Baratunde speaks with Maria Teresa Kumar, President of Voto Latino, about the power in numbers of Latinx voters and the work of relationship-building for this moment. Maria shares stories of what effective government looks like and its impact on the lives of the Latinx community. 

Show Notes + Links

We are grateful to Maria Teresa Kumar for joining us. 

Follow @mariateresa1 and @votolatino on Twitter. You can learn more about Voto Latino at https://votolatino.org/.

We will post this episode, a transcript, show notes and more at howtocitizen.com.

Please show your support for the show in the form of a review and rating. It makes a huge difference with the algorithmic overlords!

HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW. ACTIONS FOR THIS EPISODE. 

INTERNAL ACTIONS (Actions that help you reflect and explore your emotions and experiences related to these topics or are personal actions that don’t involve others)

Prepare yourself emotionally. This year, we have an election season, not an election day. And we may not know the result for several days or even weeks after November 3rd.  

Make a plan to vote and start acting on it NOW.

If you haven’t voted yet, make your plan now. Figure out how you’re going to vote, and who you’re voting for. Plan this like it’s the biggest date of your life. 

If you can, vote early and in-person. It is still the most ideal way to vote in this election.

A great resource with state-by-state information is at whenweallvote.org. Check it out then confirm your voting rules and deadlines with your county elections office. 

If you plan to vote by mail (also called absentee voting in states like Wisconsin), make sure you are registered, and then VERY CAREFULLY follow the directions on how to submit your ballot. 

Adopt a swing state and help get out the vote.

You can phone bank or text with others organizing in battleground states - we don’t believe it is even partisan anymore to help to ensure Biden wins since Trump is no longer interested in preserving or leading a democracy. 

Go to https://votesaveamerica.com/states/#battleground-states to learn more and sign up. 

EXTERNAL ACTIONS (Public actions that require relationships and interaction with others) 

Make, “have you voted?” the new “how are you?” in your conversations. 

Check in with the people you care about. Ask them if they plan to vote or have already voted. This is healthy peer pressure.

Once you’ve voted, let EVERYONE know (more subtle and not so subtle peer pressure on social media!) 

Post the “I voted” sticker on your IG grid and ask others to do the same by tagging folks and using hashtag #ivoted #howtocitizen

Volunteer with a friend to be a poll worker. 

Because of COVID-19 and the older age of most poll workers, we have a severe shortage of poll workers in many parts of the U.S. Visit powertothepolls.org and consider becoming a poll worker yourself or encouraging people you know to volunteer. More poll workers means faster voting means more people get to exercise their power.

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If you take any of these actions, share that with us - action@howtocitizen.com. Mention Making Our Voices Heard in the subject line. And brag online about your citizening on social media using #howtocitizen. 

We love feedback from our listeners - comments@howtocitizen.com. 

Visit Baratunde's website to sign up for his newsletter to learn about upcoming guests, live tapings, and more. Follow him on Instagram or join his Patreon. You can even text him, like right now at 202-894-8844.

How To Citizen with Baratunde is a production of I iHeart Radio Podcasts. executive produced by Miles Gray, Nick Stumpf, Elizabeth Stewart, and Baratunde Thurston. Produced by Joelle Smith, edited by Justin Smith. Powered by you.

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Could a mysterious slab of stone near Kensington, Minnesota hold the key to a forgotten piece of ancient history? According to the true believers, this stone, discovered in the late 1800s, proves that Vikings made it deep into the interior of North America in the 1300s -- only to disappear soon afterward, leaving no trace but a grisly story carved in runes upon the stone. Tune in to learn more.

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What would you do if you woke up one day and found yourself in a world without electricity, cellphones or the internet? It sounds like the plot of a science fiction film, but if a powerful enough solar flare hits Earth's magnetosphere this could become a frightening reality. Join Matt and Ben as they explore the likelihood of a solar apocalypse in today's Classic episode.

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Recently the US -- and the world at large -- learned that the President of the United States tested positive for COVID-19. As reporters and the public scrambled for more information, conspiracy theories proliferated like wildfire. In this week's Strange News segment, Ben, Matt and Noel explore the questions about the official timeline, other infections in the White House, and how world governments might react.

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Almost a thousand years after the reign of the original Order of Assassins, you might think assassination tactics would be universally illegal -- however, that's not the case. Assassination is a valuable tool for both corporations and nations alike. It's also a big business, a web of conspiracies with an at-times global reach, evolving in step with the world's latest technological innovations. Listen in to learn more about assassination in the modern day in the second part of this two-part series.

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The guys dive into a bizarre website that may be an art project, the ramblings of a lunatic, or something more sinister. For years, LEGO bricks have been washing up along the coast of the UK. Multiple scientists, asking to remain anonymous, write in with disturbing details on the problem of micro- and nanoplastics. The good news? The guys were right about the problem. The bad news? The guys didn't know just how right they were. All this and more in this week's installment of Listener Mail.

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Baratunde ignores the headlines about Chicago and heeds a listener’s advice to learn more about the South Side from a local artist who is building bridges in her community and literally helping people find common ground. Tonika Johnson helps us understand the pride that comes from being a Chicagoan and the root causes of today’s community struggles grounded in segregation and discrimination. Through her Folded Map Project, she is a perfect example of using art as a way to citizen.

Show Notes + Links

We are grateful to Tonika Johnson for joining us. 

Follow @TonikaJ on IG. You can learn more about The Folded Map Project at https://www.foldedmapproject.com/. 

We will post this episode, a transcript, show notes and more at howtocitizen.com.

Please show your support for the show in the form of a review and rating. It makes a huge difference with the algorithmic overlords!

ACTIONS FOR THIS EPISODE.

Internal: (actions that help you reflect on your own emotions, opinions, and experiences regarding a particular issue)

Find your fold, as Tonika says. 

Whether you live in Chicago or not, there is a dividing line exacerbating racial and class segregation in our lives, and we want you to find it. 

First, reflect on your own neighborhood, and digitally identify and write down the following:

1. The food you enjoy and the restaurants you support
2. The neighborhood cultural institutions and local artists you appreciate
3. The local businesses you depend on: grocery, bookshops, dry cleaners, etc.
4. The local library and any programming it offers that you’re into
5. The local news sources you rely on

Now, think about a neighborhood you hear about in the news that is in your city, but that you may not visit because it’s “bad” or “undesirable” or because it’s too nice and inaccessible to you. 

For that neighborhood, use the internet and social media to get to know it outside of media headlines using the questions below: 

1. For the food you enjoy, find a restaurant in that neighborhood that you’d want to order from.
2. Find and follow two local artists and one cultural institution to follow on social.
3. Find and follow three local businesses that match the type you frequent in your neighborhood.
4. Check out the corresponding library website and follow them on social media.
5. Find one neighborhood news source from that neighborhood. Maybe there’s a podcast, online weekly, or social media account devoted to telling stories of that community.

We want you to become a better citizen of your neighborhood and your whole city. 

BONUS:

Listen to these two episodes of This American Life called “House Rules” that examine segregation in the U.S. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/512/house-rules 

Explore the history of redlining in your US city. This project by the Digital Scholarship Lab a the University of Richmond let’s you examine the New Deal HOLC (Home Owners’ Loan Corporation) maps which set the stage for so much segregation that persists to this day. https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/#loc=4/40.592/-104.228 

EXTERNAL: (actions that are public and require you to interact with or join others in your community)

For Chicago residents, use the Folded Map action kit to find your map twin. Submit your results. All this is at https://www.foldedmapproject.com/submit

If you know an educator, share the the story - https://www.foldedmapproject.com/video and sign up for more info on the curriculum currently in development.

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If you take any of these actions, share that with us - action@howtocitizen.com. Mention Bridges, Not Walls in the subject line. And brag online about your citizening on social media using #howtocitizen. 

We love feedback from our listeners - comments@howtocitizen.com. 

Visit Baratunde's website to sign up for his newsletter to learn about upcoming guests, live tapings, and more. Follow him on Instagram or join his Patreon. You can even text him, like right now at 202-894-8844.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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What's the difference between an assassination and a garden-variety murder? Where does the term 'assassin' actually come from, and how did an obscure sect founded almost one thousand years ago fundamentally change the course of history as we know it? Tune in for the answers to these questions and more in the first part of this special two-part series.

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It's true - the Soviet government really did have its own parapsychological research program. And, unlike MKULTRA and other US operations, the Soviet version continued until 2003, when it officially ended. Tune in to learn more with Ben and Matt in today's Classic episode.

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Have scientists discovered a new building material for future Martian colonies? Why might a vaccine for COVID-19 lead to the deaths of thousands of deep-sea sharks? Is it true that crows can think about thinking (and are they really in an unending, existential war with owls)? All this and more in today's Strange News segment.

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