En La Sala
“The election doesn’t just start on Nov. 3rd, it ends on Nov. 3rd,” Becky G stated on the latest episode of her podcast En La Sala, on Tuesday. Titled “Your Vote, Tu Voz,” the 23-year-old triple threat had Sen. Kamala Harris and America Ferrera as her special guests to talk about the importance of voting in the upcoming election.
The conversation began with the Superstore star speaking about how she’s been reflecting on her life, priorities and how she can give back this year. Ferrera admitted to getting emotional about what is at stake in the upcoming election.
“It’s been an incredibly challenging year,” Ferrera said. “We have this opportunity in this year and there is so much to show up for and there is so much that is worth our time and our energy. And at the moment, I could burst out into tears just thinking about it, everything is on the line. We have so much to fight for.”
Ferrera said that Latinxs are “bearing the brunt” of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Latinxs being 18% of the population but 34% of essential workers. “We deserve a voice and we deserve representation and we deserve decency and opportunity and the right to live without terrible lies and awful attacks being lodged at us,” she expressed.
“So, we have a lot to do,” she added. The actress then touched on her latest project, She Se Puede, a community where Latinas interact and share with one another.
“Latinas alone can be the deciders in this election, in every single state that matters in the outcome of this election,” Ferrera said. “Latinas have the numbers to show up and be the deciders of what happens in this election… So if we show up, we make the difference!”
Democratic vice presidential nominee Harris followed Ferrera on the podcast, and said that when Black and brown people vote, “things change.”
“There is so much power in your vote,” Harris relayed. “And your voice is your vote, your vote is your voice.”
“Don’t let anybody take your power and let’s make sure you vote early,” she added. “And know what’s at stake.”
Immigration is just one topic that is near and dear to Becky’s heart. The singer, who is Mexican American, asked Harris how immigration personally has affected her family. Harris’ mother, Shyamala Gopalan, arrived in the U.S. from India in 1958, while her father, Donald J. Harris, immigrated from British Jamaica in 1961.
“My mother was 19 when she came to the United States by herself,” Harris recalled. “I saw how my mother was treated. I’m the eldest. I saw things. As much as our parents protect us, we also want to protect our parents. And I vowed to myself that I would never be in a situation where anyone like my mother would be powerless… And when I think about what’s at stake right now, in particular how Donald Trump has been trying to divide our country… It’s hateful and it’s harmful.”
“Everyone deserves dignity and I feel so strongly about that,” she continued. “And that is one of the things that motivates me to fight.”
Harris also delivered some words of wisdom for those who are feeling hopeless and in need of motivation ahead of the election.
“My mother used to say many things and one of them she’d say, ‘Kamala, you may be the first to do many things. Make sure you’re not the last,'” Harris shared. “But she would also say to me and my sister, Maya, ‘Don’t you ever let anybody tell you who you are. You tell them who you are.'”
“So, here is what I have to say to our sisters and brothers. We are strong, we are smart, do not ever let the circumstances or anyone make you feel alone. You are not alone. We are not alone,” she stressed. “We are all in this together. So let’s not let the circumstances or anyone take our power from us. And part of power comes from our passion because we know the difference from what’s right and what’s wrong, and we know what it means in the importance of fighting for all people’s dignity. So that’s what’s at stake and I know that we will persevere.”
360APROKO also spoke with Becky in August, when she echoed her sentiments about voting and heading to the polls.
“Get out and vote! Get out and vote! I know that it’s a very scary time but one of the biggest things that we can do right now is to exercise that right that we do have to go and vote,” Becky expressed. “I know sometimes it feels like the system is made for more people to fail than it has to succeed, but this is the one thing we got right now where we can really all come together.”
“So really prepare yourself for what that ballot is going to look like, so that you’re making the best decisions that you possibly can make, for not just yourself but for your loved ones and for others in your community,” she noted.
