Episode Transcript
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Hey, this is any and Samantha, what come to stuff?
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I ever told you a prediction of iHeartRadio.
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And today we are highlighting
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the amazing works of Garlin
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Joseph, a Haitian activist who's been
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working to fight for our community and other refugees
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around the world. And yes, obviously
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we're still carrying on and making sure
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we are talking about all the people's
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no matter what month, it is, more feminists
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around the world, and we will never stop. It's
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Women's History month now, so we're talking
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more women's surprise, surprise,
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surprise, surprise, And
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yes, we were talking women's as an inclusive
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of every person who identifies
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as women and according to Amnesty
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dot org, as of July twenty twenty
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three, she runs the the only black and
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Haitian women led organization that
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works to help migrants on either side
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of the US Mexico border, which
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is the Haitian Bridge Alliance or HbA
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were also known as the Bridge. Joseph
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has been outspoken about the needs of
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the migrant community and the racist and inhumane
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treatment of the refugees. She's been at the
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forefront of not only working to educate
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the public and migrants of the knees and dangers
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the migrant community faces, but she's
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been a political activist working to seek political
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and social change.
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Joseph started her advocacy activism as
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a child, witnessing the inequalities and
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its treatment of so many of her community.
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In the twenty twenty one Forbes article titled a
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Black Immigrants Mission to center Black Migrants
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at the Southern Border, they quote Joseph
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remembers when her father took her to meet Abner
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Louima, a Haitian immigrant wrongfully
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arrested, handcuffed, and forcefully sodomized
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with a broken broomstick by two New York City
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Police Department officers. As
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a little girl, I had a chance to bear witness to
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real violence against black bears. I
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remember holding my father's hand as he took me
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to visit mister Louima in the hospital, said Joseph,
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co founder and executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance.
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While a Haitian just like me, it was clear that those
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two officers saw his color before they ever
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considered his immigration status or country
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of origin. Joseph continued seeing
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Abner Luima laying in that bed, barely
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breathing and missing most of his teeth made
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it clear that my blackness and my immigration
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status are interconnected, and
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the article continues. That moment in
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nineteen ninety seven, coupled with a twenty fifteen
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phone call from a colleague about Haitian migrant
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seeking asylum on the US Mexico border,
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turned Joseph from an outspoken immigration
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advocate to a black immigrant woman on
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a mission to center black immigrants, those
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already in the United States, and especially those praying
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and hoping for entry and refuge on America's
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southern.
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Border, and with that
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she started her organization, the Haitian
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Bridge Alliance. Oh here's what their website
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says. The Haitian Bridge Alliance
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HbA, also known as The Bridge, as a grassroots,
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nonprofit community organization that advocates
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for fair and humane immigration policies
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and provides migrants and immigrants with humanitarian,
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legal and social services, with a particular
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focus on black people, the Haitian community,
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women and girls, LGBTQIA
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plus individuals and survivors
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of torture and other human rights abuse. It
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goes on, we focus on the issues
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unique to black migrants and build solidarity
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and collective movement toward policy change.
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We work closely with the black migrant communities
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throughout the United States progressive coalitions
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fighting anti blackness and advocate
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locally, nationally, and internationally for
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fair and just immigration policies. We're
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working to end racist border policies
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like the Remain in Mexico policy Title forty
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two and the Border to Prison and Deportation
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Pipeline. We advocate for the expansion
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of TPS, protection for more communities,
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DACA, and an overhaul of the asylum system
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that centers dignity and passion, not
3:52
cruelty. Since twenty sixteen, HbA
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has regularly brought delegations of lawyers,
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doctors, and other volunteers to the
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same Diego Tijuana border to provide
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humanitarian relief to Haitian and other
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black migrants from Africa. We also
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work with Haitian migrants in Tapatula, Mexico,
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and were the first organizations on the ground
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during the Del Rio emergency. We
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aim to transform the perception of the border
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from the misguided stereotype that it only
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impacts a certain set of people to Transamerican
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global space that includes black people, because
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immigration is a black issue.
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And here is a bit directly about Joseph and
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her work within the organization quote
4:30
with many hands, that work is light. This Haitian
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proverb serves as Garlin Joseph's inspiration
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and the vision behind the Haitian Bridge Alliance in twenty
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fifteen. Garlin is a human rights advocate
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who dedicates her life to bringing awareness
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to issues that affect us all locally and globally,
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such as immigration, domestic violence, child
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sexual abuse, and other human rights
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issues. And she and her organization
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have been doing their continuous work in
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order to get justice and help for the migrant
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community, and part of that work
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has been to fight against Title FI two
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in the US, which was finally lifted in twenty twenty
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three, but a lot of heavy stipulations
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were still put into place.
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Right and just a note, Title forty
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two is quote created to address public
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health and social welfare and grants the government
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the ability to take emergency action in numerous
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ways, including to stop
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the introduction of communical diseases. While
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the code has been in place for decades,
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it was used widely beginning in March
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twenty twenty by the administration of then
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President Donald Trump in order to regulate
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border crossings under the premise of increased
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COVID nineteen precautions. The Trump
5:34
administration used Title forty two essentially
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to override immigration law that allowed
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people to ask for asylum after entering
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illegally and said we could send
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them back across the border, arguing
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that taking micros into custody and federal
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facilities would create more of a
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public health risk. And that was from
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the PBS article.
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And recently, Joseph and the bridge helped
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bring a lawsuit against the current administration
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for quote, racial discrimination and rights
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violations of Haitian asylum seekers. In
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truthout dot org, they write the suit
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was brought on behalf of eleven Haitian asylum seekers
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who were abused by US border agents as more
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than fifteen thousand people, mostly from Haiti,
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were forced to stay in a makeshift border encampment
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on the banks of the Rio Grande near the Acuna
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del Rio International Bridge in Texas.
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One of the plaintiffs is Mirard Joseph,
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the asylum seeker whose image went viral after
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being photographed while a border patrol agent on
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horseback lashed him with split
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reins, grabbed his neck, and gripped
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Joseph by the shirt collar.
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Right, And they quoted Joseph in that article,
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as her saying, this is a critical
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junction in our country here in the United States,
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as we make sure to uphold human rights and
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understanding seeking asylum is a human
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right. We will continue to push forward
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and make sure that accountability is served,
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but also we have systematic change in the way
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that we receive people in the United States,
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and just as a side, the lawsuit was originally
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filed in twenty twenty one, but
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was just her last week, and according.
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To the transcript from the hearing, Joseph testified
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for what they were asking for in
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that hearing quote, there are a few
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things we are asking for. We'll be able to share
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more as the case continues, but one of the
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things we are asking is accountability, justice
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for those people to be able to get a fair access
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to protection as they continue to barely
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survive because the conditions in Haiti continue
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to be extremely difficult, and the deportation
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and expulsions of those people were found to be unacceptable.
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So we will continue to fight and we are
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grateful that the judge listened to our request to continue
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this case. And even though the government said
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that our case had no basis,
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and what the world saw is that what we witnessed,
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but we will continue to push forward and make
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sure that accountability is served. But
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also we have systematic change in the
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way that we receive people in the United States
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and making sure we have a fair, just
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immigration system where people can continue to
7:53
seek asylum and seek protection.
8:05
Obviously, she and her organization
8:08
are quite busy again, like we said,
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last week was the hearing in front of the judges.
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And just to add to her mini roles, here's a
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bit of information on other things that
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Joseph has been a part of and continues
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to do. According to her biography
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on docs dot house dot gov. Miss
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Joseph created Tales from the US Mexico,
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Borderlands and Beyond and Immigration Information
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Session focusing on Black immigrants and the
8:31
Borderlands and Beyond. She is
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also a co creator of Faith and Action
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and Immigration Justice Movement in Southern California,
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a four part immigration program for both impacted
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communities and allies. Miss Joseph
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uses her platform FYI for Your
8:45
Inspiration Radio located
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in Mission Behill with correspondence
8:50
in Africa to give a voice to the voiceless
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coast to coast and around the world. Miss
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Joseph also served as an advisory member
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to Voices against Violence and their efforts
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to prevent domestic violence in California and
9:00
around the world. She was a chairwoman of Award
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and Action from twenty thirteen to twenty nineteen,
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a nonprofit organization that aims to
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prevent and decrease the occurrence of
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child sexual abuse.
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And here are some accolades she has received. According
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to the National Alliance for Advancement of Haitian
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Professionals quote, Miss Joseph was
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named one of Politico's twenty twenty one forty
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most Influential people on race, politics,
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and policy in the United States for her
9:24
leadership and is the recipient of prestigious
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awards, most recently the LOSS America's
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twenty twenty one Border Heroes Award,
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the twenty twenty one Robert F. Kennedy Human
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Rights Award, the twenty twenty two National
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Haitian American Elected Officials Network Community
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Champion Award, and the twenty twenty two
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American Immigration Lawyers Associations
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Arthur C. Helton Human Rights Award.
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That's quite unmouthful, but she deserves
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all of those awards.
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And war you know, I know these awards
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are great, but the fact that we have to attach
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people's names on it and make it even
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longer instead of vagueous America
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Immigration Lawyers Association Human Rights Award.
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I feel like I nailed the last You
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nailed everything about that anyway.
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And by the way, these are just her recent
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awards. She has a bigger list like started
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like way back early two thousands, like twenty nineteen,
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like she received so many more that
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were just not going down the list. She doesn't
10:22
have a Wikipedia page, which is
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horrifying to me because I'm like, she's
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one these accolades I
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don't understand. And she's doing so much work
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with Haitian community and
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the immigrant situation. Obviously
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again doing some amazing things. She was testifying
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in front of the White House as well. I
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think she actually had a whole thing where
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it was presented to President Biden
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as well in these conversations
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and again had a huge part in taking down
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or making sure that title forty two was autsigned,
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resigned, or renewed.
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And I think it actually went away in twenty twenty
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three. So it was supposed to go in a way in twenty
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twenty one, but it stuck around the
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under the guys at COVID. This
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is a COVID measure, which is abhorrent
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anyway, But yes, amazing
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works from garyln Joseph, and I'm sure we're
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gonna hear a lot more, especially with that case.
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Yes, and if any listeners, because
11:18
I know we've talked about this before, if you have
11:21
the time and the interest of making a Wikipedia
11:24
page, you can.
11:27
Here's a suggestion. And
11:29
if you have any suggestions for us
11:31
for people we could cover in the segment or organizations
11:34
we could cover, you can let us
11:36
know. You can email us at Stephanie momsteffantiheartmedia
11:38
dot com. You can find us on Twitter at momsue podcast
11:41
or on Instagram and TikTok at stuff One Ever Told
11:43
You. We have a tea public story and we have a book you
11:45
can get wherever you get your books. Thanks us always
11:47
to our super producer Christina, executive producer
11:49
Maya, and your contributor Joey. Thank you
11:52
and thanks to you for listening. Stefan Never Told
11:54
You is production by Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart
11:56
Radio, you can check out the heart Radio app Apple Podcasts
11:58
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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