América Ferrera states why she is voting in this election

Radio Bilingüe News Director Samuel Orozco interviewed actress América Ferrera about the elections and the excitement of voting.

The following is the interview:

Samuel Orozco

America, Bienvenida a Radio Bilingue. 

America Ferrera 

Gracias, muchas gracias. 

 

Samuel Orozco

America, puedes compartir con nosotros una memoria? ¿Puedes tu recordarnos la primera vez que fuiste a votar, de como fue esa experiencia?

 

America Ferrera

Si, fue en el ano 2003. Naci y creci en Los Angeles en California, mis padres son de Honduras. In California en 2003 there was a recall for the governor, fue cuando Arnold Schwarzenegger se hizo governor de California.

 

Samuel Orozco

Y como fue esa experiencia? Como te sentiste?

 

America Ferrera

Me senti muy orgullosa. Para mi el derecho de votar es tan importante. Mis padres vinieron de Honduras para darme oportunidad. So that I’d be able to use my voice, use my power, to do what I could do, to improve my life, but also the lives of the people around me. From a very young age, I saw how important it was to be engaged and to care about what was happening with elected officials and people in power around us, because those were the decisions that were shaping my life. I was raised by a single mom who needed, you know, needed good public schools to send her kids to, needed food programs so that we could afford to eat, you know, eat in school. The people who were in power making important decisions shaped my daily life every day, and I knew that. Even when terrible, scary propositions were on the ballot, like prop 187, where they were attacking our community. I was so young, but even then, I understood we were so impacted by the outcomes of these elections. For me, fue un orgullo grande usar mi voz, usar mi voto. Ever since, I’ve just been so, so proud to get to use my voice and to be a part of democracy.

 

Samuel Orozco

Have you voted yet in this election? How big is this particular election for you? What’s at stake for you and for the country?

 

America Ferrera

I have voted, and I voted proudly for Kamala Harris for President. There is so much at stake for me as an American, as a woman, as a mom, everything I care about is on the line, beginning with just decency and respect in our country. It’s been so disheartening to see the level of rhetoric and the terrible conversation that’s happened and pointed towards women and black people and Latino people and immigrants and everything that I was raised to believe, that our country was founded on, that we are a great country BECAUSE we are so diverse, BECAUSE people come to work hard and achieve the American dream. All of that has been just thrown into the gutter with the conversation that Donald Trump is having around women’s rights, around immigration, even his denial about what’s happening with climate change, even as we see natural disasters devastating our communities. The thing that I, that we all know, is that Latino communities are disproportionately impacted by all of these issues. And so for me, it honestly feels like American, you know, the decency identity, the dream that we’re a country, that the thing I’ve always understood America to be is a country that wants better and more for the coming generation, not less. In this moment, it is our Gen, everyone who has the ability to vote, it’s our responsibility to impact the generation coming after us so that they have it as much, if not more, than we have, not less.

 

Samuel Orozco

Final question, America, how do you make your decision about who to vote for? What are the things that you consider when screening a candidate?

 

America Ferrera 

Well, I think that just their sense of who they are as a person, what they care about, how they live their lives, how they talk about other people. The ability to just be a decent, caring human being is the first box to check. After that, you know, it’s to look at the policies and look at the impact of their policies on people’s lives, on people’s safety, on people’s health and wellness. Also, on opportunities, do people’s opportunities increase when these people are in power, or do they get less. I think the other thing too to say is, what happens in the US has a great impact across the world. We’re the largest economy in the world, the decisions we make have such big ramifications. If we start taking away women’s rights, human rights, decency and around issues like immigration, that is really setting a very awful precedent. We have an opportunity to stand up and keep moving forward instead of going backwards.

 

Samuel Orozco

America Ferrera, muchas gracias.

 

America Ferrera

Gracias.