WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:03.720 We can't let up. We can't let up because we 2 00:00:03.760 --> 00:00:06.280 still have a long way to go. And even if 3 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:09.479 you win a big prize, books are like, what's next? 4 00:00:09.480 --> 00:00:11.840 What else can you do? You know? Yeah, you got 5 00:00:11.880 --> 00:00:14.480 twenty twenty, all right, how much bigger can you get? 6 00:00:18.520 --> 00:00:22.800 From Fuduro Media and PRX. It's Latino USA. I'm Mariano 7 00:00:22.880 --> 00:00:28.360 Rosa today, the decades long grassroots movement that has transformed 8 00:00:28.400 --> 00:00:32.120 Arizona and a new fight protecting voting rights ahead of 9 00:00:32.120 --> 00:00:37.800 the midterms. 10 00:00:38.040 --> 00:00:41.240 I'm elected by the people of Maricopa County and which 11 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:43.640 fight a way they must like the tenn city because 12 00:00:43.640 --> 00:00:45.519 I've been reelected five times. 13 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:49.279 This clip is from an interview I did in twenty 14 00:00:49.520 --> 00:00:53.880 twelve with Joe Rpyo. He's the former sheriff of Maricopa County, 15 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:57.680 the most populous county in Arizona. Our Pio was in 16 00:00:57.760 --> 00:00:59.520 office for more than twenty years. 17 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:02.080 They're convicted and doing their time. 18 00:01:02.520 --> 00:01:07.160 Back then, I visited his open air jail tent city, 19 00:01:07.560 --> 00:01:12.280 a place that incarcerated hundreds of people arrested by his department, 20 00:01:12.760 --> 00:01:17.639 many of them Latinos and Latinas. Delphine Emmanuel is serving 21 00:01:17.760 --> 00:01:21.800 three months and said she too, is shot by ten City. 22 00:01:21.959 --> 00:01:23.840 I've never seen anything like this, this one hundred and 23 00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:26.319 twenty two degrees out here at times, and they just have. 24 00:01:26.360 --> 00:01:27.240 Us out here just. 25 00:01:28.680 --> 00:01:32.759 But our PIO wasn't the only one pushing a racist agenda. 26 00:01:33.319 --> 00:01:37.360 In twenty ten, then Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, a Republican 27 00:01:37.520 --> 00:01:42.120 like our PIO, signed into law Senate Bill ten seventy 28 00:01:42.680 --> 00:01:45.839 or SB ten seventy. We worked to solve a crisis 29 00:01:46.280 --> 00:01:49.680 that we did not create, and the federal government has 30 00:01:49.720 --> 00:01:53.400 refused to fix the crisis caused by illegal immigration. 31 00:01:53.800 --> 00:01:55.160 In Arizona's course. 32 00:01:55.160 --> 00:01:57.840 It became known as the Show Me Your Papers Law, 33 00:01:58.200 --> 00:02:02.360 as the most extreme anti immigrant legislation in the country. 34 00:02:02.760 --> 00:02:07.520 It aimed to identify, prosecute, and deport undocumented immigrants, and 35 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:17.799 to legally charge people who help them. Young people left 36 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:22.040 school to protest, some of them children of undocumented immigrants. 37 00:02:22.480 --> 00:02:26.440 Community started neighborhood defense groups, supporting each other with immigration 38 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:31.080 lawyers and donations while ICE agents roamed their neighborhoods. 39 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:34.880 We're trying to provide a space where our community is included, 40 00:02:34.919 --> 00:02:38.480 where our community is no longer criminalized and at risk 41 00:02:38.520 --> 00:02:39.880 of being deported or detained. 42 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:45.120 The US Supreme Court ended up striking down most of 43 00:02:45.440 --> 00:02:49.120 SB ten seventy, but police in Arizona can still demand 44 00:02:49.160 --> 00:02:53.720 documents from people who they suspect might be undocumented. 45 00:02:56.440 --> 00:02:59.240 Canvassing teams are handing out these flyers to voters as 46 00:02:59.240 --> 00:03:01.240 they go door to door, or making it easier for them. 47 00:03:01.480 --> 00:03:04.160 You've got one side in English, the other in Spanish. 48 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:07.560 The same young people who had taken to the streets 49 00:03:07.600 --> 00:03:12.480 to protest this law created dozens of community organizations across 50 00:03:12.520 --> 00:03:15.839 the state to fight for their rights, and groups then 51 00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:20.880 grew into a full blown movement. The movement has expanded 52 00:03:20.919 --> 00:03:25.680 voter registration in communities of color, and their advocacy also 53 00:03:26.120 --> 00:03:30.799 helped to finally defeat Sheriff Joe Arpaio in twenty sixteen, 54 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:37.120 and then when former President Donald Trump pushed anti immigration policies, 55 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:41.760 the movement got to work again, sending armies of canvassers 56 00:03:41.800 --> 00:03:46.160 into the streets to register hundreds of thousands of new voters. 57 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:51.559 In the twenty twenty presidential elections, Latino, black, and Indigenous 58 00:03:51.600 --> 00:03:55.160 first time voters headed to the polls more than ever 59 00:03:55.240 --> 00:04:00.760 before and made state history. In Arizona, a Democrat presidential 60 00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:06.760 candidate had won Arizona since nineteen ninety six. Before that, 61 00:04:07.080 --> 00:04:11.280 it had been in nineteen forty eight, but then Joe 62 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:15.200 Biden won the state with just ten thousand votes ahead 63 00:04:15.200 --> 00:04:21.960 of Trump, the state became a battleground. Today, the movement 64 00:04:22.040 --> 00:04:26.040 is fighting against two fronts, the Republican party that governs 65 00:04:26.080 --> 00:04:29.840 the state legislature, which has passed laws that critics say 66 00:04:30.080 --> 00:04:32.480 disenfranchised non white voters. 67 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:36.040 The new law, effective at the end of September, requires 68 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:39.920 Arizona residents to prove that they are an American citizen 69 00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:40.760 in order to vote. 70 00:04:40.800 --> 00:04:45.839 But they're also fighting against Trump endorsed Republican candidates who 71 00:04:45.880 --> 00:04:49.120 falsely claimed the twenty twenty election was a fraud, like 72 00:04:49.240 --> 00:04:53.839 gubernatorial candidate Kerrie Lake, President Trump taught us how to fight, 73 00:04:53.880 --> 00:04:57.960 and I took a few notes. In this episode, we're 74 00:04:57.960 --> 00:04:59.800 going to see what it feels like to be a 75 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:04.919 political grassroots organizer in rural and urban Arizona right now. 76 00:05:06.080 --> 00:05:09.920 Producer Patricia Suberan recently went on the ground to Arizona 77 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:21.760 during the primary election, and here's Patricia with her report with. 78 00:05:21.960 --> 00:05:29.440 This ben Lely Monrados days are packed with work. 79 00:05:29.240 --> 00:05:31.400 Halls, but the budget stays the same. 80 00:05:31.400 --> 00:05:33.640 As one of the leaders in the movement. Her work 81 00:05:33.800 --> 00:05:38.359 is key ahead of the primary election. She oversees a 82 00:05:38.360 --> 00:05:42.680 coalition of several dozen progressive groups around the state. And 83 00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:45.800 on top of that, she just moved to a new house. 84 00:05:47.800 --> 00:05:51.960 I find Montrat or Monseille as people call her, sitting 85 00:05:51.960 --> 00:05:55.040 in the backyard. That's the only place without furniture all 86 00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:58.960 over the place. She's rocking her baby in a hammock, 87 00:05:59.160 --> 00:06:05.760 and she's taken in a virtual meeting with her team. 88 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:09.359 Monse is thirty one years old. She has short, black, 89 00:06:09.440 --> 00:06:12.440 shiny hair just like her son's and a white smile 90 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:15.120 as she's been juggling a lot. 91 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:16.880 As the regrants portion. 92 00:06:23.720 --> 00:06:27.080 That's Monster's mom Belin. She's helping with the baby while 93 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:30.559 Monse finds the time in between meetings to organize the house. 94 00:06:31.240 --> 00:06:33.640 Well, we want the board to approve the budget before 95 00:06:33.640 --> 00:06:34.600 we put it in right. 96 00:06:35.320 --> 00:06:38.320 Later in the day, the family is welcoming two young 97 00:06:38.440 --> 00:06:43.200 siblings who arrived and accompanied from Guatemala. That's because Monse 98 00:06:43.400 --> 00:06:49.360 and her husband are foster parents. It's hard to describe 99 00:06:49.520 --> 00:06:53.080 what Monse does for a living. One thing that's true 100 00:06:53.400 --> 00:06:55.800 is that she spends a lot of time on calls. 101 00:06:55.960 --> 00:06:58.240 Oh my gosh, yeah, let's talk. Yeah, let me know 102 00:06:58.240 --> 00:06:58.839 when you have time. 103 00:07:00.279 --> 00:07:05.440 Okay. When you think about an organizer, you might visualize 104 00:07:05.480 --> 00:07:08.760 someone knocking on doors or phone banking, but there are 105 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:11.560 people like Monse working behind the scenes. 106 00:07:11.880 --> 00:07:18.760 I usually say that I were in politics mostly doing 107 00:07:19.200 --> 00:07:25.000 fundraising and coordinating of community groups, and that's how I 108 00:07:25.080 --> 00:07:25.600 describe it. 109 00:07:29.560 --> 00:07:33.160 When Monsa first started as an organizer in her native Phoenix, 110 00:07:33.640 --> 00:07:36.040 she was seventeen years old. She was in high school, 111 00:07:36.320 --> 00:07:39.640 and back then her job was pretty straightforward. She would 112 00:07:39.640 --> 00:07:42.480 mainly knock on doors to get people to register to vote. 113 00:07:43.960 --> 00:07:48.960 In twenty eighteen, Monse became the executive director of One Arizona. 114 00:07:49.640 --> 00:07:52.720 This is a network of community organizations that are focused 115 00:07:52.760 --> 00:07:57.040 on getting people invested in the political process. Now she 116 00:07:57.120 --> 00:08:01.720 has an even bigger responsibility. This year she also started 117 00:08:01.800 --> 00:08:05.400 running Arizona Wins. It's a coalition. It's made up of 118 00:08:05.440 --> 00:08:10.520 almost forty civic engagement groups all across Arizona. They back 119 00:08:10.680 --> 00:08:14.520 progressive candidates with cash and outreach to get them elected. 120 00:08:16.720 --> 00:08:20.320 It wasn't always like this. In the beginning, they had 121 00:08:20.320 --> 00:08:22.800 no idea what they were doing. A lot of it 122 00:08:22.840 --> 00:08:25.560 has been like building a bridge while you're walking on it. 123 00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:31.840 In short, Monset and her team's mission is engaging communities 124 00:08:31.880 --> 00:08:36.520 of color, especially young people, and Monset thinks that political 125 00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:38.880 parties haven't really done a good job with that. 126 00:08:39.960 --> 00:08:43.880 You can't just talk to people fifty days before election day. 127 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:46.320 You have to be there with them and they have 128 00:08:46.400 --> 00:08:49.400 to feel like someone cares. 129 00:08:50.120 --> 00:08:53.600 Mons says it's hard to lay out the exact steps 130 00:08:53.600 --> 00:08:56.480 that took her from being a canvasser to an executive 131 00:08:56.480 --> 00:09:01.160 director to her success. Basically, although she hates to call 132 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:03.600 it like that, So what was happening back then in 133 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:04.000 your life? 134 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:05.640 I don't know. 135 00:09:07.240 --> 00:09:11.040 She doesn't like to get stuck in the past with 136 00:09:11.280 --> 00:09:18.080 Azal like Gay William, but her remarkable professional growth is 137 00:09:18.400 --> 00:09:21.680 closely aligned with the growth of the young progressive movement. 138 00:09:22.280 --> 00:09:25.600 They kind of grew together. It's the same movement that 139 00:09:25.800 --> 00:09:29.240 fought against SB ten seventy and joor Payo back in 140 00:09:29.280 --> 00:09:34.680 twenty ten. Monse has been there from the beginning, but 141 00:09:34.840 --> 00:09:37.120 for her it's always about what's next. 142 00:09:41.880 --> 00:09:43.560 Good morning. 143 00:09:44.120 --> 00:09:47.160 Whenever she can get away from home. Montse works from 144 00:09:47.160 --> 00:09:50.400 this office. There's a lot of people in this office. 145 00:09:50.760 --> 00:09:57.800 Yeah, I know, Oh my gosh, this place is scary. Dungeons. 146 00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:00.720 I used to be full right before. Yeah, yeah, it's 147 00:10:00.760 --> 00:10:01.760 because of the pandemic. 148 00:10:01.960 --> 00:10:04.520 Yeah, and then no one wants to come back once. 149 00:10:04.559 --> 00:10:07.560 It really misses people coming to the office. It's a 150 00:10:07.559 --> 00:10:10.440 big space that one of the organizations rents on the 151 00:10:10.480 --> 00:10:13.680 second floor of a two story building in downtown Phoenix. 152 00:10:13.880 --> 00:10:16.040 No, but we did have older furniture in here. 153 00:10:16.679 --> 00:10:18.240 Most of the time. She's here alone. 154 00:10:18.600 --> 00:10:21.840 I'm about on car right now in one minute. 155 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:26.160 The work has been virtual since the pandemic started. Once 156 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:29.240 it leads meeting after meeting from this empty room. 157 00:10:29.800 --> 00:10:30.719 What am I doing for this? 158 00:10:30.920 --> 00:10:32.640 It's been kind of hard, she says. 159 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:36.160 I spend thirty minutes trying to get my computer to cooperate, 160 00:10:36.400 --> 00:10:38.000 so that was not that helpful. 161 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:44.880 Hey, everybody. Right now, the movement is focusing on two 162 00:10:45.040 --> 00:10:47.760 issues that can have a pretty big impact on the 163 00:10:47.880 --> 00:10:52.000 entire state. One is a ballot measure to expand voting rights, 164 00:10:52.160 --> 00:10:54.679 and the other one is the race for the Secretary 165 00:10:54.720 --> 00:10:55.120 of State. 166 00:10:55.640 --> 00:10:59.000 On Tuesday. We saw a really great pull this week 167 00:10:59.040 --> 00:11:02.840 on the Secretary of STCE that's really promising in Arizona. 168 00:11:02.880 --> 00:11:06.520 The Secretary of State is the person who oversees elections 169 00:11:06.559 --> 00:11:11.000 and certifies the results, so This race is especially important 170 00:11:11.040 --> 00:11:13.720 in twenty twenty two because a group of allies to 171 00:11:13.800 --> 00:11:18.280 President Donald Trump tried and failed to overturn the results 172 00:11:18.280 --> 00:11:23.560 in Arizona after the twenty twenty election God on the 173 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:27.120 Republican side of the race, out of four candidates finam, 174 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:30.719 there is one clear favorite. 175 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:35.920 Really brief, there are three things that you just can't hide. 176 00:11:37.559 --> 00:11:41.880 The sun, the moon, and the truth. 177 00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:47.360 The weekend before the primaries, in Tempe, A City, about 178 00:11:47.400 --> 00:11:51.200 twenty minutes east of Phoenix, I went to see Mark Fincham. 179 00:11:52.600 --> 00:11:55.360 Fincham is a state lawmaker who was at the January 180 00:11:55.400 --> 00:11:59.160 sixth rally in Washington, DC. His views make him more 181 00:11:59.160 --> 00:12:02.800 of an extremist within the Republican Party. While I was 182 00:12:02.840 --> 00:12:05.240 in Arizona, I tried speaking with him one on one, 183 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:09.920 but he wasn't available. Fincham openly supports false claims of 184 00:12:09.960 --> 00:12:13.360 fraud in the twenty twenty election. If he becomes the 185 00:12:13.400 --> 00:12:17.200 Secretary of State, he has promised to outlaw early voting 186 00:12:17.679 --> 00:12:21.640 used by an overwhelming majority of people in Arizona, and 187 00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:24.840 he'll also require all ballots to be hand counted to 188 00:12:24.920 --> 00:12:28.559 restore the confidence. At the event, Fincham gave a fiery 189 00:12:28.600 --> 00:12:32.760 speech against Arizona's current Republican governor, Dog Doocey. 190 00:12:33.040 --> 00:12:35.920 It's my accusation that he is a Democrat registered as 191 00:12:35.920 --> 00:12:39.440 a Republican. And when you see the fact that he 192 00:12:39.520 --> 00:12:44.520 has vetoed meaningful public policy to help us clean up 193 00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:48.280 the mess that is the Arizona election process, he had 194 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:53.200 an active hand in protecting the status quo. 195 00:12:53.920 --> 00:12:58.160 That status quo, according to Fincham, is embodied by traditional 196 00:12:58.200 --> 00:13:02.720 Republicans like Deucy Fincham and Carrie Lake, who is the 197 00:13:02.760 --> 00:13:07.600 Trump indorsed candidate for governor, present themselves as warriors who 198 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:10.000 will quote unquote stop the steal. 199 00:13:10.280 --> 00:13:13.040 Real serious crossroads. This is our last election. 200 00:13:13.520 --> 00:13:16.080 We go back to the McKay mafia running the show, 201 00:13:17.920 --> 00:13:20.440 or we can elect the America first candidate. 202 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:26.160 We're getting question of like, oh, why do you care 203 00:13:26.200 --> 00:13:28.480 so much about the Secretary of State stories, and say, well, 204 00:13:28.520 --> 00:13:31.120 why do you think if Trump is caring so much 205 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:33.880 about the Secretary of States race, we have to put 206 00:13:33.920 --> 00:13:40.720 something up against that, and so anyways, Yeah. 207 00:13:40.600 --> 00:13:46.160 Emotions are running high, Yes, so high. Monsey and other 208 00:13:46.360 --> 00:13:49.960 organizers are concerned about what's happening in their state. Far 209 00:13:50.040 --> 00:13:53.280 right extremist candidates are on the rise. They're not your 210 00:13:53.280 --> 00:13:57.640 regular Republicans. It's not only Fincham and Lake, but it's 211 00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:01.080 a slate of Trump endorsed politicians are running for big 212 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:05.040 state seats in Arizona, and the movement did not expect that. 213 00:14:05.960 --> 00:14:09.240 It surprised me that Monsei and the coalition she leads 214 00:14:09.559 --> 00:14:12.360 are not supporting who seems to be the obvious candidate 215 00:14:12.440 --> 00:14:16.400 for Secretary of State on the Democratic side, Adrian Fondez. 216 00:14:16.800 --> 00:14:21.480 He's a career Democrat with name recognition. Instead, they're backing 217 00:14:21.520 --> 00:14:26.000 Regional Bolding, a black grassroots organizer and a progressive member 218 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:30.000 of the Arizona House of Representatives, and that support comes handy. 219 00:14:30.040 --> 00:14:33.600 For Bolding, the coalition has dollars to put out campaign 220 00:14:33.680 --> 00:14:36.600 ads for him and pay for canvassors to knock on doors. 221 00:14:37.480 --> 00:14:41.280 Monsters says that their mission is not just stopping Republicans 222 00:14:41.280 --> 00:14:45.040 from winning, but to get progressive candidates on the ballot. 223 00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:51.000 Progressive for me is pushing the envelope train to imagine 224 00:14:51.040 --> 00:14:56.560 a future that doesn't exist yet, push for policy answers 225 00:14:56.600 --> 00:14:58.640 that are different from what we're used to. 226 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:03.600 They won't support Fontez Monsses just because he's Latino, just. 227 00:15:03.880 --> 00:15:06.320 Being a person of color doesn't necessarily mean you're on 228 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:09.600 the right side of the issue, But. 229 00:15:09.640 --> 00:15:13.080 There are risks to this strategy. They have to avoid 230 00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:18.600 division within the coalition and diverting resources. Still, their candidate 231 00:15:18.680 --> 00:15:21.720 may not win, and that means starting all over again 232 00:15:21.920 --> 00:15:26.800 for the general election. If their strategy fails and Volding loses, 233 00:15:27.280 --> 00:15:30.120 the coalition still hopes to protect voting rights through a 234 00:15:30.160 --> 00:15:34.960 ballot measure. This measure would let people register to vote 235 00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:39.080 on election day and go to any polling location they choose. 236 00:15:39.960 --> 00:15:44.320 The coalition already collected double the number of signatures required 237 00:15:44.360 --> 00:15:47.440 to get the initiative on the ballot this upcoming November, 238 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:52.280 but conservative groups with ties to Trump have already challenged 239 00:15:52.280 --> 00:15:53.480 those signatures in court. 240 00:15:55.360 --> 00:16:02.600 On the Pathway of Citizenship so Monsa's office in downtown 241 00:16:02.640 --> 00:16:04.160 Phoenix is a small room. 242 00:16:04.920 --> 00:16:08.240 On one wall there's a huge map of Arizona showing 243 00:16:08.400 --> 00:16:12.480 the concentration of Latino last names by precinct, and on 244 00:16:12.520 --> 00:16:16.720 the opposite wall there's a poster that says vote. I 245 00:16:16.760 --> 00:16:19.840 am sick and tired of being sick and tired. That's 246 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:23.440 a famous quote from a black civil rights activist, Fanny 247 00:16:23.520 --> 00:16:27.600 lou Hamer. On Mons's desk right next to the computer, 248 00:16:27.680 --> 00:16:30.640 there are two pictures. One of them shows a group 249 00:16:30.680 --> 00:16:34.360 of protesters praying in front of former House Speaker John 250 00:16:34.400 --> 00:16:39.000 Bayner's office in twenty thirteen. The group traveled from Arizona 251 00:16:39.160 --> 00:16:42.400 to Washington, DC, demanding immigration reform. 252 00:16:42.640 --> 00:16:44.920 Every single day we would get up, we were sleeping 253 00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:48.040 on the floor of a church. We would get up 254 00:16:48.560 --> 00:16:49.000 go to this. 255 00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:52.440 At the time, Monse was fighting to get citizenship for 256 00:16:52.520 --> 00:16:54.520 her mother Berlin's head. 257 00:16:55.280 --> 00:16:55.800 Wow. 258 00:16:55.920 --> 00:16:59.440 Yeah, she's actually one of the reasons why Monset got 259 00:16:59.520 --> 00:17:06.639 into organicing in the first place. Belin was born in 260 00:17:06.680 --> 00:17:10.840 Sinaloa in Mexico. She arrived in Arizona in nineteen eighty 261 00:17:10.920 --> 00:17:14.480 nine when she was pregnant with Monse's older brother. She 262 00:17:14.600 --> 00:17:18.240 cleaned houses, then spent twelve years working in a factory 263 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:22.240 that made plastic. All of this while undocumented. She was 264 00:17:22.240 --> 00:17:25.879 also raising three children by herself in a working class neighborhood. 265 00:17:27.320 --> 00:17:29.120 So Monset takes me there. 266 00:17:30.080 --> 00:17:32.439 Missa Parker, I grew up coming to. Those are the 267 00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:33.800 projects right back there. 268 00:17:34.359 --> 00:17:37.080 The neighborhood where Monsett grew up in is a seven 269 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:40.360 minute drive away from downtown Phoenix, and it's right next 270 00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:42.200 to a web of busy highways. 271 00:17:42.560 --> 00:17:45.520 Yeah, and that first window. That was my mom's rough 272 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:47.959 out in Mexican places. 273 00:17:48.359 --> 00:17:51.600 Belin moved with her three kids to that bottom apartment 274 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:55.000 when Monset was only a year old. It was a 275 00:17:55.040 --> 00:17:58.960 public housing complex and nobody lives there anymore. It's going 276 00:17:58.960 --> 00:17:59.920 to be torn down soon. 277 00:18:00.520 --> 00:18:02.560 Oh, I haven't been back here in a long time. 278 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:05.600 Monse goes back to the good and bad memories of 279 00:18:05.640 --> 00:18:06.200 this place. 280 00:18:06.359 --> 00:18:08.040 There's always kids at our house. 281 00:18:08.320 --> 00:18:10.640 Her mom was able to save enough money to give 282 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:13.440 her a King Ciana celebration. And this was a. 283 00:18:13.480 --> 00:18:18.119 Church, It's like, and this is where I had my 284 00:18:18.200 --> 00:18:22.520 king This is where I had my first communion. And 285 00:18:22.560 --> 00:18:27.800 then we how you say like, we had an overnight 286 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:30.639 vigil for my brother's funeral. 287 00:18:31.040 --> 00:18:35.439 There he was killed. 288 00:18:35.480 --> 00:18:40.280 It was like gun violence situation. 289 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:43.639 Despite the grief, though, Monsey and her mom had to 290 00:18:43.640 --> 00:18:48.400 carry on. Belen continued working the long hours, and Monseig 291 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:52.000 kept on doing teenager stuff like cheerleading at her local 292 00:18:52.080 --> 00:18:52.600 high school. 293 00:18:52.840 --> 00:18:57.480 It was a great experience growing up a really tight 294 00:18:57.560 --> 00:18:58.280 knit community. 295 00:18:58.680 --> 00:19:03.160 That community was made up of strong women, just like Monse's. 296 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:07.600 Mom, and folks would come and dance and matachinas and 297 00:19:07.640 --> 00:19:08.280 things like that. 298 00:19:08.760 --> 00:19:11.320 When Monse was growing up. She didn't have a car 299 00:19:11.600 --> 00:19:14.520 and naively thought that all people in Arizona looked like 300 00:19:14.560 --> 00:19:19.800 her and her community immigrant, brown, black, and Asian, and 301 00:19:19.880 --> 00:19:23.400 as politics took center stage in her life, she realized 302 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:27.000 that people in power did not reflect that community or 303 00:19:27.040 --> 00:19:34.119 the rest of Arizona. So she has made it her 304 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:39.560 mission to change this. But it's been a huge personal sacrifice, 305 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:42.720 and now the political climate is getting to her. 306 00:19:44.280 --> 00:19:47.240 Even last night, I was watching the news on my 307 00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:57.280 phone and most of the coverage was around them Republican races. 308 00:19:56.520 --> 00:20:01.919 And I don't know, Yeah, I don't know. 309 00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:08.080 I know that getting Trump out wasn't it. You know, 310 00:20:08.200 --> 00:20:08.920 it's not over. 311 00:20:11.040 --> 00:20:11.800 I'm so tired. 312 00:20:12.760 --> 00:20:13.880 I'm so tired. 313 00:20:20.440 --> 00:20:22.520 Coming up on that, you know, USA, we meet two 314 00:20:22.640 --> 00:20:26.240 organizers in conservative cities in rural Arizona. 315 00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:29.000 They're working to build a Montserrat's success. 316 00:20:29.520 --> 00:21:21.760 Stay with us, Yes, hey, we're back. 317 00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:24.480 Before the break, we met Monterrat. 318 00:21:24.680 --> 00:21:28.680 She's a seasoned community organizer in Phoenix who's facing personal 319 00:21:28.760 --> 00:21:32.720 and external challenges ahead of Arizona's primary elections. 320 00:21:33.240 --> 00:21:35.440 We're going to go now to rural Arizona. 321 00:21:35.960 --> 00:21:40.040 It's a Republican stronghold where Latino and Latina voters have 322 00:21:40.359 --> 00:21:45.200 largely been ignored by everyone, but that's starting to change. 323 00:21:45.800 --> 00:21:49.080 Here's producer Patrisa Sunmaran once again with the story. 324 00:21:50.119 --> 00:21:51.560 We're in Casavanda, Arizona. 325 00:21:51.680 --> 00:21:54.399 It's kind of nestled between Phoenix and Tucson, and this 326 00:21:54.560 --> 00:21:55.639 is the town that I grew up in. 327 00:21:55.720 --> 00:21:57.639 It's kind of grown a lot since I was a kid. 328 00:21:57.920 --> 00:22:00.919 I drive an hour southeast of Phoenix one afternoon to 329 00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:06.080 meet Pablo Correa in the small city of Casa Grande. 330 00:22:06.160 --> 00:22:09.199 About fifty thousand people live here, forty five percent of 331 00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:13.360 them Latinos and Latinas. Casagrande is part of Pinal County, 332 00:22:13.600 --> 00:22:16.879 notoriously known for holding an immigrant detention facility. 333 00:22:17.000 --> 00:22:19.480 What do we see beyond the road? 334 00:22:20.280 --> 00:22:22.560 Clear desert, no buildings. 335 00:22:23.080 --> 00:22:26.840 In twenty twenty, Trump one in Pinac County, seventeen points 336 00:22:26.880 --> 00:22:31.040 ahead of Biden Arizona, and this tells a larger story. 337 00:22:31.960 --> 00:22:33.960 If you look at a map of Arizona with the 338 00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:38.440 twenty twenty election results, you'll see that it's almost entirely red. 339 00:22:38.760 --> 00:22:41.840 Out of the fifteen counties in the state, Biden won 340 00:22:41.960 --> 00:22:45.200 in just five, and two of them are the most populous. 341 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:46.760 In Arizona, you know everyone here. 342 00:22:47.400 --> 00:22:49.000 I used to, but it's grown so much. 343 00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:52.479 Bablo is thirty four years old. He's a veteran and 344 00:22:52.520 --> 00:22:57.600 he has two daughters. He has a huge red pickup 345 00:22:57.640 --> 00:23:01.480 truck with a Black Lives Matter sticker on the He 346 00:23:01.560 --> 00:23:04.119 wears his long hair in a bun and his face 347 00:23:04.200 --> 00:23:07.280 is covered in freckles and a thick black beard break. 348 00:23:07.480 --> 00:23:10.440 His skin is slightly toasted by the desert sun shirt. 349 00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:14.240 He's wearing a gray T shirt with a red logo Rural. 350 00:23:14.040 --> 00:23:17.119 Arizona Action in the front with our Arizona logo and 351 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:19.000 on the back there's a quote. 352 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:22.800 I can't Every moment is an organizing opportunity. Every person 353 00:23:23.280 --> 00:23:27.800 a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world. 354 00:23:27.840 --> 00:23:31.840 And who said that? Dolor serta dolrda suerta. The labor 355 00:23:31.880 --> 00:23:37.960 leader and civil rights activist. Bablo is the co executive 356 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:42.520 director of Rural Arizona Action, also known as RACE, one 357 00:23:42.520 --> 00:23:46.360 of the member organizations of the Coalition that Monse oversees. 358 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:51.359 He co founded it in twenty eighteen alongside Natalie Fierro's 359 00:23:51.560 --> 00:23:55.640 with Mont's help. Four years later, it has grown from 360 00:23:55.760 --> 00:23:58.720 two people to a full time staff of twenty five 361 00:23:58.840 --> 00:24:03.119 and fifty part time. It operates in three different rural 362 00:24:03.160 --> 00:24:07.280 counties south and north of the state. But before Pablo 363 00:24:07.359 --> 00:24:10.480 got involved in community organizing, he wasn't really sure what 364 00:24:10.560 --> 00:24:11.560 to do with his life. 365 00:24:11.960 --> 00:24:14.000 I was in the Marines for five years, so I 366 00:24:14.040 --> 00:24:17.360 lived in South Carolina and kind of jumped around for 367 00:24:17.480 --> 00:24:19.840 a lot of those years, and I've always wanted to 368 00:24:19.840 --> 00:24:20.840 come back home and live here. 369 00:24:21.400 --> 00:24:24.520 He was seventeen years old when he enlisted and was 370 00:24:24.560 --> 00:24:25.600 stationed in Japan. 371 00:24:26.119 --> 00:24:28.639 You know, I was always attracted to wanting to do 372 00:24:28.680 --> 00:24:32.200 something that makes a difference in this world, and that's 373 00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:33.959 what they were selling, and that's what I was buying. 374 00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:36.520 But it wasn't always a perfect match. 375 00:24:36.600 --> 00:24:39.879 I was very political in the Marines, which didn't go 376 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:43.200 well for a lot of my supervisors and things like that. 377 00:24:43.880 --> 00:24:46.919 There's not a lot of liberal people in the military, and. 378 00:24:46.840 --> 00:24:50.320 So I think the reason I found my way to 379 00:24:50.480 --> 00:24:53.399 my values was kind of a pushing back of the 380 00:24:53.440 --> 00:24:55.639 status quo in the military. 381 00:24:56.000 --> 00:24:59.760 It's something that he'd also experienced at home. Pablu used 382 00:24:59.760 --> 00:25:02.720 to get into very heated political debates with his father, 383 00:25:02.840 --> 00:25:03.879 who is a Republican. 384 00:25:04.320 --> 00:25:06.399 I come from a conservative family. 385 00:25:06.320 --> 00:25:09.680 And sometimes they would clash so much that his mother 386 00:25:09.880 --> 00:25:12.400 band speaking about politics at dinner and. 387 00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:15.760 Probably voted for Trup, you know, in those days, voting 388 00:25:15.760 --> 00:25:16.400 for Bush. 389 00:25:16.440 --> 00:25:19.760 Pablo's mother was born in Texas and his father is 390 00:25:19.760 --> 00:25:20.520 from Mexico. 391 00:25:20.840 --> 00:25:25.040 He was very much about assimilating, and so I feel 392 00:25:25.040 --> 00:25:28.800 like we were raised to be very American and there 393 00:25:28.880 --> 00:25:30.200 was a loss of culture there. 394 00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:34.960 His father's political views and his experiences in the military 395 00:25:35.480 --> 00:25:41.760 pushed Pablo away from conservative ideas, and all of that 396 00:25:41.880 --> 00:25:45.320 has brought him to today. It's a few days before 397 00:25:45.359 --> 00:25:48.920 the Arizona primary. We're going out to knock on doors. 398 00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:54.080 His organization Raise is backing a progressive candidate for city council. 399 00:25:54.280 --> 00:25:55.800 We have to drive everywhere. 400 00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:57.320 Because yeah, too hot? 401 00:25:57.920 --> 00:25:59.879