Que Lo Que Podcast

Venus and El B ask a couple of their friends to talk about what happened on Election Day, nationally and in Florida.

Special guests include Eva Facundo, Deputy Director of Affiliate Fundraising at Emerge America and Rafel "Ray" Collazo, Director of Political Campaigns at UNIDOS US Action Fund.

The week that was and the week that lies ahead -- all from a Dominican perspective....

Our families are such an important part of the work that we do. So what better way to head into Election Week that listen to the woman who inspired Boston City Council Member Julia Mejia to not just run for office, but to be a tireless advocate for her community. Her mother, Mirta Peña.

As fans recall, Mejia became the first Latina -- and Dominicana -- to win a seat on the Boston's City Council last year. It was a race that went down to the wire, ultimately being decided by 1 vote. But listening to her mother's story, its no secret from where Mejia gets her determination and dedication to public service. These are the people that are depending on our votes -- this and every Election season.

Tom Perez is the first Dominican to chair the Democratic National Committee, hoping to lead the party to success in national and local elections this November. It's the culmination of a career full of firsts. one that connects him with a family tradition of public service that stretches back decades to the DR.

Venus and El B sit down with the former Secretary of Labor to talk about family, his childhood in Buffalo, NY and what is at stake for all families on Nov. 3rd.

Dominicana Laura Jimenez cut her teeth working on local campaigns and for elected officials here in Florida. But when former Vice-President Joe Biden asked her to lead up his Latino Engagement effort, she had no doubt stepping up and joining his team.

With less than two weeks to go in the Presidential race, she talks to us about her journey, what's at stake this November and her reaction to seeing the local Dominican community beginning to organize politically in South Florida.

Its been more than six - wait 8 months - since we've been on the air.

¿Coño, que paso?

What hasn't?

Elbert & Venus update fans as to how they are doing personally and professionally, comment on what they have seen in the our COVID-19 dominated world since March and tell fans what they can expect in the next couple of weeks for the podcast -- and the nation.

Special Episode: As many in the diaspora know already, municipal elections in the DR were recently cancelled and we at Que Lo Que were like "¿Pero que e la vaina con eso?" Venus couldn't be with us this week because she's en route to Chicago, so we turned to award winning journalist Marcia Facundo, editor of Entravision's Politica Ya website, to give us a little bit of background on what's going on con las #ProtestasJCE.

As hundreds of Dominican Americans professionals descend on Washington, DC for the second annual Dominicans on the Hill, we talk to Dominican Health Care Association of Florida Executive Director Daisy Baez about the roots of the event and why the second one is just as important as the first.

Former Florida State Representative Baez also reflects back on her resignation from elected office, the lessons that she can pass along to aspiring Latina politicians and how you don't have to be an elected official to help push important legislation, as she is doing now with healthcare.

MORE ABOUT DAISY

Daisy Josefina Baez served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 2016 until her resignation in 2017. She represented the 114th district, stretching from western Miami to Cutler Bay in Miami-Dade County. She was born in the Dominican Republic and raised there by her grandmother after her parents divorced and her mother moved to New York City to support her family. Baez immigrated to the United States at the age of 17. She joined the U.S. Army in 1980 and served for three years as a Preventive Medicine Specialist in the 1st Cavalry Division Surgeon's Office in Fort Hood, Texas.

After an honorable discharge, Baez received a bachelor's degree in social work-at American Technological University, and later a master's degree in education counseling from Sam Houston State University.

After over 15 years working in hospital management and health care consulting, in 2011 she founded the Dominican Health Care Association of Florida. The group is a nonprofit organization with the mission of advocating for and supporting healthcare services by and for the Dominican community in Florida. She is currently the association's executive director.

Ms. Baez has one daughter, whom she raised as a single parent.

We can't think of a better way to open 2020 than by sitting down with Cecilia Gutierrez, Deputy Director of the MBKA Network and Partnerships at the Obama Foundation. The former Executive Director of Miami's Children's Initiative talks to us not just about what to takes to raise young boys and men of color and help communities heal from the struggles and trauma of poverty. She keeps it real about her personal journey balancing family, heritage and success as the first generation daughter of Dominican immigrants.

(Episode 12) - As we begin to wind down 2019, we're pleased to have a chance to sit down with renaissance journalist and media advocate Claudia Cruz, Director of Internships and Experiential Learning at the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno.

We talk to Claudia about her bicoastal journey working as a community and digital storyteller, the challenge and responsibility of connecting with first-generation Latinx students and the important role non-traditional media is having in keeping local journalism alive.

And that's just the first half-hour.

-----------

More about Claudia Cruz

Claudia Cruz is the Director of Internships and Experiential Learning at the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno. Prior to that, she worked as a technology reporter for CNET en Español where she covered the industry and corporations like Apple, Alphabet and Facebook in Silicon Valley. Before that, she was an editor in local news operations like the Mountain View Patch ( which she launched) and El Correo de Queens, as well as a staff writer for Queens Courier and the Manhattan Times.

Did we mention that she was also a president of the Bay Area chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists with Master's degrees in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, a JD from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and a BA in International Relations and Latin American Studies from Wesleyan University?

Where to her on Social Media

Twitter: @cruznews Instagram: @cruznews Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamclaudiacruz

As 2019 ends and the political campaign season of 2020 heats up, we sit down with Emerge America's Eva Facundo to talk about the wave of grassroots digital fundraising that is allowing a slew of new candidates to have a shot at elected office. We also talk about the difference between being Dominican in Miami and Southern California and what's it like to have a mother for a journalist.

Dominican-born and Miami-raised, Facundo now calls Southern California home as she serves as Deputy Director of Affiliate Fundraising for Emerge, one of the nation's premier organizations that recruits, trains and provides a powerful network to Democratic women who want to run for office. Her past political fundraising work includes doing work for Emily's List, the DSCC, Rep. Loretta Sanchez and a host of others running for federal and state elected office.

----------

Where to Find Eva: Twitter/IG: @4Eva2Hair

Where to find more about Emerge: https://emergeamerica.org/about/