I mean.
Speaker 3:It is a political statement.
Speaker 2:Yes, it is. That's the first one, though. I like that. I like it. It is political statement. Yes, amen, that's the first one. I like that, I like it, it is, it is.
Speaker 1:Look at her.
Speaker 3:So, ok, off the black man. Myra, will you please tell the story? Tell the story, because we've gotten deep into some of the well just things that you go through being um, from another country and living here and how the political climate is blah, blah, blah. Right, but, myra, please tell the story about just simply coming to live here, going to a meeting, stopping by a convenience store, grabbing something to drink real quick and going to sit down at a meeting. What did you have to drink at a meeting when you were newly here in America, ronnie? Have you ever heard this story?
Speaker 1:The ginger ale story. Is that the story?
Speaker 3:I think it was lemonade, or was it ginger, ale yeah.
Speaker 1:So these are the things that happened. It was like I was recently. You know, this is like more than 10 years ago I was working at JPEF. You know I was organizing the one by one convention and I usually don't drink sodas, but if I you know, the convention was like high intensity planning event and I was usually too tired and I was just like drinking Coke and coffee. But that year I'm like you know what? I'm just going to buy ginger ale, because ginger ale, you know, the ginger just has the spike. So I bought what I thought it was a ginger ale and I've been drinking my little ginger ale every day at work.
Speaker 1:It was a Thursday and I'm drinking the ginger ale. We were having lunch and one of my colleagues says Myra, what are you drinking? So I say a ginger ale. And she's like are you sure that's a ginger ale? And I say why? I say well, because it says it's not your father's ginger ale. And there is a beer, a root beer, that is called it's not your father's root beer and it has alcohol. So I'm like I don't know, because he checks it, an American white girl and she said no, this one doesn't.
Speaker 1:I leave the office and I go to a meeting at the district and I walked I'm sorry, I took my can of ginger ale. I thought it was a ginger ale, it was a beer. I walked with an open can of beer, drove with an open can of beer to the district and came back to see that it had 6% alcohol. And Trey was like hashtag only Myra who. And he's like I only picture you being detained, arrested and me trying to prove that you didn't know that was a real beer. So yeah, that's one of the many hashtags only Myra.
Speaker 3:We hope it's only Myra. It's really important.
Speaker 2:any hashtags. Only Myra we hope it's only Myra Is reading important.
Speaker 3:Now you want to go back and change that I might need to change that.
Speaker 2:I take it all back. I take it back.
Speaker 1:I don't know what that is. This is a code between the two of you.
Speaker 2:No, no, no, I'm saying my episode on reading and how reading wasn't that important, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Clearly it is.
Speaker 1:Take it back.
Speaker 3:Yes, it's very important, but there are colloquialisms and things like that in languages and not your father's ginger ale still does not sound like maybe it's alcohol in it. We know, when they start saying it's not your mama's or your grandmama's or your whoever's lemonade, that it's liquor. We know that, yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean sometimes Tia will be witness of that I call her and I'm like, am I? Missing something about this thing, because you know it's just cultural things that have nothing to do with your intellectual capacity or anything, it's just culture.
Speaker 3:What it did for me when I heard the story, though, was just give me. We know the language struggle, but just allow me to know just how difficult it really must be to live someplace. Like you travel, you spend a week somewhere, you don't speak the language, no big deal, you figure it out, google translate, get back on your flight, but when you're literally trying to survive and you're sitting in a meeting with alcohol, it just made me think. Like you know, that is the literacy conversation for real, and if our children do the same, I wonder if we should do maybe a little study on that anyway. If they would just see that and also know that not your father's ginger ale meant it was liquor, they'd be in jail. Let me just say it wouldn't be like a laughing matter at the at the table again.
Speaker 1:So this is also why and and I hope I don't sound condescending, because I always said black people don't need anyone to speak on their behalf, and I don't pretend that, but it's it's different when, when I'm speaking in support of you guys and I'm Dr Martello, that carries a different weight. So, seriously, my joke is always like, when people say, go back to your country, I'm like, happily so, because I didn't, I wasn't forced to leave. You know, I wasn't. Like I had friends who were literally kidnapped and they cannot go back to Colombia because their lives are in danger. You know, like, being mindful, mindful of that, like I make the joke with my Cuban friends, which is not funny at all, but they can take it I'm like they cannot go back to Cuba. You know, like there are people that they don't have a country to go back, literally. So it's just like understanding those things.
Speaker 1:But also, you know, I am proud of the life that I have built, like I, I belong here and I can, I continue to contribute here and I contribute to many other things. But I'm always like I don't know, I, I, I have, I recognize that my success is never mine. You know, it's all the people that came before me and I always bring that to me. It's like this is not about me. Like you know, I'm like after I have the house and I have the deck, I mean what else? I'm good, you know, like for the most part, and I always say, well, I can always go back. I know how to make empanadas and they will be very intellectual empanadas made by a doctor who cares. You know, I know what it is, what it is to live with pretty much nothing.
Speaker 3:So you have so many contributions you've made since being here. I will say and I think the highlight for me is having parents who did have elementary school education for both of them Is that right Less they didn't finish elementary school, but this is the child they raised. Finish elementary school, but this is the child they raise I always like to pause and just say, like we keep looking at all this education, man, and we give up just because we haven't gone that far, but you pour it into your children and they will make great return on what you invest. After thinking about everything that you've shared today, I want you to kind of give us some culminating thoughts in terms of the listeners of our Scratchwork EDU podcast and the ways that you have supported the Black community, the ways that you've come to America and gotten your degrees and used everything that you know to make this community better, what you would challenge them to do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think the message and the challenge is and I try to guide myself by this, and sometimes it's really hard and is the fact that you don't know something doesn't mean that it's not happening and, in the same token, the fact that something is happening to a person doesn't mean that it's, you know, generalized for everyone. So these are very difficult times. What I really think that more than ever we have to strategize, and so I've been more engaged in political organizing and more on that coming. I don't promote those things, because this is not about I mean, I tried to learn that from Ronnie is that certain things is people don't need to know. You know, like you don't need to be promoting all the things that you're doing, but that doesn't mean that you cannot do it.
Speaker 1:You know, sometimes it's like when I tell you you know, baldwin used to talk about communities of love those communities are more needed than ever. So I might not be, you know, working directly to support public education. That doesn't mean that I'm not be. Well, you know, working directly to support public education that doesn't mean that I'm not there. You know, I'm just serving in other capacities. So it's okay that sometimes all you have to do is. You know what? I'm gonna donate this money, I'm gonna bring this food to these people and let it be so. Also, know when you are best equipped to lead and when others.
Speaker 1:You're like, this is not, you know, let me just connect and keep it moving. But the moment cannot afford for us to just say, oh, because it's not happening directly to me. You know, I have to tell you I don't get sick that frequently, but the vibe is very hard and that is going to require a lot of self-care. Like, literally, we have to take care of each other, take care of ourselves. Nobody has the bandwidth. Like, this is not a sprint, this is a marathon and we are in week one. A sprint, this is a marathon and we are in week one.
Speaker 1:So I, you know, one of the things like, if if nothing else, right, like having gotten, you know, the first bilingual bpk. I'm like, listen, that dissertation serve a purpose besides getting me a degree. Um, just seeing my village and all the things that continue to happen, you know, know, make me absolutely proud. You know, like, sometimes, like I want to know more and I'm like, well, that's again, is where you're needed. Right, and let other people do other things and it's just like right now this is my part hey, ronnie, here's the ball, you take it and I trust you. That's what communities of love are Like.
Speaker 1:I know I'm just a call away. I know it's like if I call Ronnie or I call you and I say, hey, here's my thing, you will be there. We only have each other. You know, and I joke and I make the joke in the chat who's going to save us? Us? And that's what I bring. Like if I survive a civil war in Colombia. I mean it Like I grew up with bombs exploding and the narcos and all of that. That's my lived experience and it's unusual that I feel afraid in this country, but I don't let that paralyze me. I'm just like okay, how can I channel this into something positive?
Speaker 2:Well, I, you know, I've said this before, you know in different circles, but at least for this particular podcast, this episode, you know, I definitely want to personally thank you. You have been a huge supporter of all the work that we've been doing. I won't even just single it out to the my Village Project. And for those that do not know, we, you know, my Village Project first started. It was really a fund and we were doing what I felt to be, you know, good work with that, but it was definitely Myra who nudged me a few times. It probably was over the course of a few years. It's like what are you? You know, what are we doing with this my Village Project, this Leadership Institute and a couple other things we were working on. What are we doing? What are we doing with it?
Speaker 2:And she was the one that connected us really to our first major funder and that funder kind of came in and it really accelerated. I mean, you can't even it was almost two different organizations. We almost had to start calling, I think, my village project 2.0, cause that's how different it was and and uh, all that to do with just Myra and her connections and doing all the things that you were talking about earlier, uh, on the on the podcast. So, uh, you know again. I know we appreciate you, and I'm sure your community and your other networks appreciate you as well for fighting for them. So keep up the good fight, and we do need to come together. I completely agree.
Speaker 3:If I could just add that's a huge testament to the both of you, because, for those who are trying to get in the right rooms with the right people, before sharing what it is that's inside of them that they wanna see done, do the work anyway, talk about it anyway, be moving in that direction anyway, because that is what Ronnie was doing. That's what Myra already knew, so when she got in the room, she brought Ronnie with her, and so you all just those that are listening have something burning on the inside of you, waiting on the right opportunity. If you don't take anything else, do the scratch work. We say that all the time. Just do the work, do the work, have faith and it'll happen. Anyway, Myra, we're happy you're here. Thank you from the bottom of my heart too. You are my sister and the Black man who heard her today. What's up y'all we have?
Speaker 2:her number.
Speaker 1:Put her LinkedIn handle oh my goodness, yeah, no, it's okay. Time has passed. I already healed, no hard feelings. We are in community, we are.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely. Take care. We appreciate it, myra thank you myra, you got me fired up.
Speaker 3:I'm feeling better, but it was good, myra, I just want to say that ronnie apparently likes you better than the other guests. I just want you to know. But generally I have to ask all questions and then he'll like chime in with two. But, he actually led this interview today. I'm so proud. I hope he comes back and finds this clip so that we can give him a round of applause.
Speaker 2:Yeah, to cut it out. Y'all need to cut it out.
Speaker 1:You know why? Because he hasn't talked to me in a long time, that's true. That's true.
Speaker 2:That's true that's true.
Speaker 1:That's true. I mean, like I just listened to kim and he talks to kim. You know, to that interview, he talks to kim frequently yeah but I haven't talked to ronnie, I mean it's been several months, yeah, yeah it was fun go to sleep, go get some rest.
Speaker 4:Yeah, go get some rest. Yeah, go get some rest. Take care you too. Bye, all right. Bye. Take me back to before the noon. Take it out of cute. Innocence can be a young man's game. Signed up for the hall of shame. I wish I knew how much I missed. I know that we're all screwed when we play our roles and ignore the problems. I like to be away and more patient. Stay up. I feel so outdated. How can we look the other way? Sun is out, but the sky is gray. What would happen if I took a chance? It's always hard at first glance. I don't wanna, but I know I gotta do it. The truth is hard to swallow. I think I knew how much I missed not knowing that we're all screwed when we play our roles and ignore the problems. I wish I knew how much I miss not knowing that we're all screwed when we play our roles and ignore the problems. I wish I knew.