We count both those born here and those born in mexico because we provide services to both of them, different types of services. Ive been around in the United States in different posts. Ive been in san diego previously, ive been to atlanta, i been to the carolinas, and now im here in the bay area very happy. Damian how do you speak english so beautifully . Its perfect. Remedios well, thank you so much. Maybe its because ive been here a long time. Damian well, welcome to the bay area. So tell usyou just finished up the [speaking foreign language] labor rights week. What kind of feedback did you get . Are we still beare there people still being claiming that theyre being abused at work . Remedios oh, yes of course, and thats a very important effort that all the 50 Mexican Consulates in the United States celebrate and along with many of our local allies, with labor authorities, both of the federal and state level, and also with many nonprofit organizations that are dedicated to providing information and helping, and many labor attorneys. So, we organize every year during the last week of august, thesethe week of labor rights just before labor day. Thats the reason, and the idea is to provide information to everyone about the rights. Many people, they dont know what the rights are. They think that maybe because their migratory status is not clear that they dont have any right, and the idea of the week is to tell them no matter whats your migratory status, if you work, you have rights and they need to be respected. Damian all right, and its safe to say that at the consulate, it doesnt matter if its the labor rights week, all year youre able to help them if they have issues with their remedios oh, yes, of course through our protection department. We provide information and services to the community, but we organize this week of labor rights just to highlight the importance of respecting them and the importance of being wellinformed about what your rights are. Damian okay, and now youre getting ready for [speaking foreign language] in fact, youve had it all weekend long and theresit continues today sunday. Remedios yes, today, well, actually im going to have two gritos. You know, the way of celebrating mexican independence is shouting, you know, viva mexico and thats what i will be doing just in a while. And also many of the staff of the Mexican Consulate, the officials, they will be also going to other parts in the bay area, and they also attended. I did also yesterday. So yeah, its a big celebration all over in the bay area. We invite the people tonight at San Francisco, the main square. We will be doing the el grito there. Damian do youi dont know if youve been to Palacio Nacional where the mexican president does it, but do you miss that, being at the zocalo, the Palacio Nacional . But then at the same time, youre carrying that tradition here in the bay area. Remedios yes, this is an old tradition of performing el grito in the embassies around the world and at the Mexican Consulates in the United States and in other parts of the world besides the governors in mexico. They also do that. And the municipal president s or mayors, they also do that. So everyone at the level, we are organizing these festivities and doing el grito. Damian all right, well, its the Mexican Consulate in San Francisco. Theyre here every month, and were glad that youre able to meet now consul Remedios Gomez arnau, who is here for a few years, join us here in the bay area. There is a number to call, and theres mexitel if you need to make an appointment of some kind. Any final thoughts, senora consul, before we let you go . Remedios well, we are here to serve not only the mexican community, but also the rest of the community because we want to improve the relationship between mexico and the bay area. We are here to help in any kind of information. Those who want to visit mexico, werethey are very welcome. If they want to invest or they want to do join business, we are now involved in that, mexico with the United States. We actually are joint manufacturers and we are very important partners for california where we are the first export market. Many people are not aware of that, but mexico is the first export market for california and around 1 2 million jobs are related to the trade with mexico, and what we want to do is to increase the benefits of our relationship. Damian maybe thats a topic for next month when you come next month. Remedios ill be glad to talk about that. Damian thank you, senora consul. Thank you for being here. And up next here on comunidad del valle, the San Francisco latino film festival. Stay with us. At aetna, we find that inspiring. Ot game. But to stay on top of your game takes a plan. Thats why aetna takes a total approach to health and wellness. With Medicare Solutions designed to help you age actively. Aetna Medicare Solutions. Back it means that lucho ramirez is back here on the show. Hes with the cinemas, and he puts on this great festival for us on the bay area. Welcome to the show. Lucho ramirez thanks for having me. Damian yeah, well, tell us about what youre going to be showcasing this year. Lucho yes, were very excited to be going into the 11th edition of the San Francisco latino film festival. Were running from september 20th through the 29th inprimarily in San Francisco at the roxie, alamo drafthouse, and opera plaza cinema. Theres a lot of films. We have about 92 films in total. So a lot for people to choose from. Damian ninetytwo . Lucho ninetytwo, but that includes the short films. So we have about 31 feature length films, documentaries, and narratives. We open with a biopic, yuli, from cuba, and its about an acclaimed ballet dancer from cuba that was the first black dancer, principal dancer for the london ballet. And were going to close with a local film called bring me an avocado, which is a interesting film, locally made, and that just represents a very small number of the sorts of films that were bringing. Damian all right, were looking at some clips here. But this is the one from cuba youre talking about . Lucho yes, that was avocado. This is just sort of like a little quick picture of some of the images from the films, but we have everything from lgbt films, environmental films, dramas, comedies, thrillers. It really is something for everyone. Were really excited about having the number of shorts that we do because it really gives us latino filmmakers an opportunity for having their work screened and seen somewhere. Damian this is the 11th annual . Lucho eleventh one. Damian have you seen a difference in the oduction . Are people thinking outside the box a little bit . I mean, you have to think outside the box if you want to be showcased at some of these festivals. Lucho yes, we receive about 500 submissions. So thats a lot of film to go through, and i would say that everything is generally improving. Like, the quality is just amazing. Thats what makes our job so difficult, that theres just so many films, so much content, but such few screen times that we have available. You could only show so many films. And were still primarily a festival that serves Latino Community and so were kind of spread out throughout the bay area, and what we do in San Francisco is more kind of like a destination for audiences to come and see films in San Francisco. Damian how much popcorn do you go through throughout the year because youre watching movie after movie . Lucho yeah, were watching a lot of films. So we do have somea lot of the screenings that we do are online. So you can snack on anything, but we do sometimes watch things together and, like i said, its very challenging. So we haveyou know, like out of the 31 feature length films, about half of them this year are documentaries. So if youre into documentaries, you have a lot to choose from. Damian so its aobviously its prestigious if youre going to be showcased at one of these festivals because 500 applicants narrowed it down to 30, you know, expanded films, and youre talking about the cream of the crop here. Lucho they really are. I mean, its a combination of films from the us and latin america, and we have some films that, you know, are celebrated. Like, for example, theres a film called jose thats out of guatemala that won at the Venice Film Festival for the type of film that it is. Its a lgbtthemed film. You dont necessarily see too many of those films coming out of guatemala. Its very acclaimed. We have another film with one of almodovars proteges, lola duenas, and a film like that its like a very subtle comedy of sorts, a drama, and these are films that are very wellknown in other parts of the world and were really happy that were le to bring them to the San Francisco so that our audiences and our community can see what other people are seeing in other parts of the world. Damian where do we stand in San Francisco . You talking about venice and youre talkingtheres a lot of filmwhere do we stand in San Francisco . Lucho were an important film city, yeah, film market because even though new york and la are going to be important places just as media centers, San Francisco is a tastemaker. And so, people do look to whats happening in San Francisco and that includes the kinds of films that we program. So its not unusual for us to be contacted by other organizations around the country to get information about the films that we program. So i think theres some credit there. Damian and its a circuit . They go from here and they hop around to different areas. Lucho its up to the filmmakers, what they want to do with the film. A lot of times its like, ive made a film. What do i do next . And then theres others that really do know what theyre going to do next. But film festivals are a way of raising visibility for a film, especially independent film that doesnt necessarily have marketing dollars to do pr and marketing around the film. So were a publicity vehicle. Damian do you learn something from the documentaries that you showcase or is it kind of a rehash of a topic that were aware of . It just highlights on one person lucho theres always something great. In fact, one of the films that were showcasing is a film called Carlos Almaraz playing with fire, and hes an artist from la, initiallyborn in mexico that he was really at the forefront of chicano art. I didnt know who he was, but anybody who was maybe about 10, 15 years older, they know who he is. And so its reallyso you have some of the profiles on him from hisfrom footage from his own work. But you also have cheech marin whos a known art collector talking on the film and of course you have edward james olmos, and the director of this film is richard montoya. So its all one big sort of connection, but i didnt know who he was. So in many ways, i learn a lot about whats happening here and other parts of latin america through the film submissions. Damian well, cheech marin has a funny song about mexican americans, but thats a whole different lucho oh, yeah damian here is the showcasing times september 20th through the 29th. Its in San Francisco, oakland, and in berkeley. Its the San Francisco latino film festival. Its back in the bay area. Thank you, lucho, for the work. Lucho thanks so much. Damian all right. Gracias. And up next on comunidad del valle, 32 years of siren. Stay with us. Of siren helping the community. Maricela gutierrez is here. She is the executive director of siren. Welcome back to the show. Maricela gutierrez thank you for having me. Damian its beenwell, describe the work. Thirtytwo years and its probably nonstop. Your phone keeps ringing 7 days a week sometimes. Maricela yes, literally tripled overnight since 2017, but i really feel siren was made for this moment. I think 32 years ago, our founders envisioned a situation like this and really thought about building a safety net for immigrants and refugees here in the silicon valley, and since then weve expanded to the central valley. Damian but when you say its tripled, i mean, thats just incredible. In 2 years, you have tripled the amount of traffic that is coming in, ringing your phones, and knocking on your doors. Maricela exactly, just, you know, many people seeking services, really worried that they may be deported or haveor be at risk for deportation, individuals that now want to become citizens and want to get registered to vote, lots of media calls obviously, and just the advocacy has really increased. Were advocating on everything that comes down from the white house. Were pushing back. Damian you said that, you know, yourpeople are calling on the phone and theyre worried about deportation or how they might bewere looking at a graphic of what youre going to be having here at the 32 anniversary celebration. Well get into that in a second. But is it a legitimate concern . Do they have legitimate concerns of being deported, being detained and being shipped out of this country . Maricela yes, i think so. You know, in the obama era, you know, folks that may have been here many years and had crossed illegally, if you use that word, were not at risk. Were now in the time of cruelty and so i think, you know, anyones at risk thats undocumented thats living in this area. Even lpr, people that are legal, permanent residents that have been here for years that maybe had a misdemeanor, very young made some mistakes are now at risk as well. So it kind of has opened up the pandora box about what can happen to people that are living here. Damian what does that mean staffing wise for you all if its tripled in the last 2 years of staffing wise . How have you had to accommodate and adjust . Maricela yeah, you know, it was difficult in the beginning, but we did plan ahead by really launching a texting platform where people can text siren when theyre worried about ice bein at their door, have questions and we text them their know your rights and are able to launch legal observers. We were able to build up our removable defense services. We had open those up already and had attorneys ready to go to represent people in court, and then slowly we also did a lot of fundraising too. So this moment also created an opportunity for us to do even more fundraising, and had an amazing 30 year gala where we raised a lot of money and hoping to do so again this year. Damian all right, well talk about that again, pero, you know, i remember i used to get hate mail and hate messages. One person called and said i didnt sound like a gang member anymore here. How have you guys dealt with that . Have you guys received similar inquiries, if you will . Maricela yeah, definitely. Unfortunately, that is a situation. I think whenever i do a media interview or attorneys are on the radio or the media, we do get some of those hate calls like, go home, and, you know, racial slurs and things like that, but we kind of just put it on the back end and just keep it moving cause we have Bigger Solutions that were trying to resolve and really represent people and provide a safety net for people. And so thats really our mission. Damian okay, so theres a cause for celebration, 32 years. Talk about the grand celebration that yall are having. Maricela yes, were super excited. Its 32 years of building immigrant and refugee power, and were really building power for 2020 really thinking about the census, massive Voter Campaign [speaking foreign language] and raising funds to really expand our removal defense services. As i mentioned, we expanded to the central valley. So wed like to hire more attorneys and provide more deportation defense. Damian removal defense services, talk about that. Maricela so yeahso removable defense is someone that is undocumented and has a fear of being deported or has a deportation order from uscis, from immigration, or has fear of deportation, or someone thats arrived here new and theyre seeking political asylum. Were able to do also political asylum and find a way to have them be protected and have some form of relief to stay here. Damian what keeps you invigorated every day . Again, cause those hate calls come through. The media keeps calling you all the time. Its nonstop. Your head is in a spindle. What keeps you motivated and full speed ahead . Maricela well, im a dreamer. I have lots of hope. I wouldnt do this job if i didnt have big dreams and big hopes. I feel like another world is possible. Were just in an era where were being challenged, but its opening up the doors for bigger and greater things. We were in this moment with proposition 187 many years ago and we were able to flip the state and really create amazing changes that people are now leading the state; senators like maria elena durazo, whos one of our keynotes, senators like Kevin De Leon who are mobilizing in prop 187. So were seeing that movement now, and i think were going to seewere thinking beyond these next few years. Were thinking beyond that 10, 20 years from now. Damian i think prop 187 backfired if im not mistaken. Again, its sirens 32nd anniversary celebration. Its on october 11th at 5 30 at the mexican Heritage Plaza in san jose. There you can get your tickets there at anniversary sirenbayarea. Org. Well be back with siren. Stay with us. The executive director of siren here in the bay area. And so youre going to have mariachi, youre going to have some singers. Its going to be a party. Maricela we want it to be a celebration. Its a celebration of celebrating immigrants and refugees, the economic impact, the beautiful contributions, the cultural contributions, the diversity that they bring here to this country and this valley. So its going to be mariachi estelar, Gabriela Sepulveda who was on american idol, was also on Jenni Riveras telemundo, telenovela. Damian she was on comunidad del valle as well. I wanna point that out. Maricela she played the daughter of jenni rivera. Has a new song out. So were really excited to hear her new music. Really young, amazing singer who hasis going to go really far. Our keynote speaker is senator maria elena durazo, new senator who was a longtime labor leader, one of the highest ranking laborwomen labor leaders here in the country. So its really exciting. Its going to be really powerful. And, you know, a strong message also about how were here to stay and building power for 2020. Damian one thing i gathered forin our conversation here is youre not being reactive at siren. You know, youre not just defending on whats happening now. Youre thinking about the future. What are we going to do in 2020 and in 2022 to make sure that the work that were doing meets the standards of what we expect in those years . Maricela exactly, you know, we have to think ahead. This moment is a moment in time. Were learning a lot from this moment and were learning what not to do and what we can do better, but its all about building forward and looking forward, and weve been doing a lot of work in registering 16yearolds. We started that in 2016 when secretary padilla passed that legislation. And so now we are looking to engage those 16yearolds in 2020, and weve been engaging them since then and really inviting them to different events. And we know that when someone votes for the first time, they become a long time voter. And so, were really hoping that they show up as 18yearolds to vote for the first time. Damian a lot of times, people when they get attacked the way immigrants have been attacked, people who maybe we tend to shrivel up and accept the attacks. It seems like whats been happening now with the attacks on immigrants, its making people stronger. Maricela yes, so its not only about knowing your rights, but knowing your power, and working from a place of power is what were telling our communities like; yes, you can feel attacked, you can hide out, but at the same time what is that really going to do . We need you to find that power, that there is people here to support you, that you do have rights as a resident of this state, of this country, and that theres many opportunities for you to take a stand and advocate, and that we know when someone feels selfempowerment, thats when we see True Community change. And so providing those opportunities, were holding monthly cenas with immigrants and refugees, really talking about the political landsce, breaking down policies like public charge and the new asylum ban so that they understand what that means and how they can use that to create knowledge and build power. Damian and again, you said that your work has tripled. Do you think that that stillthere are still lots of people who are still in the shadows who arent seeking the help because theyre just too afraid, too worried . Maricela yes, i do believe so. I think that theres a lot of people that are nottrying to live under the radar given the situation that we see and all the horrific images that we see in the media, and were inviting people. Thats why were creating cenas and different opportunities toor dinners to build confianza, build trust with the community and really engage them in a way that were building trust, were communicating, and were sharing information that is positive, but also showing the pluses and deltas of everything and being really honest with them. Damian how have they reacted when you empower them . I know that there are several moms in the Alum Rock School district, parents who once you give them the tools and the empowerment, boy, they start their own ad hoc groups and theyre out there and theyre mobilizing and theyre doing theirthe way they know how to do it. Maricela yeah, its beautiful to see just when people start feeling that selfempowerment and really start knowing that their voices matter. I mean, theyve spoken before the board of supervisors, theyve come down with us to the State Capitol to advocate for health for all. Its a big ballot, a big bill that were pushing for. Theyve been really instrumental in forming communities in their local neighborhoods and really hosting what they call [speaking foreign language] conversations about policy issues impacting immigrants, and they invite siren and they host these kind of like taco, coffee talks that they host in their home. And so, you know, once they get that power, its like no stopping them. Damian what do you thinkbecause when you have news conferences and whatnot, therethose Civic Leaders are Standing Shoulder to shoulder, toe to toe with you. What do you think it is about your movement that draws that kind of attention . Maricela i think, you know, we all have come from somewhere. Were not all indigenous to this land whereunless youre native american. And so, we need to relate to that and have a lot of compassion and come from a place of kindness. And i think many of our legislative leaders that are progressive, theyre really understanding thatunderstand that, that people are here really trying to make a better life, care for their families, and, you know, they wouldnt be here and made that long trek if they didnt have to. And i think thats really the place that we should all come from. Damian all right, well, happy 32 years. Siren is celebrating 32 years at the mexican Heritage Plaza, october 11th at 5 30, and theres a web address for more information. Any final thoughts, Maricela Gutierrez . Maricela yes, please join us. You can find more information on our website. Its going to be a really fun event. Were also closing it off with a dancesome dancing, a really amazing dj. So, you know, its not about just thinking about the moment, but were building long term and this is sirens way of building long term. Damian happy birthday. Maricela thank you. Damian all right, and now heres whats happening in your comunidad on que pasa. Damian and our saludos to those celebrating a special day, felicidades. Damian and heres our contact information. You can follow me on twitter. My handle is newsdamian. You can follow me on instagram. My handle is newsdamiantrujillo. So a couple of options for you. Also, pick up a copy of El Observador newspaper and support your bilingual weeklies all across the bay area. Also, join us on telemundo, canal 48, your comunidad del valle every sunday. [speaking foreign language] [singing in foreign language] g hispanic heritage month. Lets talk about it. [music playing] welcome to talk stoop. Comedian and actor Arturo Castro found success during his time on broad city and narcos, but hes since moved up and is headlining his own Comedy Central show, centered around life as a modern latino. Hello. Hi, arturo. You made it. Hows it going . We were just i did. Talking about the faux stoop. The faux stoop . Yeah, i have a really bony butt. So these sort of stoops, like, its like direct bone to wood and bone. To wooden just yeah, its just its intense. Completely yeah its happening right now. And that is just who i am, people. Yes. [laughter] get to know me. So many people fell in love with you on broad city