S2E06 with Bamby Salcedo - Finding Light In The Darkness - Part One

Meet Bamby Salcedo, a globally recognized transgender Latina activist, known for her powerful advocacy that spans over 30 YEARS in social, political, and economic justice. As President and CEO of the TransLatin@ Coalition, she leads efforts to uplift and support transgender Latinas across the U.S. She also founded the Center for Violence Prevention & Transgender Wellness, a multimillion-dollar resource hub in Los Angeles.

On this powerful episode, Bamby shares her remarkable journey that began with extraordinarily difficult circumstances at a very young age.  Despite these seemingly insurmountable circumstances and through her own strong will, perseverance and the generosity of a compete stranger, her devout activism spans immigration, HIV, LGBTQIA+ rights, youth at risk, incarceration, and more. This extraordinary woman has built organizations that create vital networks for marginalized communities and continues to fight tirelessly for dignity, equity, and inclusion.

A sought-after public speaker, Bamby has addressed governmental bodies, universities, human rights organizations, and major conferences worldwide. She has spoken at the White House, shared the stage with President Biden, and testified before Congress on the Equal Rights Amendment. Her expertise has shaped policies and initiatives for transgender rights and healthcare across the Americas.

With unwavering dedication, Bamby ensures the voices of the most vulnerable are heard, making lasting change at every level.  She truly is a gift to LGBTQIA+ communities around the world and I am excited to introduce you to her today.

Note:  There was SO much to talk about that we decided to split it into two parts so don't miss next weeks conclusion to this inspiring conversation!  

To learn more about Bamby Salcedo visit: https://bambysalcedo.com/

To learn more about the Trans Latina Coalition visit:  https://www.translatinacoalition.org/

Thank you for joining us and we can't wait to welcome you back again next week! New episodes drop every Thursday and can be found wherever you find your favorite podcasts!

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Want to learn more about our host, Eric Nicoll? Visit: https://ericnicoll.com

Transcript

0:05

Hello, everyone. Welcome to the just to you podcast. My name is Eric Nicole, and I'm your host. If you are a first time listener, welcome to the conversation. And if you're a regular, I'm honored that you've decided to join me for another episode. The just to you podcast is centered around a network of conversations, which are meant to connect us to inspire us to find our own confidence, our own voice, and to live our own truth. And who knows, we might even learn a little something new that ultimately allows us to live in the sweet spot that I like to call the just you, you space of being. Each week I have the privilege of sitting down for unscripted conversations with friends, family, colleagues, community leaders, and influencers that all share their own personal journeys. I hope that you enjoy our time together as much as I have. We are certainly gonna laugh, and yes, we might even cry a little, but in the end, we're gonna know that we're not alone during our life's journey. So, are you ready? Great, let's do this. Welcome to the conversation. All right, everyone. Welcome to today's episode. We are in season two, and on today's episode, I am honored to sit down with someone that I have the utmost respect for. And he was out as a change maker in our world. And so I'm going to jump right in and introduce everyone to Bambi Salcedo. Hi, Bambi. How are you? Hi. Thank you so much, Eric, for the opportunity to be here with you and to share space with you and to the beautiful and amazing people who are listening at this very moment. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to share my experience, strength, and hope with all of you. Thank you again. It's interesting. I was sitting down with someone out in Palm Springs, a mutual friend of ours, and I said, hey, do you know anyone that would be a great friend? Guest on my podcast, this just to you conversation. And you literally came screaming out of his mouth in the first 30 seconds. And he said, you've got to sit down with Bambi. And so I, again, I'm really honored to have this conversation today. We're living in a very different world now in our community and our community is under attack. As it has been, and I think what's so important that however we can help each other and come together as a community and talk and converse and educate and inspire and empower is really important. So I sat down. And spent some time on your website and I will tell you that I was blown away. Number one, we'll put that website up on our social media so people can really take a look because there is no way that we can cover it in one episode, but I'm going to do a brief introduction and then we're going to jump right into the conversation. as I was reading, you are this international transgender Latina woman. You've received your master's degree in Latin now studies from California. State, California, Los Angeles. You're the president and CEO of the Trans Latina Coalition, which we want to talk about. And you've also developed the Center for Violence Prevention and Transgender Wellness, which is a multi purpose, multi service space for trans people in Los Angeles. The bio goes on and talks about your many Actions, activism, your involvement in the community, your stance for people in the LGBTQIA community. And it is really outstanding and a bit overwhelming to be honest. And so I want to spend some time with you today talking about. the importance of our voices, our confidence, our stance and living an authentic life. So if you don't mind, could you take us back a little bit? Where were you born? What was it like, what was the young Bambi like before we jump into talking about present day? Yeah, thank you so much. Before I jump into me, who I am and like I come to be, I want to highlight something super important that you mentioned a little while ago about the importance of unity. And I think it's important for us to understand that a lot of times, we, we use catchy phrases and, and, Langs and, words that sort of tend to try to mean something for us, but many of us don't necessarily. That interaction, right? And, people would say unity is strength, right? Or, en español, fuerza, right? And that is true, right? But I think we need to really understand and take that serious and really understand that in order for us to combat the extreme difficult situations that we are experiencing right now, particularly from extreme conservative religious people and like what is happening politically right now, for instance, right? That is the only way that we are going to be able to change everything that is happening against our communities. And so I want to encourage for all the listeners to really take that to heart and really do whatever they can to instead of Oppressing our own and trying to keep our own in the margins that we find ways for us to unify and really strategize and find ways for us to make, to build a better world for all of us. So I wanted to start with that go ahead, sorry. No, I'm going to come back to that because I think you said something that's really important. And I think something that's surprised me by a multitude of guests that have been on that have said that we need to uplift our own, even inside of our own community, especially during a time where there is conflict and there is hatred coming at us and there is all of this uncertainty. And I think we could spend an entire episode talking about that kind of conversation that exists within our own community. And there is some divisiveness even inside of that community. And that's troubling to me, to be honest, and I don't understand it. And so maybe you can shed a little bit of light on that as we go through and talk a little bit. And how we can combat that. How do we get past that conversation and come together as a community to uplift and to educate and to support? How do we do that when there are conversations that exist, even within inside the building, if you will? For sure. I think I would say the very first step for us to really take is to be willing and able to open our minds and our hearts. And if we are able to do that, then through us, we can also encourage others to also open their minds and their hearts. And once that happens, then the action takes place. Okay, so how does one then, since we're going down this path, how does one then start to practice that for themselves? What do they need to do? This could be a really great first step, right? So listening to this conversation with, no prejudgment, right? Like a prejudice, right? And really listen, right? Open our ears. And then through that, we are able to open our mind, and then through that, we are able to open our heart, right? And so this could be a really first grade step, right? And then, once we are able to do that, then perhaps we may be able to understand that there are different people, right? That don't necessarily have the same privileges, the same experiences. And that, people are people, right? I think the first Or I always say, once we open our mind and our hearts then we are able to see each other through our humanity, right? Yeah. And some of the things that I personally do. that I practice and that I teach people is another step, right? Can we change the way we hug people, right? Because if you notice like most people or the majority of us, we hug ourselves. To and I don't know why is that it's just seems like it's automatic. But if we reprogram ourselves and redirect ourselves to hug each other, left to left, which is where our hearts are, then there's an automatic connection. And we are unifying our hearts through that, right? And, at the beginning, it may not be significant to people, but as we change our behavior, right? Then we are able to. Connect our hearts and connect to our humanity, right? But people don't think of that. No, they don't think of it because we become the systems of the machine, right? We become so conditioned to the way that we think things are. And people may hear, something like you said, hug, left to left and say, oh, that takes Work or that would take a complete reprogramming of the brain. Absolutely. And it does. And that's my point. Absolutely. Do we need to reprogram? I often think there's a, it's cliche now, but if there's a statement that says, the calls coming from inside the house and I always. to our own journeys, is that call of our perceptions and our assumptions and our predictiveness is coming from inside the house. It's coming from inside us. And when we can shift that and change that I was sharing on a previous episode, I did a conversation last season with a trans man who had never shared his story online on social media. And when. And we spent some time together, like you and I are doing today. By the end of the conversation, by the end of that hour, my life completely changed. Because I was able to see his journey and what he went through as a trans man, going through the process, going through the emotions, going through everything that was part of his journey. And I ended up having this incredible respect, not only for him, but for the entire trans community. It changed my world and I'm a member of the community, Bambi, you know that. And so for me to have that experience, I knew that if that conversation could get out to my heterosexual friends and listeners and family and the people that I have heard make comments about that segment of our community, beautiful community, that it would change. And so I love that you continue to use the words open heart and open our minds in order to have that unification. And one thing that is so great about you and your organization and others that are out there is that we're causing people. to stop and think a little bit and pause for that moment to reconsider or to ask a question. And I've always said, especially given this kind of political climate that we've been in and all of this hatred that's been coming towards the trans community is have you spent some time with anyone in the trans community? Have you sat, had a conversation with anyone? Have you taken the time to learn about them? Because the reaction that you're having towards this individual or towards this community is not your own. Did you think that thought, or did the thought think you? Meaning, is that something that you have in your inheritance that you're bringing with you? I appreciate you making the point that when we open our hearts, and we open our minds, and we open our love to others, life changes. Of course, but I think also it requires For all of us. To be intentional. Yeah. Intent, intentional. Yes. Say the word again. It's intentional. Yes, exactly. Like we do have that intention, right? I want to change myself. I want to change the way I think. I want to change the way I act, right? I want to change the way I react, right? And so it, it requires intention, and so I, I'm really grateful that I have. That I'm able to grow as a person, and through my growth, I am also able to to pass that on, and whatever way possible, I've been very lucky to have overcome and survived many different challenges in my life and, we can go do the, your initial question. We don't have to, it's a question. We don't have to. Yeah, no, because it's part of who. Who I am, truly, right? So anyways, I, I was born and raised in Guadalajara, Jalisco and Mexico. I was a very, I'm going to say troubled child, a child who was very needy, who needed a lot of love, understanding and support, and it wasn't getting it because. Also my parents at that time were, when they met, they were very young and they conceived us and they were trying also to try to figure out their lives. My father left my mother before I was born and so my mother was left to raise three children by herself as a young person. And later she got together with a very abusive man and, that led for me to to essentially find refuge on the streets. So I started using drugs when I was about eight years old. I became one of those children of the street in Mexico, like one of those poor kids that are on the streets sniffing glue, shoe shining selling gums on the bars and all of that. And I started being institutionalized when I was 12 years old. So from 12 to 16, I was in and out of juvenile correctional facilities in Mexico. And then at 16 inside of one of these facilities my father came to Guadalajara. He was living in the United States at that time and he came down to look for us. And I had the opportunity to meet him and he had formed his family and his life here in the United States and offered for me to come if I wanted to. And when I got out from that correctional facility at that time, I was 16 years old and I called him and I came to the United States as a minor. And of course, You come to the United States, with this idea of I'm going to work and I'm going to, save my mother for her, from all of her horrible experiences and situations. And I started working as a young person, instead of going to school, for instance. And I was exploited as a young person. And then. When I turned 18, I I left my, where I was at. And I came to the Los Angeles. And that's when I started my transition fully. And back in the 80s, there was no type of resources or support for many of us or any of us. And since I already knew what the streets were like my resort was the streets. And that led me to, to be addicted to drugs, to be homeless, to, be a sex worker, to spend about 15 years of my life in and out of jails and prison and immigration detention until I finally was able to reform my life and dedicated my life to find ways to support our community. And so yeah, so that's how, that's where I'm at now. Thank you for sharing and thank you for being, so open and honest about that. I'm curious. When you were going through that, I asked this a lot of my guests, there's something inside of you as you're going through the. journey of your life, and these circumstances and these situations are happening to you. Was there a conversation larger than you, I guess the better question is, how did you get through that? How did you find the resilience and the energy to push through? Did you see a brighter future for yourself somewhere, or was that just in the moment, surviving? I think, again, since I was a child, right? I knew something was up with me like I didn't have language. I didn't know what it was. I, for some reason, I couldn't be myself. And, and part of that when I was growing up I wanted to support my mother. So I, I was living like three different lives. So from a very young age, I was able to be resilient, right? And I would go to school I only went to until sixth grade in Mexico. And so I would go to school and try to be, a good student and I would get good grades while at the same time I was using drugs. When I was 12, I met a group of young LGBTQ It's, and so I felt like, Oh, I found my thrive. But then also I couldn't be me because, it was just like a whole bunch of things happening at the same time. And for instance, like the first time that I dressed up right with my LGBTQ friends, I was 12, and so that was like, Oh, my God, this is me, right? Like it was a revelation while at the same time I couldn't be me, right? And then when I was with my father, because he also had his, his family and his life, right? Like I wasn't really welcome into his home. And so I had to find ways for me to, to be and to do whatever I needed to do. And then when I turned 18, and I was like, at that point to where I need to be myself, right? And I need to escape from all of this, and I need to just go wherever I need to go. It took me a long time to really to really try to find myself. And I do want to say that through all of my troubles and tribulations, right? I knew that there was like a great energy, like a force, right? That was always protecting me because I have survived. So many different things, right? Like on the streets I have gone through beatings and, sexual assault, both on the streets and in prison. I had, guns pointed to my head. I had OD'd on the streets, and left in alleys for that. So many different things that I survived that I could never explain why I kept, why am I still here, but now I'm able to understand that there was a greater force that carry through all of that allow me for me to. To really understand that that there is, to me, a God who I believe in, who is loving, and who has a purpose for me, which I never understood and, there was a point where particular night, and when I was in downtown L. A. in Skid Row to where I was so tired. I had been on the streets smoking crack and everything in downtown L. A. And I was hungry. I was tired. I was hopeless. I was, all the different feelings that you feel. And I asked God help me, please, and. I remember, the next morning, I don't know what time it was, 7, 8 o'clock in the morning, I was walking on 7th Street in Los Angeles, and I saw this woman, this black woman, and I asked her can I get some money to eat? And she gave me 5. And those The 5 that changed my life. I walked over to a place and I remember I bought me a chicken bowl and I ate. And then with the money that I had left, because I think that thing costs like 2. 50 or something. And with the money that I had left. I just got on a bus because I needed to rest, right? And I slept on this bus until the bus driver kicked me out and I got on another bus and I slept again and I was kicked out again and I got on another bus. And somehow I ended up on the doors of a treatment center. And from there my life changed, I was admitted and I stayed six months in this treatment center. And then I went to a a transitional housing program for seven months. And that's like how my journey began, right? Like I started yeah, I asked for help and I received the help and support and people believed in me and that's how I am here. Yeah. I've always said that. We are all here and put on this earth to be of service to others and that faith is important and The thing can make me emotional the thing that is so difficult to understand is who we are In this world is not our circumstances so who we are in this world are beautiful human beings that are designed to love and to give and to be of service and all of that and And who Bambi is and was back then was someone who may not in the moment known what their future held, but there was a plan for you. And so I'm grateful to that woman. on the street who gave you the 5 to get on a bus. And the thing that's so fascinating about that, Bambi, is that you, this is not an uncommon story. And I think that's why I'm so grateful that you're sharing the story so honestly and openly because I don't know that people who are out with their Thoughts and feelings and assumptions about the community really understand what it is that an individual goes through. So that woman on the street gave you that five dollars and you are now a change maker in the world and making impact and Maybe, just maybe, the experiences that you had from when you were a child and moving to Los Angeles and all of those experiences as, to me, unthinkable as they are and how you survived is miraculous. But all of those experiences that you went through, you are now Paying it forward in ways that I think we'll never even be able to understand or to see it's not tangible Because of the impact that you're making out in the world today. And so I know you're grateful to her as well but I want the listeners to really be with that you're just giving a glimpse and a very bird's eye view of what your life was like and That's not uncommon. And so when our community is under attack and when people are feeling marginalized, and it's not just our community, it's other communities as well, but when our community is marginalized, there is a sense of despair. There is a sense of resignation or hopelessness. And so I want our listeners to go away from this conversation today. Maybe with a little bit different perspective and a little bit more compassion for our community, especially now. So obviously life changed for you in that moment. You went through rehab, you went through treatment, you came out of the transitional center when I'm curious, when you came out of that center, what was that moment? Like for you what was that? I. I do want to say that, even then there were many different challenges, right? Sure, of course. Like for instance, I remember in this treatment center there was there was another black trans woman who had been there for a few months and I think but but a week later that I was there she graduated from that place. So for months, I was the only trans woman in that place. And my experience in that treatment center was horrible, but the way I thought of it is that this was my life saving, right? This is, if I'm not here, I am going to either gonna be dead, right? Or I'm going to end up in prison for a long time, right? Because I had already been in prison for different times, right? And so I knew that was my only, the only thing that was there for me to. save my life. But I also want to say that, before I, before all of this happened, when I was active on my addiction and on the streets I remember that there was, I think it was, like 97 or 1998, something like that. That's when I started organizing with my, I remember that, back then the police was horrible with us here. And, not just with trans women, but also with, the gay community and, they were doing entrapments and they were doing like vice operations and they would put us in jail just by if we were walking on the streets, right? And or if we were even like hanging out like they would just. Arrest us and put it in and put us in jail. So I remember that we did like protests outside the police station and all of that, like really demanding for them to change their tactics and stuff like that. And around that time, they there was an organization that started a support group for trans women who, all of us at that time were sex workers, right? Or trans people who, were on the streets very, actually, almost never, you would see You know, what you see now, right? A trans woman on a counter, like doing makeup or, working at a beauty salon or working at a restaurant or anything like you, you would not see that anywhere. So that's how I started organizing my friends and the people who, I was on the streets with who were also trans women and the vast majority Latinas. And then when I, yeah. When I was in the treatment center, there was also no, groups for LGBTQ people, right? And there was also no support for people who were monolingual Spanish speakers, right? So even when I was in the treatment center, I, I started the first, group for LGBTQ, right? Or I started a group for monolingual Spanish speakers, right? And I remember my counselor his name was Richard. No, Richard was my case manager. My counselor was Thomas a black, amazing gay man. And Richard, my case manager sent me to learn facilitation skills. And so that's how I was able to, so I took a course of 40 hours or something to facilitate groups. And that's how I was able to start these groups. And so I, I started, even with then the treatment center, I started organizing and advocating because I knew and understood that I had this privilege of getting into this treatment center, like getting the support that I needed. But I also understood that with that privilege, there is also a responsibility. And part of my treatment or when you're in a treatment center you go through different phases, right? And part of that is part of my treatment and others who were there is in order for you to get out of here, you need to have a job or you need to go to school or you need to do something, right? Sure. But I, I wasn't documented. I am a trans woman. And I, Couldn't get a job. I couldn't do anything. And the only thing that I could think of is I went to adult to a high school to take adult classes to, and I started taking computers because I. I didn't even know how to type. I didn't even know how to do anything. And this is in 2000 2001. And and so that's how, I started learning computers. I, and then I was transferred to the transitional housing and when I was like three or four months in this transitional housing there was. This position opened for an outreach worker specifically working with trans women. And I applied for the job and I got the job to do HIV prevention. Basically to go out to the streets to the corners to where I once stood with my friends to give them condoms and education and all of that. And so that was my first. job in the social justice organization and then from there, I blossomed to, become who I am today. I'm smiling because you used the word blossomed into who you are today. Yet, this is someone who has been to the White House. You have been a speaker at conferences and conventions that span the Sexual Assault Conference, the National HIV Prevention Conference, the, United States Conference on HIV AIDS. You have been a speaker and involved in some of the most powerful conversations that the U. S. has seen. And I was smiling because that is not only somebody who blossomed but who exploded onto the scene, as a very humble and very passionate and very committed humanitarian. And so I am always amazed Bambi by the People that I have conversations with that describe themselves in ways that are incredibly humble. And I respect that, but there is a moment where the power needs to be acknowledged and recognized and to go from circumstances into a position of being a change maker in the world is no easy feat. And so I just want to acknowledge you for that and take a moment. And not breeze over that you blossomed into who you are today. It's truly remarkable. I actually felt a little what's the word I want to use? Like I need to get out and hit the pavement a little bit more when I get back into my normal routine in February, after all this travel to really get back and to make the impact, I am super, super impressed by what you've been able to accomplish and what you're out doing. I'm curious. If we can, for a moment, have a little conversation about. What some of your concerns are for the community as we move into this next couple of years and how not only the community of trans can come together, but how the LGBTQ community can come together and our allies to support the trans community in this impending time. Yeah. It could be a whole, it could be a whole episode in and of itself. I know I'm going to ask you for the, for sure. Yeah. Or the Reader's Digest version. Thank you. So You know, like my work has always been around my experiences and the experiences of my community, right? I can honestly tell you that the same experiences that I went through when I was 18 when I started my transition are the same experiences that young people are experiencing today, right? And I think it's also important to understand and recognize that, the attacks against our community is not something that is happening right. Trans people, gender expansive people, intersex people the LGBT community have been oppressed, attacked, and marginalized since the invasion of the colonizers. Through religion, they try to erase our existence, right? Through the doctrination process, and so that has happening for centuries, right? Yeah. Yet we're still here, and so I, I think what has happened, if we can just think about what has happened in the last Let's say 10 years, we saw, LA Cox being in the cover time magazine, for instance, we saw like a little boom of trans people gaining a little bit of power, a little bit right there. I remember in 2015, we along with other groups in Colorado we organized a protest the creating change conference, for instance, and that was around because of the violence that we, were We're experiencing and continue to experience today. But then for those of, listeners who don't know and who don't know what creating change is creating changes in that the biggest national LGBTQ conference in the United States. And so We as transgender, non conforming, and intersex people felt that our allies within the LGB community needed to step up and do better. And so we we shut down the opening plenary session and took over the stage and demanded that there was more investment in the lives of trans people. And from there there was a shift. I remember that, there was a particular foundation who committed to to invest 20 million. in trans led organizations and leadership development for trans people and others, right? And we as an organization are beneficiaries of that and so extreme right wing religious conservatives are seeing that, trans people are being funded, trans people are gaining a little bit of political power like we're saying trans woman Men, being council members, being assembly members, being senators. Trans people, receiving services, trans people, going to school, so they are saying all of that. And so they're developing this strategy, they have developed this strategy to take that little bit that we have gained, meanwhile, we are a small, minute, poor community. And our allies who said that there are allies, they don't step up to the plate and support us and do whatever it needs to be done in order for us to continue to exist in this world. And that is why we have. over 400 pieces of legislation in several states, right? In about 30 states trying to, really negate and take away healthcare access, for instance. Like all of those things. So there's no coincidence that they are doing all of that. However, We as a community, and I can tell you that we as an organization, the TransLatina Coalition has become the biggest translator organization in the United States, we are making sure that we combat all of that. We believe in the empowerment of our community through service provision. If you're not supporting people with the basic things that people need, like food, housing, employment violence prevention, like all of those things that many of us take for granted, then you're not able to empower or organize people, right? And we do that. We have built a multiplicity of services, specifically designed and dedicated to support our community. We give lunch every day here at our organization, we have closed hygiene kits. We have legal services. We have violence prevention services. We have a house where we can house up to 25 people. We have a program specifically to support aging trans people. We have also do macro level work to really shift and change the way people think of us and the way people, yeah, people basically treat us, right? And so that's why we do policy work. We influence policy. We do culture transformation trainings. We create our own content. If you go to our YouTube channel, there's so much content there that people can take advantage of. And so we are an organization that functions with these two arms and, we are ready to combat all of those crazy conservative, extreme religious people who are trying to diminish and devalue us. We are saying, here we are, and you cannot erase our existence. 100%. I've always said, there's two groups you don't piss off, mothers and the LGBTQ community. You just don't, because we're going to come out scratching and fighting. And we've been here for as long as everyone else, and we're not going anywhere. And the fact that You have started this organization that in many cases provides basic necessities, Bambi, basic necessities for a human being to exist, to live to have hygiene, to have comfort, to have, a sense of belonging. And then you take it. But that's what I'm saying. And then you take the next step. So you're, so on the fundamental level is this, you're giving basic necessities for people that should be a no brainer, that they should be able to get anywhere. On top of that, you take it 5, 10, 15 steps higher, and you're out creating policies and change and awareness and education. Raising your voices. And this is the thing that I don't think they're prepared for. And I remember that rally that we went to at the center in San Diego, I heard a lot of these organizations speak. And I had this moment of, Oh, damn. These people who are trying to silence us have no idea what they're up against when it comes to people like Bambi and, this organization and coalition and others out there. Kudos to you. but also, I want our listeners to understand That process and that commitment that you and your organization have doesn't come with its own struggles. You need funding. You need support. You need volunteers. You need all of those things that can continue. And you need our community, the entire community, the entire acronym, to stand with you and to stand with our community as a whole and fight. I think, if there was any other moment, this is the moment, right? And this is the moment. And I think we, we have to understand, that the other group, extreme conservative religious individuals, they are well funded and well organized. And if you're not well funded, then you're not able to organize. And so I think we're in a pivotal moment for all of us to really think about specifically in philanthropy. Because our government is not going to give us money to do the work that needs to happen because that's the system. But there is so much money in philanthropy. And even those who call themselves. Allies and comrades and, people that support us. A lot of them are the same ones who are funding the other side. Yes. Yes. Yes. And we cannot continue with the hypocrisy that is happening, right? Honestly we are at a moment to where you need to take a side. Yes. Yes. And we can If people believe in social justice, then they need to truly, do, because actions Yes. Speak louder than words. But here's the problem, Bambi, that I think a lot of people don't realize, is that there is a mentality or an internal monologue going on in many people, both inside the community and outside the community, that if it doesn't directly affect me, then it doesn't directly affect me. Totally. And people have become complacent. Yes, we have to change that conversation. It affects you. It affects you more than you will ever know, because what it's doing is, it's chipping away at the foundation of our community. If one segment of that community is affected in any way, It encompasses everyone. And we all pay the price because it gives the other side ammunition and agreement and support. And so all of our community and our allies have to pick their. Stance and get out and be vocal about it. And I know we're tired. I know we're overwhelmed. I know we're resigned. I know we're burnt out, but now is the time. You don't have to do the work. Give us the money and we'll do the work. If you have the means, right? Put your money where your mouth is. There's that. Put your money where your mouth is. Yes. But I also want our brothers and sisters to go out there and raise their voices and support our community and support other marginalized communities. We are all human beings at the end of the day, and we all deserve to be recognized, to be cherished, to be celebrated, and to be loved. And that comes from my very good friend, Mama Tits, out of Puerto Vallarta, when she said at her show, surround yourself with people who celebrate you. And that's what we need to do in this moment. That's my little two cent. Yeah but yeah, but I think, so if we go back to the beginning unity and right and shifting the way we think and the way we act and the way. We can see each other through our humanity we can't, we can become oppressors because that's what's happened also, like you said, some of us have gotten to a better place, and We have to understand and see, how history has unfolded for all of us, if we look, for instance, at the beginning of the gay liberation movements, back in, the 60s. Let's say in the 60s, because, the pivotal moment was in New York but even though there were other events that took place, they weren't as noticed. But anyways, so it started as a gay liberation movement, and then back in the eighties, he became about, gay rights, because of AIDS, and then eventually continued to be gay rights. But around marriage, right? And all through all of this 50 years, trans people have been pushed to the side. So our own community, has kept trans people in the margins. So if we look, the gay and lesbian community has become very powerful. Like in the last, 50 years, right? wealth is power meanwhile, trans people are one of the most poor populations in the world, meanwhile, trans Women specifically are the most impacted by HIV infection. Say that again. Say that one more time. Meanwhile, trans women are the ones that are most impacted by HIV infection. Trans women, yes. Yes. We have the highest rates of infection, right? And meanwhile, we trans people continue to fight for their existence, and within the LGBT community, there has this oppression that has happened, and so how do we transform that? Because if we find that unity, we know that we're powerful. We know that we can shift the way society sees us, right? We have created those changes. And right now is that pivotal moment for all of our communities. To really step up and stand with trans people and fight, and, I'm hopeful, I'm, I've always been hopeful. That's why I'm still here, my hope has kept me here for almost 30 years of service to my people, and. And so I'm hopeful that we can change the world as we want. And live in a world that we want to live in. All right, everyone. Thank you for tuning in today for my incredible conversation with the amazing Bambi Salcedo, founder of the Trans Latina Coalition. Bambi's powerful story of resilience and perseverance through extraordinary circumstances was truly inspiring. We had so much more to discuss, so we're continuing our conversation in next week's episode, so be sure to tune in next Thursday. Trust me, you're not going to want to miss it. In the meantime, make sure to subscribe to the Just Do You podcast on your favorite platform so you never miss a new episode, which again, drop every Thursday. If you're loving the show, please share it with your friends and take a moment to rate and give us a review. We'd love to hear your thoughts. You can also stay connected with us on Instagram at just do you pod. For updates and favorite moments from our weekly episodes. I'm really excited to welcome you back next week for the continuing of this conversation. And remember, as you step out into the world, just do you.