Akil and Hong welcome Miguel to the show to talk about his role as an International Student Advisor and his upcoming role as a Basic Needs Coordinator at the college. From there, the trio discuss Miguel's path to SBCC in a very thought-provoking conversation about finding your true self, and how art and food are essential to that process. See episode notes for a full breakdown of what was discussed!
Mentioned in this episode:
SBCC International - https://www.sbcc.edu/international/
SBCC International Ambassadors - https://www.instagram.com/sbccambassadors/?hl=en
Shelby Arthur - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelby-arthur
SBCC Basic Needs Programs - https://www.sbcc.edu/equity/basic-needs-programs/
SBCC Transitions Program - https://www.sbcc.edu/eopscare/transitions.php
Paloma Arnold - https://sbcc-vaquero-voices.simplecast.com/episodes/episode-36-paloma-arnold-QGi1Tqu3
Food Not Bombs - https://foodnotbombs.net/new_site/
PLUR - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLUR
The Casualties - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Casualties
Super Cucas - https://www.supercucasrestaurant.com/
Los Agaves - https://los-agaves.com/
Chile Rellenos - https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1022118-chiles-rellenos
SBCC AAPI+ mural - https://www.noozhawk.com/new-sbcc-mural-pays-tribute-to-asian-american-pacific-islander-and-desi-american-heritage/
Tacos El Vladis - https://www.yelp.com/biz/tacos-el-vladis-oxnard
Taqueria Mena - https://www.yelp.com/biz/taqueria-mena-santa-barbara
Tacos de Canasta - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacos_de_canasta
Peso Pluma - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peso_Pluma
Grupo Firme - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grupo_Firme
Fuerza Regida - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuerza_Regida
EZ Band - https://www.youtube.com/@EZBANDOFFICIAL
Mexrissey - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexrrissey
La Raza Cósmica by José Vasconcelos - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_raza_c%C3%B3smica
Los Caminos De La VIda - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSg-XIpovew
Buena Vista Social Club - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buena_Vista_Social_Club
Eliades Ochoa - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliades_Ochoa
Omara Portuondo - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omara_Portuondo
Deceits - https://deceitsband.bandcamp.com/
Depresión Sonora - https://depresionsonora.bandcamp.com/
Voodoo Glow Skulls - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voodoo_Glow_Skulls
Chencha Berrinches - https://www.instagram.com/chencha_berrinches_official/?hl=en
Tijuana No! - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tijuana_No!
Los Rude Boys - https://open.spotify.com/artist/2hnZsQ7mRwI8Sy2fOFL9wA
Eskorbuto - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskorbuto
Atmosphere/Emo Rap - https://chicagoreader.com/music/how-atmosphere-accidentally-predicted-juice-wrld/
Captions provided by Zoom
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Hong Lieu: Hello and welcome to another episode of SBCC Vaquero Voices - a podcast highlighting the unique voices that comprise our campus culture, and how we're all working together to serve our students and the community at large.
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Akil Hill: As usual, I'm joined by Co. Host to Akil Hill. What's good? Y'all.
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Hong Lieu: And today we're honored to welcome Miguel Cruz to the show. Welcome, Miguel, thank you for taking the time to join us. Miguel is the current international student Advisor for the international program here at Sbcc. And possibly by time. Using this, he will be starting his new position as a basic needs coordinator here at Sbcc. So congratulations on.
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Hong Lieu: I don't know if a gentleman's a lot of telltales out of school, but I was on that committee for the first interview at least, and he was definitely deserving of the position. Absolutely. So congrats. Yeah, go ahead. Wasn't on the committee, but I do know, Miguel and I, and I'm super excited for him, and I'm glad he's part of our Sbcc family.
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Hong Lieu: Thank you. Man means a lot coming from you guys, you know absolutely. So we'll talk a little bit about your current role as an international student advisor. I know. You know we are in the middle of fall semester. How has it been going for international students? How how do you feel, you know, in terms of the semester versus previous semesters, or you know, etc. Sister, what's what's your kind of
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Hong Lieu: feel the pulse of the program right now?
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Miguel Cruz: It's good man, I mean, I've only been here since last year. So this is my second fall working. But you know, from what I heard, this Covid kind of took a took a hit like this program, took a hit with Covid, and I went to like a National Conference during the summer in DC. And it wasn't just our school, like all the schools all over the the
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the nation kind of took a hit with international students, you know, because, you know, sometimes
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Miguel Cruz: I don't know sometimes well with Covid, and then also to like the you know, political climate of this country, and sometimes the gun violence. It's just not like a huge I don't know priority for people to come here anymore. So that's as some of that stuff is out of our hands. But the the kids that do come here, they're they love it. You know we get a lot of people from like Germany or Sweden, and they just love it cause they can go to the beach. They can.
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Miguel Cruz: I don't know. I guess it's very different. I guess that's what they tell me here like. Oh, people in California here, so friendly like in Germany. We never say Hi! To strangers, and we never say so. It's just kind of like a different feel. But I love it cause I get to work with the Ambassadors. So the Ambassadors is a it's kind of it's a program here for the International Student Office. But we have sort of like a mix of international students and local students. And really, what that come with that
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Miguel Cruz: is meant to do is just kinda like, bring international students and kinda acclimate them to. You know Sb live, but also the Sbcc. And sort of integrate them into different clubs and just kinda
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Miguel Cruz: make them feel at home. So my job is kind of to build a community with them. And that's like what I love, you know, because a lot of international, soon as they come here, and that they don't have the luxury of coming with family. You know, brothers, sisters, or friends, you know some of them don't make friends so easily. So we we get to make that at the ambassadors we get to build a community
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Miguel Cruz: and have like. And these are my words. You know what I mean what? We had a graduation. They said that we built a family, and they feel like family, and they've built life long friendships, you know, when you're in the trenches with other people that are also like in another country and doing the deal.
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Miguel Cruz: you build those bonds, and it's been an honor for me to like, facilitate that group and just watch these friendships and these, like.
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you know, sort of family ties kinda come together. It's just. It's been an awesome experience so far for me.
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Hong Lieu: And II can imagine it's it's an interesting process in terms of like you said these folks come here. I mean, it's it's it's somewhat familiar, but very, very unfamiliar as well. I mean, there's probably things they can latch onto. So how do you begin that process of kind of starting to build that community, I mean, is it just something? I'll connecting them with other national students? Or is it something where you have to kind of bring your own expertise a lot of your expertise to kind of
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Hong Lieu: break those barriers down and kind of get people open to even connecting, because a lot of folks at at first are probably pretty, you know, cautious and nervous about the whole situation, I'm sure. So yeah, totally. And it was it was it was hard, man, and I'm not gonna lie. When I first got this this position, I was like, man, how am I gonna do this. I didn't feel fit to do it because the person that created this this program the Ambassador program was her name is Shelby. Arthur and I just have nothing but the utmost respect for her cause. She she she's a G man. She's
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Miguel Cruz: if anyone else. She's amazing. She's so I didn't know if I was going to be able to. But
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Miguel Cruz: the thing that I had to realize is, I'm not Shelby, and I mean II can never be here. Nobody can ever be here. I can only be me. So I realized I had to bring my full self. And what do I bring to the table. And also it was it was this program was made Pre Covid. So I feel like II talked with a lot of club advisors, a lot of like people running clubs, and
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Miguel Cruz: everything had to change. You know what I mean. Coming back from Covid, like everything, had to adapt everything had to like. Really, you know, take on a new
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Miguel Cruz: I don't know a new way of recruiting people, a new way of doing events, because, if you guys remember last fall there was like no one here. There was. It was a ghost town it was. It was hardly any students, you know. It was hard to get clubs to get people to join things like that. So I realized that I had to sort of. I looked over the club and I looked over what it was about, and I was like, man, we we have to change it. Cause
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Miguel Cruz: these kids. From what II put my, you know, finger in the air, and I check the wind, and I check the pulse of it. And a lot of these kids really need a connection, man, a lot of these kids were struggling. I remember a lot of like my ambassadors are high achievers, you know. I remember this one kid saying that like, hey? I do all these clubs, and I do Asg and I do all these classes, so I don't have to be alone with my thoughts at home, you know. That's why I come to school on Friday, and I'm looking for friends. I'm like man like. And there was a lot of students like that. So
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Miguel Cruz: I was like, okay, this, this is more than just the club. Now, this is more than just like an academics, you know, academic based, you know, club for only good students like we, we really need to focus on more inclusion and and being intentional with what we bring to the table and being, I don't know, open to just being more than just a club. And and I think my expertise sort of came about
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Miguel Cruz: I worked previously at the jail. So before I got here I looked at the jail and and I was. You know, I was running some fatherhood groups. It wasn't part of my job title. But we we needed fatherhood groups in the jail. And I was like, Yeah, I could do it. Let's just do a peer lead peer facilitated thing.
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Miguel Cruz: and one thing that other into the jail man is, I can't expect people to be vulnerable and be honest and be trustworthy if if I'm not willing to do that first, you know. So with these international students, I had to get vulnerable. I had to get real. I had to like, you know, I had to set the tone of what I wanted the club to be, and it was I thought it was kind of a gamble. But really like
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Miguel Cruz: they really appreciated someone just being real and being wrong, being human and and someone seeing them as more than just students, because they're young people with hopes and dreams and fears, and and they just needed somewhere to belong. And I saw that, and like they really appreciated that, because I remember being here as a student
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Miguel Cruz: I was doing as well, but it felt like I only got the time to shine when I did something great like. Oh, let me go. Got straight A's. Or look Miguel's, you know, in recovery now, and he's doing so great, you know what I mean. But only now, what about these people? They're great, too. They're just not achieving as much. You know what I mean. So like, II really take the time to see him and be like, Hey, even if you don't have good grades like you belong here. You're still amazing here, I mean, so I feel like that was the kind of key change into the club. And I feel they really took to that. And
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Miguel Cruz: it was amazing. I was like, Okay, cool. I didn't have to be somebody else. I could just be my authentic self. And that made it work, you know.
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Hong Lieu: Yeah, definitely. Cause you know that never works trying to be someone else and never work. All you could do is be your own authentic self, and be given the opportunity to be your own authentic self cause those times when you try to be yourself. And then someone starts like chipping away on the site like little things here. And they're like, Oh, what about? And it's like, oh, here we go. So it's good that you given that ability as well. So absolutely.
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Akil Hill: I also like the piece that you know the the piece of really that you talked about
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Akil Hill: the blogging piece right? And so it makes me think a little bit about
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Akil Hill: you know how we have these expectations of students to come, and to make good grades and transfer, and and all that. But I and students come, and they do all those things. But the piece of really looking at the student holistically and understanding that you can be getting straight as and you can transfer, you can get into Harvard all the ivy leagues or the top schools in this country, and still be mentally in an unstable place. And so if we're talking about or thinking about, you know.
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Akil Hill: holistically helping our students, we we cannot forget that. A component right? You know, it's like the question. You know. I mean, ultimately, I think the end goal is to be both balanced. Right. Be mentally strong as well as have, you know, achieve high grades, but also at the same time is sometimes it's, you know, better to be
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Akil Hill: mentally stable. And
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Akil Hill: you know, just do what you can do.
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Akil Hill: Yeah, about the expectation of you know what we put on people
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Miguel Cruz: definitely. And some of the international students and and the local students in my group are very high achievers. And yeah, they're doing great. But I'll I remember checking. How are you doing? Like? No, no, no! Like, how how are you doing? I don't care about your grades like, How are you doing it? Lot of the times like they weren't doing so great because they're just
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Miguel Cruz: putting their grades and their clubs and all this in front of them, because, you know, their parents spent a lot of money to send them here, and they feel like they got to perform, and
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Miguel Cruz: sometimes they forget to check in on themselves, and I really relate to that, because, coming from where I come from, I had to make sure everyone was good, and you know II could. I could struggle, or I could be if I was dying, and everyone's cool around me. That's kinda that's fine. That's my comfort zone, you know. And I really related to these kids, you know what I mean about wow, they just
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Miguel Cruz: it. They were a lot like the kids from the street that I grew up with. It's just they they just use education and and and academics as a way to escape, you know. And we use other stuff, you know, it was like, very like, I was like, Wow, and it just kind of sparked this thing like, Wow, human suffering and
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Miguel Cruz: expectations can take a different form of like, you know, numbing that pain. You know what I mean. It just kind of trim me out how a lot of the root causes are the same, you know, not feeling like you're not enough for feeling like you don't belong. Feel like you have to like, do XY, and Z to be.
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Miguel Cruz: you know, notice for something. And yeah, we really came about that is, when I was a student here.
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Miguel Cruz: Now that I'm an adult. I realize that, like when I was a student, I thought that once I get once I get like the degree, once I get the house, once I get. Once I get all this thing, then I'll find acceptance. Then people will like me, and then I would be successful. But it was like, and then I'll find a community.
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Miguel Cruz: But now you know, it's just the reverse of that, like, once I find community, once I'm find acceptance, once I find that I'm okay with myself. All that stuff will come. And I mean, I was trying to prove myself to so many people for so many years. II wanted to prove that I wasn't just some dumb Mexican kid from the neighborhood, you know, and I almost did like legit, like, you know, run myself ragged and like almost kill myself getting straight. A's in my university. I got all 8, and I was super proud of that.
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Miguel Cruz: but I didn't have to go that hard, and I didn't have to prove anything to anybody. We'll talk, and I didn't realize that to like use after I graduated. So that's why I try to tell you soon, hey? Straight is a great, but just make sure you're good, you know, like you're the most important person in this equation, you know what good or straight is, if you're gonna have like, you know.
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Miguel Cruz: migraines and aneurysms really don't. Yeah. So stressed out, you know. And
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Hong Lieu: and it takes a long time for people to learn about that. The only thing you have to prove is to yourself and the it's a self realization process about being okay with. You know your your true authentic self. And you know there's a lot II definitely feel what you're saying, because I was running away from that as well. Who my true authentic self was that it was okay to to kind of
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Hong Lieu: chill every now and then. You know you don't give yourself the opportunity because you feel like my parents did this much to do this. My homies are doing this much to keep me on. I mean you just you just gotta try to. You keep trying to give back. And you're not giving yourself any slack. And and you know, like it's good. It's good to know that you can do that.
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Hong Lieu: but it's also good to know that you don't have to do that all the time. So there's a flip. There's a flip side to that. But I'm thinking, still thinking back to what that student told you. That's some of the realist stuff I ever heard is that you work so hard and run so fast, so you don't have to be alone with the thoughts in your head.
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Hong Lieu: and it's a similar vein where you're you're not, will. You're not ready to do that work. I mean, you're ready. But you're not ready to do that work with yourself, to be okay with with, with whatever situation you're in, and and it is something that it takes everybody a long time like I knew a million people like that all coming up all throughout, from, you know, in the streets to high school, to college, who are the same way like, Oh, if I get this truck! Oh, if I get straight A's, or if I get into this program and then, like, you see them like, Hey, you got in, you're good. How's it going.
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Hong Lieu: and it's like still the same. And then and it's kinda like that gap like, why is it still the same like
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Hong Lieu: it takes time to close that gap, and it's worth that you have to do on yourself. And the thing about it is, you know, how do you know you're not, you know, like the path is not clear. You can't watch a Youtube video about how to do that work within yourself. It's like everybody's different. So it's like, you know, like that process, it's gonna be different for everybody. And that's that's where someone like you who now, I mean, whether you're on the other side or not. You've at least started that path. And you kind of know, like
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Hong Lieu: it's not something that you can tell somebody. It's not something I mean, it's something that you have to feel out. And also like, once you're feeling it out.
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Hong Lieu: be okay with how it goes. Cause a lot of times. People second, guess themselves out of the right path. They're like doing the work they're doing good. But they're like, Oh, I'm not progressing quickly enough, or, Oh, I'm I'm I'm still feeling a certain way, and it's like
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Hong Lieu: like when I say, sometimes, happiness is not my number one goal the the goal of coming out as not to be happy is just to be okay with who you are, and and allow you to be yourself in those situations like you talk about being a true authentic self. You don't feel comfortable putting all of yourself out there until you're comfortable with who you are, as you know, your your whole ass self as as we, you know, as you can say. So it's like.
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Hong Lieu: it's just, it's it's such an interesting process. And it's such a you know thing that's it's a lifelong journey. So you never like. Come out there aside like you get a medal or PIN or certificate like you're done never done. I mean, you know that capital T. Truth is always is very elusive, but at the same time the fact that you're even on that path I think a lot of people will definitely notice that and and feel that on in your aura, you know, like like people on that path, the real ones that I, as I call them, you know, like if you a real one, then you've you've at least taken some time to try. Do that work cause the
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Hong Lieu: people that don't, or I mean, even even if they're you know, their homey would be coming up. But they're still trying to to outrun those demons, and you know what? If you never take that time? Look within.
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Hong Lieu: Yeah, I mean, you run it a long ways, and you and by the time you take a stop to stop, stop to look around. You don't know where you're at anymore. So it's it's one of those things for sure that it's it's tough.
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Miguel Cruz: That's the requirements.
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Miguel Cruz: Yeah, yeah. And I feel like we have a responsibility right? Like to to hand down knowledge and wisdom cause. My elder told me that like wisdom isn't meant to be hoarded like the point of wisdom is to share it. You know what I mean. So I see myself in these kids, and I'm like man like if I would've known this when I was 1920, like man, that would save me a world earlier with the caveat that you can share this knowledge
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Hong Lieu: and not expect them to really take it hit him in the heart like that. All heads used to talk to me because I feel like I don't know if it's true or not, but I feel like, back in the day there was more of that system where there were old heads actually looking out for young ones, you know, like like, Hey, let me drop. Let me kick some. Let me kick some game drops of knowledge on you, and you wouldn't always take it hard. But yeah, yeah, I understand. It makes sense. But you never really felt it, felt it, and some some of them would feel a ways about it like, Hey, dude, I'm
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Miguel Cruz: I'm saving you 20 years of heartache and pain. You should be listening. I, my mom, was the same way she'd be like, I'm say, I'm giving you shortcuts. It's like, I don't want this work. I wanna live for myself. And then you come around, and you're like, dang they were so right I could have saved myself so much crap if I would've just.
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Hong Lieu: But at the same time I can't fault, folks not listen to me. Look at me, you look at me and take any advice from me. I can't II you know I don't know if I could trust you anyway. So it's like, yeah, I don't expect folks to really listen with their true self like that when I tell them something, but you still gotta you still gotta try. So got to, you know, and we gotta let go of the result, you know. Well, also to the piece for me, too, is like when we start talking about old heads and and knowledge, and and passing it down, and wisdom and acquiring wisdom, you know. I mean ultimately.
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Akil Hill: Yes, I think you're spot on, you know we it's our responsibility to plant the seed, but more than our responsibility to plant the seed is making sure that our our actions are congruent to what our words are are are saying right? Because we see old heads trying to drop knowledge. But then you're like yo, Homie. I know you're I. Everyone knows you on the block, you sling in right? So you're telling me I'm saving you 10 years out to live, but I hear your words, but I see your actions right, and so
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Akil Hill: that is, you know, I think the true. The true benefit is like making sure that we're aligning ourselves to the things that we're calling people to right, because we all know those Ogs on the block man like, Hey, I'm about to kick you some knowledge. But then, you know, on the on the weekends you'd be seeing what's going on side of the house, and all that, you know, and and that goes back to being going back to your true authentic self like that's the front. When you all, when you all Front
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Hong Lieu: street like you. You ain't respect. You don't respect that, you know you don't. You don't respect that. I mean the whole thing about growing up. Everyone who was a poser. Do you know, Cap, I love that term Cap, nowadays. The modern. Oh, man, anyone anyone capping like?
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Hong Lieu: well, you know, like I don't got time for that, I mean, but but it goes back to be the trust in itself, and also how things shift as we get older, because when you're young, like when I was 1518 20, I mean, you look at my, you know I'm not a killer, but you gotta pretend like you want like you pretend like like, if it had to come to that, you could be, you know. So it's like everyone's kind of friend to a certain extent. So it's like, it's a balance there where, like
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Hong Lieu: you're hearing, you're hearing like true pain, true, like like real knowledge from someone you're like, man. I trying to hear. That was, you know, wussy stuff right now, like I I'm trying to try to stay alive out here, but for real like that, I mean.
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Hong Lieu: That's the way to go like those like not to say like, everyone gotta be a Teddy bear like I am, cause that's that's not a way you get rolled run over all over your life, but the same time, like the the those, the the true, the you know. Like.
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Hong Lieu: yeah, it's it's just
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Hong Lieu: things shift as you get older, and you gotta adjust to that. But just being able to hear from someone like you, Miguel, who's like a real, a true real one, I mean, that's that's probably real helpful for them, and gives them a nice kind of good impression of like, you know, first, first impressions of Sbcc and and California live like it's good to know that, like they can still relate.
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Miguel Cruz: even though they're from a you know, another. The other side of the world or whatever it is. So that's that's really, really awesome. Yeah, for sure. And and the main thing I try to tell them is like, hey, man, you're worthy. You know what I mean, like you also like just how you give all this energy to other people like you deserve that as well, you know what I mean, and you you can make family wherever you go, and you have that if you want. You know what I mean. Yeah, you're right. You're like you have to model that like. I can't be talking about self care and preaching all this. If I'm not like myself, like II go to therapy. I'm in recovery. I do all this stuff, and
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Miguel Cruz: and I truly feel like, you know, I mean when people speak like there's a current right like. So I heard this thing where, like oral traditions are passed down, you know, through knowledge by someone who has the current. So someone who knows it. Someone who you mean some other do can say the same words. But if he doesn't have the current, he's not gonna transfer that right? So like like you were saying, Hong, if you ain't a real one, and you ain't been through that, and you're not living that life. You can say the right words. But you're not gonna transfer that current cause. You don't have it. You know what I mean. So I feel like people that are going through. They have like this vibration in the words. So it's like.
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Miguel Cruz: It's different, you know. So that. And yeah, going back to the streets like, that's why I respected like someone who's about it, and you could feel it in their voice. And I mean, like, when I was in jail, man, like some of the dues that are never getting out man like, there's some of the wisest people, yeah, I mean. And and when they tell you like life stories and life lessons like you feel it that they would kill to be in your shoes, you know. I mean that they would like if they could go back and do it over. They you can feel that like
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Miguel Cruz: I don't know. Just like the pain and the wisdom, and just like, Hey, you have to just get this man like I'm I'm you know what I mean so you could so
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Hong Lieu: get it before you get to my point. And then I had to get no other thing to do but to sit there and read and sit there with their thoughts, write stuff out like that. Reflection can come outside of a confinement situation. You know that that reflection needs to come. If you're gonna be a contributing member, each member to society like you have to really reflect on the thing, the choices that brought you to where you are and where you wanna be. And then you know, it says.
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Hong Lieu: and that's probably what you know going to college community, college, and and Sbcc is all about is trying to kind of as you hit that stretch. You know that that that stretch in your life
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Hong Lieu: to learn how to make good decisions and learn how to learn really cause. Yeah, a lot of times when you go to high school and stuff. You're not. You're you're you're remembering a lot of stuff, and you're kinda learning how to learn, but depending on your situation. It's not always gonna stick. But as you know that that that tur that
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Hong Lieu: that last curve into adulthood as you go to college, you figure out what to your career path. What you want to do. Like, yeah, you need that, that capital K knowledge to get to that capital. T. Truth, and and you'll never get there. But at least you can start on that right path to to make you know more sound decisions in the past.
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Hong Lieu: Yeah. So I mean, I can see how how how much of a benefit you are to their national teams. And I can also see how how good you're gonna be in your in your new position as a basic needs coordinator. Just like being able to relate to folks is a big part of of helping people is seeing people, you know, seeing
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Hong Lieu: people in like a future state like if I if I stick to a certain path I might be able to get to somewhere. Good.
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Miguel Cruz: You know, it's it's good. It's good to have like not say role models, but behavior you could model in in, you know, at the at the lowest level. If you just wanna just say, Give me a path, and I'll follow that, you know, let alone your path. It's good to have that. Yeah. And I think when I was a student here, man, it was so important for me to see mirrors like myself in positions of like you know what I mean not not position of like II would deem it success.
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Miguel Cruz: Maybe I could do it, too, you know. So that was super important for me to just see myself like in the future doing something like that. When I was a a student here, man, I was a single parent. I was. I was broke. You know what I mean.
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Miguel Cruz: you know, for those of you listening, who are college students. It's not a life of luxury, it's it's it's very. It's it's
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Miguel Cruz: it's hard, you know what I mean. You have to like. Really, you know, pinch your pennies and and really think about like what's worth it, and as a single parent with like a beat up, you know, bucket of a truck. Sometimes that was started and it would turn on like, I'm gonna be late to work. You know what I mean. Like.
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Miguel Cruz: I remember, like, I got an emergency grant man and I didn't. I didn't know about it, you know, and it helped me fix my car and like what people don't know. Sometimes when you're in poverty, man, like one little issue can can mess up all the issues right? So, for example, if I couldn't start my car that day and I couldn't get to work.
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Miguel Cruz: then I'm not gonna get paid for that day. If I don't get paid for that, then I might not make grand. If I don't make Grant you know me at all. It it trickles down. You know what I mean. So so people don't understand how. Sometimes, like as I'm an emergency aide to fix your car can mean everything to somebody. So for me, when I was student like that meant everything to me. You know what I mean, and II didn't know about it, and I got in. I was like, Wow, like, that was the first time that I realized that this school cares about me. The school is willing to invest.
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Miguel Cruz: and like some of the poorest students that have, like the most difficult
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Miguel Cruz: situations, and and like that, was one of the pieces that allowed me like you know what like
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Miguel Cruz: it was that and a couple of other things that happened that I said, like, you know what I'm gonna dedicate my life to helping others. You know. I mean, whatever it is, I hope it's an S. Pcc. But whatever it is, I wanna dedicate my life to helping others, because I realize how much that helped me, and I mean and I'm just so lucky and so blessed enough to be able to do that now. So it's just like this whole full circle moment. You know what I mean. When I was doing the interviews, and when I got to position it was just like, almost like, Wow! Like
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Miguel Cruz: man. The universe has has spoken to me, and it's been so good to me and it and it wasn't easy, and at times I didn't see the end of the light, but I kept on tracking, and II kept doing my best. And and now I'm I'm kinda doing what I set out to do, and which is kind of like an amazing thing for me. It was. It's almost like hard to put into words
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Hong Lieu: meant to be man, it's meant to be. Yeah, probably it's a great fit.
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Hong Lieu: And and what you're saying about, you know, like the
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Hong Lieu: you know what one little ticket or not getting to work. I mean people, don't II wondered about that because I don't. Maybe people, I guess people don't realize how crazy it is like I when I was in college, I remember I had a friend. He got thrown in the drunk, tank for a night bail himself out. No problems, you know, like I was like
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Hong Lieu: I was like, Oh, my God! Like II just be stuck in there, you know, like I've been stuck in there for days. I couldn't bail myself out like, you know, stuff like that like anything about the difference in like like sliding doors like when a toucher movie, where the 2 different paths like. It's a totally different situation, like, you know. Like III remember those days well where my dad would come home like. Oh, they! They laid me off because he worked in restaurants his whole life so like, oh, so that that 2 to 3 week hustle where he was looking for another job in between. And it's like we gonna make rent. And it's like those those kind of situations we have to give people that Grace, you know, like, and it's also
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Hong Lieu: at the same time good to recognize. It's very hard for folks to ask for help a lot of times
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Hong Lieu: like. I was always the kind of person you know. I was raised that way. We don't need to ask for help. We're self sufficient. We could take care of it. We do. We can so for you to go out and go for that emergency, grant, I mean, whether you knew about or not to even ask for it. It can be tough sometimes, you know, there's times where I've asked for asked for money, even just for, like a random thing, I email back like, Oh, you gotta do it this way and that way, and even that like makes the hairs on the back of my head sent up like. Damn! I screwed up, you know, like cause I'm not used to asking for anything from anybody like ever
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Hong Lieu: like III try to play it off like I'm good, no matter what. Don't even think about that. So like. So even that asking is difficult. So we need to give you a more grace when they ask.
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Hong Lieu: and we need to give you more grace. You know, when they're when they're in a real situation, and we need, I feel like in general across the board, not just here, but everywhere, like if you were. If you were managing Mcdonalds give people that grace, you know, I know you really wanna fire somebody for not coming to work one time. But please give people a chance that they ask for someone's trying to, you know, like, just yeah, blow you off. That's one thing. But give people that grace.
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Akil Hill: You know. I kinda I you know I I've thought about this. Why is it? You know so particularly hard for I mean, we're all men of color here. So I'm gonna speak on a little bit in regards to that. But why is it so hard for people of color and in particular, men of color to ask for
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Akil Hill: in particular, in this case, money, right? And it's funny to me because
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Akil Hill: II keep coming back to the piece of people who have wealth, ask for money and loans and stuff all the time. No, no problems asked right? They don't have that piece of of oh, you know, like I don't. I gotta swallow my pride and go
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Akil Hill: and ask for some assistance they ask, and for money all the time, left and right, probably almost in some cases too much right. But but I think that this is really tied into something about
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Akil Hill: for us as men. That while we probably have grown up in you know.
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Akil Hill: poor, that the only thing that you have is your pride.
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Akil Hill: and and so by asking for money is a sense of you know, it's almost taking a hit. So you're like, what do you mean? You can't be able to. You can't afford this. Right? So II just think it's interesting that
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Akil Hill: you know. I guess the point that I'm trying to to to make. Is that
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Akil Hill: that
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Akil Hill: wow like for us? It's hard to do that, whereas other people that come from wealth, it's actually easier for them to do that what you would think it would almost be kind of flipped, because if you don't have anything, or you only have a little
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Akil Hill: by default, you're going to need something at some point in time. Right? But we can't get past that
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Miguel Cruz: right? Yeah, like, hey, man, my company flopped, and I ruined the economy by gambling. Look at downtown Santa Barbara. II mean, I'm not sure. I don't want to get too political here. But I mean look, it's it's
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Akil Hill: we all know what Santa Barbara used to look like downtown, and we we know what it looks like right now.
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Akil Hill: you know, and you know they can try to blame it on everyone else. Right? Like, you know, people of color and all that. But yeah, I mean, I just think there's there's a correlation that needs to be made with that where
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Akil Hill: you know, asking for assistance, when we know that we're coming from places of of not having a lot to begin with. So it's you know what I mean versus having abundance and still asking for more.
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Hong Lieu: And and they're also hiding that information cause I didn't know about debt being okay, cause you know, growing up was like never being dead, never when anyone, never! Oh, anyone! Anything like being in debt to me was like one of the worst things that could ever happen to me. Like owing anyone anything, I would always feel super penalty. Super bad.
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Hong Lieu: these, these pools they, I mean you can have like 1 million dollar credit here, $300,000 line of credit. There they debt is nothing to them as long as everything still moving, you know, like as long as money's moving around. No one, no one calls that. Did ever. No one ever calls that dead in. Only in very recent times of any as anyone got under rabbing too much debt.
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Hong Lieu: So it's one of those things where, like we, we have these deficit mindsets, we have these they have. We have this way of thinking that's been implanted in this, that we're supposed to be a certain way and excellent way when the reality is that everyone else is all up there, live in that, live in that good line, is doing the exact opposite and being rewarded for it. So it's like the. It's this, it's the secret they try to sprinkle down to us, and they try to like. We have to be the noblest. You know, the the highest
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Hong Lieu: functioning fools with the least amount of resources like, Come on, dog, like you've been lying, and that's the thing about Cap, like they've been capping the whole time, and it only in the only in recent times, with all the great Recession and all the once you get a peek behind the curtain, you see how it really is, and how people are really getting down. And that's where I give a lot of props. These young folks were having those conversations people always like. Oh, the young people, softly, I mean having these conversations is very difficult.
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Hong Lieu: II mean, you hope we talk about. We can never ask anyone for money. I can never talk about these kind of things with a lot of the old heads in terms of like like, damn what you're all doing is wrong, you know, like straight wrong. But II give the young folks grant they calling it out right now and and and hey, maybe nothing happens. But even being able to have those conversations, if it helps their mental health, I'm all for it, cause cause, that's all they get at this point, cause those folks ain't giving up any of their 1% wealth. They're they're hoarding that stuff and and just hanging on to, you know, W. Every into their life to hang on to it.
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Hong Lieu: So as long as you can give give the young folks that mental conversation, like
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Hong Lieu: acknowledging what they're seeing is real, and that, and that they're on the right path like, just give them that. And people aren't aren't even giving them that. So at least I wanna be the one to be like y'all right, you know, like, speak to the power. Have your conversations, I mean, don't be so tired of the result, because you know, nothing's probably gonna change. But at the same time, please still have the conversations, at least for your own mental health, and get on that path that we're talking about.
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Miguel Cruz: Yeah. So
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Hong Lieu: I know. The we kind of have touched on on our next segment a little bit. Add into the midst of this conversation. But if you wanna add anything else, so what brought you to Sbcc Miguel? And you know your your your path from wherever you want to start to to get in here to where you are today.
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Miguel Cruz: Yeah. Well, I was a student here actually started in the transitions program. So that's what the rising scholars program used to be called. And that program changed my life. Man. It was like,
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Miguel Cruz: I'm gonna keep it completely real. II wasn't. I wasn't. I didn't come to Sbcc with the most noblest of intense, and I mean I was on probation and probation, kept following me to every job I went to. And we're gonna garner, should we? Just I'm just gonna quit and go to another job, you know. So that's what I was. My mindset, you know, 24, II just gotten into recovery, and II was. I was working construction. I was digging ditches, you know. Nothing wrong with that, but I just wasn't good at it, and I didn't like it, and I just remember like digging a dish, probably like a plumbing
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Miguel Cruz: tunnel or whatever. And I just remember thinking like man like II can contribute more to the world than this. I think I can.
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Miguel Cruz: I think I have more to give. You know what I mean, and and whatever that looks like. So you know, might be mom at the time she was gonna sign up for college. And I was like cool. We heard about this transition program. I wanna do that cause I heard through the great bind that like probation can't touch Federal money. So when you get like your Fafsa, or whatever they can't touch, I think
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Miguel Cruz: time for me to come up right here. Yeah, I'll I'll be here. But the trick was on me, man, because I fell in love with education. I fell in love with this institution, and I fell in love with like. It's easy as a salesman. I fell in love with myself.
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Miguel Cruz: I was like, Wow, you know what? I'm actually really smart, and I knew that. But in the neighborhood I hate how smart I was because I don't wanna give me phone or running pup while people call me a ner know that I write poetry, or whatever all that stuff you know what I mean. So right here, I was able to kinda be like my authentic self. For the first time I was able to like not hide being smart, I was able to.
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Miguel Cruz: I don't know. I just remembered so my first language was Spanish. I didn't speak English when I first started kindergarten, and I remember like internalizing these things, that I was dumb, or I wasn't smart enough with the other kids, and I really believe that for a long time. But looking back, I just didn't understand the lady because she was speaking English. I didn't speak. I didn't speak it, you know, so it was. I was trying to like
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Miguel Cruz: adapt to that. So when I got here it was like. I fell in love with education for the first time. You know, I fell in love with the people I fell in love with, like having a community. You know, this is African proverb that says, you know, if the child isn't embraced by the village, you'll burn it down to feel it's warm, and I realize that's what I was doing my whole like young adult life. You know. I was just angry. I was. I was so.
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Miguel Cruz: you know.
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Miguel Cruz: I saw what was going on. I saw the injustices, and I was angry. You know what I mean, and I came here to school, and it was kind of like a way to level out the playing field. Okay, cool. If I if I stay clean, if I if I stay doing my studies, I can be somebody, and I could get out of poverty, maybe, and I could I, to very least give my kids a better life and self actualize and give myself a better life. So
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Miguel Cruz: that's how I started it. And it was like magic. Man. There's so many people here that work at Sbcc that came here, and we're just like Amazing
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Miguel Cruz: are now working here, you know. I there's name countless people, and I'm one of those that like there's some sort of magic here that happens on this campus. I don't know what it is, but
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Miguel Cruz: you know, like I said it. It took someone to believe in me before I could believe in myself. and a lot of people believed in me. And I was like, you know. Well, like, maybe I can do this.
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Miguel Cruz: And people like she was my counselor, and I remember register to come here for a certificate and drink an alcohol counseling and bounce, and she's like, No. you're gonna get an Aa. And then when I got the Aa almost like you're gonna get a BA. I was like, yes, ma'am, you're gonna be into. She believed to me, and she pushed me man and people here saw something in me that I didn't, and that really like catapulted me into like my destiny. I truly feel so.
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Miguel Cruz: I've always wanted to come back.
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Miguel Cruz: So you know, I worked at Eops. I worked for equity as a student worker. Then I wanted to get my BA. And then I worked at the Drc. In town, which is the day reporting center. So that helps people that are on parole. I was a substance abuse counselor there and then I worked at the jails, a correctional counselor, and then I was trying to make my way back, man, and finally, like
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Miguel Cruz: I'll forever be grateful. The International Student Office man, because they saw something in me and they took a chance on me. and
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Miguel Cruz: I was at the jail. And I was like, I can't do this anymore. And I quit.
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Miguel Cruz: And I was like, I don't know what I'm gonna do. And I took. I took off to Europe for 2. For 2 weeks, I was like, let's see what happens. I didn't have no backup plan. I was like, maybe I'll just work at Trader Joe's or something. I just couldn't work at the jail anymore. And while I was in Paris, you know, this job called me like, Hey, do you wanna interview? And I had just turned off my notifications because I didn't think they were. Gonna get me because I was like, I don't have any experience with international students like I didn't get the job at Eops and all these other places. And I thought for sure I was gonna get a job.
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Miguel Cruz: So for sure, International won't hire me.
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Miguel Cruz: But to my surprise, man, I did the interview while I was in Paris, and just like once again like this, this sort of like cosmic synchronicity at the universe like, Wow, I'm interviewing for an international student advisor while I was like overlooking the Eiffel Tower in my hotel, and you know, doing the Zoom Meeting. And then I got the job, and I took a leap of faith, and II
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Miguel Cruz: I left the country and blew half of my savings on this trip, you know, wasn't the most fiscally responsible thing, but I felt like the universe got me, man, and it was meant to be. And
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Miguel Cruz: now that I'm back here, it was like this has been like a shift in my consciousness. You know what I mean. I get to have kids from all over the world, Co. Over here and give me, like some of their ways, to manage, teach me things, and just the way they do things and the way they see things in their community. And I think to when I saw the graduation like a little piece of me gets to go back home with them. So it's kinda like a really like, it's not just the job right here. It's kinda like really spiritual in a way, for me, you know.
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Miguel Cruz: and it and it's nice. You still see a lot of those students at the basic Need Center cause they allow them roll through to get together.
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Hong Lieu: Yeah.
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Hong Lieu: yeah. Someone who for me, growing up, it was opposite. II you. You hid yourself being smart. I got tired of being smart, because if you grow up as a smart Asian kid, you know, like, get pushed a certain way you get, you get told to grind a certain way, and I'm like.
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Hong Lieu: I don't wanna do that. I was, I mean, I cause II we I was playing all the bunch of neighborhood kids. We're we're having a good time. I'm just keep doing this. And then and yeah, Punk rock saved my life. I hung out. Sorry, got in with the punks, and then I did, and then I did have to start hiding that I was smart because I was always the narc of the group. But but I got it. That's the thing. I gotta taste the other side of it. I feel like I feel like that. Both sides aspect of it is important.
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Hong Lieu: You don't wanna just do the scumbag Burnout life, and you don't wanna just do the academic super smart life because
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Hong Lieu: they're both unbalanced in kind of similar ways at the end of the day, but they're both unbalanced, and they will, if you lean too hard into one or the other, it will lead to you ruin as a he, as a human individual, so that balance is part is probably the first step, and and for me it definitely was a nice, a nice balance, because then I
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Hong Lieu: then at the end of day I could come back and I could go. I could work in between both of them, because everyone that was super smart knew I wasn't like about that super high team in life, and all the punks knew I wasn't. I wasn't a killer at the end of the day I wasn't. I wasn't really bad about it when they're trying to like smoke, crack and stuff. So like, yeah, so it was a nice balance where I could. I could kind of go between it and figure out who I really was, and that that was that led me on the path to to actually be able to look inside myself
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Hong Lieu: because I was looking at both sides for approval at first and then today I was like, I'm getting, not I'm getting. I'm not getting that from either one. What do I got from? What do I get from within. And that's what really kind of led you in the way to really be comfortable, you know. And then you talk about finding your true authentic self.
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Hong Lieu: I needed that
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Hong Lieu: that dichotomy. I needed both to see what the other side was like, cause it before. It was just what I thought it was like, and in both cases it's drastically different when you're in the mix, and and a lot more unsatisfying at the end of the day for me, honest, but I mean, for you know from the that he was like, you know it. It puns it. Hip, hop
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Hong Lieu: from base, like all these different scenes where you could, really, and where II once once you're really comfortable who you are. You can just get in where you fit in, and it doesn't have to be about being in the scene, or disco you soak up the peers aspects of the culture. So that was another win, whereas, like I could, I could really feel
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Hong Lieu: what artists were getting at when they make their music, what what people are getting at when they, when they in the scene, like doing this work like food, not bombs. You know that all the anti-racist work, that with the punk communities and then hip, hop
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Hong Lieu: communities are doing plur and drum and base peace, love you need respect like all that stuff was like, was.
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Hong Lieu: it? Was more they became the I could see the truest idea, you know. Once I was able to find that from within as well. That piece.
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Hong Lieu: Yeah. So so just hearing your stories like, I can see where where all your experiences like e kind of it, didn't. It? Didn't have to be that way. But you made those choices as well, you know, and and put yourself in a position
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Hong Lieu: to feel all that and it and look, you know, like. And your growth. As a result of that, I mean, it's self evident. So
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Miguel Cruz: so definitely definitely great work, man like. I always say that, too, like Punk Rock. Save my life, too, man, because when I was growing up like you know, my cousins were from the neighborhood man and me and my brother just looked up to them. We reviewed them. Oh, man, that's what we wanted to, you know, and at age 12. Man, I remember my my neighbors brother, he was in high school. We were like one into seventh grade. You guys wanna check out this. CD. You know, it's like, at the time we're like Burn Cds were a thing, you know.
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Miguel Cruz: and he and he gave me a CD. Of the casualties. Man for the punch. I'm not gonna do that. I'm gonna do this, and that's you know the anger, the injustice, the social consciousness, like the the angst like it just resonated with me, I mean, I didn't see it till later, but like it was like my rebellion was a lot of like self destruction. In a way
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I was really mad at the man and the establishment and the suits, whatever quote unquote. But I was rebelling in a way that was destructing myself. And I didn't realize that till like later on, you know. But
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Miguel Cruz: yeah, like, I had to experience that to be like. Now, my biggest form of rebellion is like staying clean and sober and and doing helping people, you know. That's my biggest form of rebellion, because if you love yourself in in a capitalistic society that profits off of yourself. Doubt profits off of your fear of profits off of like your.
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Miguel Cruz: you know, hating yourself, image like that to me. That's like an act of revolution, man to love yourself and to love others, and I mean so for me, like I had to experience that to see that, you know. So I really appreciate you touching on that and Punk Rock was the only way in the streets for me cause like I said, you can look at my eyes and be like I'm not a killer. I'm not running no blocks. I'm not sitting on the stoop, trying to wait for someone to call me on the pay phone like
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Hong Lieu: it was only way to stay there without getting hit, like you get hit up all the time, because all my, all the friends like, of course they're brothers or sisters or cousins.
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Hong Lieu: We're in the streets doing gang banging. But if they wanna just be hanging out the only way it was like, oh, no, I'm a I'm a punk rocker man like Hey, hey? Like you're where you from like, Oh, I'm a rocker fool man like II like, I'm a punk rock. And then they'd be like, Okay, that's cool, cause they know, like they, they know, like to just leave you alone, cause, you know, like they just leave you alone, so you could still be kind of around in the mix, but you'd be kinda out of it. It's like a press pass in real wars, like you know, the the press pass
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Hong Lieu: like pump being a punk rocker is like a pass, cause they know you're just trying to like, get faded and look around and remark of what's going on around you, you know, like, like, Okay, I'll I'll when I get forties I'll get you. I'll get you in your home. He's a couple to like. Oh, thank you, man, thank you, you know, like, so you like, yeah. So it's a good way to still be adjacent. Because, yeah, you did look up to fools like that. But it's a good way to still be adjacent in the streets, but at the same time, like
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Hong Lieu: out of that mix cause, it got real heavy and real serious, real fast, and if you knew you weren't about it then Punk Rock was a way to go. Because and you have a group. Just listen to music and like, go to shows. And then, yeah, so it was, yeah, absolutely save my life.
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Miguel Cruz: So I am.
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Yeah.
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Hong Lieu: Alright. Thank you for that segue. Now to good evening our food section.
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Hong Lieu: So, Miguel, whether food you make or had made for you, or a restaurant you've been to recently, and anything you want to share with us regarding anything. Food related. Man, my my favorite burritos. So I love rituals, and I, me and my kids love burritos.
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Miguel Cruz: My daughter draws us eating them all the time. You know what I mean. My favorite breed was at Google's man on the West Side. You know what I mean so III love that place, you know. It's kinda like, you know, it's not fancy it's nice, just like straight like Hood. It's in the hood. You know what I mean like fun. Fact, man like, you know, I was born.
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Miguel Cruz: I raised on the East Side so like I almost got stab one time for Google, because it's like the other side. Yeah, man, it was always like in, you know, dangerous territory. But like, I always loved them man. But yeah, the nachos there, and the burritos that's like my all time favorite food bootspot here.
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Miguel Cruz: super burrito, that pastor or the supernova pastor. That's like my go-to man.
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Hong Lieu: Yeah, I live here on the west side, and Cuckoo's is that kind of like. It's a north star, like II do patronize those that appe more recently, because, you know, shout out to Andy Gill and the Gil family. But Cuckoo would need, like the the cardinals out of preparada, or anything that you can hit the there, and also, like the breakfast we used to hold me down pretty well. When I worked at the library. I would always order Kuca's.
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Miguel Cruz: and so they they always always hold it down. Get it done absolutely like my mom is my favorite cook man. For sure she's like.
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Miguel Cruz: I know every Mexican person is like, Oh, my mom and mom, you know what I mean. But like man like my, and maybe it's tied to like
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Miguel Cruz: memories. And and you know my mom grew up. You know, she didn't grow up with a lot of love, so she didn't give us a lot of love. You know what I mean like not. And Amy, who I love you, and hugs and kisses and stuff like that. She didn't grow up with that. But the way she showed us love was through food, man.
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Hong Lieu: and she always cook for us, you know she always like made sure we we were fed. If if it wasn't for her Bro, I'd have like the body of a Greek god. You know what I mean, man. I remember I had this. My friend man, I went to Roosevelt School, so it was like half white kids, half, you know, latino kids. And you know, my best friend and third grade was Jewish man. That was Aaron, and his family was well off. You know they were rich.
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Miguel Cruz: and he had a big house on it. Whoa! This is like a mansion like you live here. That's crazy, you know what I mean. And but he would always want to go to my house. Not? Why do you wanna put my house? I had like 2 bedroom apartment for me, my brother just left in the living room, because, you know my parents were not room make money, and he had to pretend like we weren't embarrassed by it, or whatever you know. So we were kinda like, you know you're not. It was the opposite of my friend, you know, but he always wanted to come, and what he told me took me out. Man he was like.
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Miguel Cruz: I love going to your house, man like you have homemade Mexican food every day. You know, his mom didn't really cook, you know. There was just like whatever micro. I don't know. You know what I mean like he just
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Miguel Cruz: made himself peanut butter and jelly, or something. You know what I mean, and but he's like man your mom cooks every day, and you guys eat together, and blah! Blah! Blah! That's the first time I saw that man. If this rich kid is like wanting to come here like man like it.
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Miguel Cruz: how you know. wealthy, am I not in terms of money, but, like my family is one of my wealth is, you know, and and food brought us together like, yeah, you know, we may not be like the most
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Miguel Cruz: a healthy family, or the whatever, but like
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Miguel Cruz: we do come together, and we break bread, and we when we laugh, and we do all that, you know, I mean, so that kinda really taught me a lot that experience.
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Miguel Cruz: But yeah, II grew up for. But like we were rich in many other ways, you know so, and food was one of those ways. So I really like.
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Miguel Cruz: I don't know. To me food is like sacred. You know what I mean when you break bread with someone or when like, there's a difference when you buy food, and then like when your mom makes it for you. With all this love and kindness, and like she makes cheerlead. And if anyone's ever made she like, I said, it's a process man. You gotta get the egg wise. You gotta beat them. You gotta. It's a whole thing, man, and she knows that those are my favorite. She'll go through the whole process and make a man just with love, you know, and nothing but kindness, and I remember when I was at the jail man like
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Miguel Cruz: they were lucky enough to let me bring in some tamales for the dudes and Christmas, you know, and a lot of those dues haven't had tamales in like years, you know. Some of them are going away and maybe not coming back. And
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Miguel Cruz: and my mom told me like, Hey, I asked my mom, she could make them, you know, she's like, yeah, and my brother's in prison right now, you know so.
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Miguel Cruz: And she told me to tell the guys, and they're like, Hey, you know, please enjoy my tamales. I made him with a lot of love. I wish I could have given him to my son. But second best is given into you guys. And you guys can be my sons for this Christmas. You know what I mean. And
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Miguel Cruz: and we're all kinda a little crying, you know what I mean. And yeah. So my mom made punch and tamales. I got to bring that to the jail man, and that was priceless man to see some of those guys eat homemade tamales from a mom with the, with the mother's love. You know what I mean it. It just meant everything to them and for me to be able to bring that and share that with them like that was that was like one of the best moments of my life. So it's just I don't know. So I guess food for me is a lot more than just food and a lot more than just eating right, especially with my mom's house
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Akil Hill: absolutely, absolutely. You know II was listening and thinking a little bit about
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Akil Hill: you know how you said, you know.
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Akil Hill: you know your mom cooks and makes food out of love. and
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listening to the story about the tamales in the jail. It also made me think about.
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Akil Hill: Oh, it's healing
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Akil Hill: as well right. And so in some cases like healing for the people that are in that haven't had it for a while right? But healing honestly for the piece like you were saying about your brother. It was probably healing for your mom. These are the kinds of things that for me, like, you know, we
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Akil Hill: thinking about how we invest more in the arts and music. And this is why, culturally, it's so significant where where? It's a healing process for people, you know, and just is like someone can look at a painting and be healed from that. And when the artist is painting that they're just painting what they're painting, thinking like, I'm an artist. But actually, you're the healer.
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Akil Hill: Might be right, you know. So in particular, thinking a little bit about the Aapi mirror that just was put up on our campus as well as other murals are on our campus, that it's actually the artists think as themselves as their artists, but they're actually healers in a lot of ways. And so and so it's food.
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Miguel Cruz: So you know, that's the correlation for me. And this would be a beautiful story for, and thanks for sharing that doing a little bit of cooking myself, like cooking is an art. You know what I mean like you can give 10 people the same ingredients, and they're gonna make it 10 different ways. You know what I mean. So flavor, everyone has their own style. So
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Hong Lieu: yeah, for me, cooking in the food as an art as well. Yeah. And that's what makes it. That's what makes it a creative art like that is, everyone puts their own spin on it, based on their own experiences, based on how they feel it, what they feel is best, and then you, when you break it down. You see, you ask people about that, you know, like the process and everything. That's that's where you get the true artistry involved, you know. So I and I also really loved how you mentioned the fact that you and your friend integrated your friend Aaron coming over, and and just the difference in life.
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Hong Lieu: the difference in life, experience, and and just seeing that really helps you realize, you know, the idea that money can't buy you love or happiness, or whatever like money is not the answer. It's not when people talk about privilege, it's not about. If I'm if only I get rich, then it'll be okay.
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Hong Lieu: It's a, you know. Rich people got problems, too. Their problems may not feel as important to you listening to it, but that stress that they feel is just as real as the stress that we feel, you know, like. So it's not so that that stress is universal. So so that stress avoidance and that look to mental health, and find your truth with any self. That's the answer, you know, not trying to
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Hong Lieu: like. What would I do if I had that same kind of wealth or same kind of that. The true answer is.
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Hong Lieu: everybody's stressed. Everybody's feeling that stuff. Everybody feel we just try to gotta try to all get ourselves on that path
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Hong Lieu: of self realization and just really understanding who we are, what we're comfortable. And who are, you know, who we are as authentic sales, and him coming over having that home cooked meals, breaking Brad with a family that helped him a lot. I'm sure you know like that I mean he he saw some realness right there. And he's like, Okay, and and do some self reflection like, man. What am I missing here? That where I feel like I really need to go get that
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Hong Lieu: and maybe talk to his mom had a conversation like, nay, you know we we should talk a little bit more we should do some money, cause I cause. I noticed that a lot where I hear stories about you know where kids know their know their Nanny or babysitter more than they know their parents, because their parents are working so much, and they're they're so busy like that. We need to take that time
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Hong Lieu: to really be there for people, and to really just like, see how people are doing like what you know like, that's that's stress mitigation, that mental health like we need to be there for people in that way, not just trying to get everybody rich, because no money, no problems. Man
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Akil Hill: never told lie. He never told lie, but also, but also to the the thing that you know, like I think about is
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Akil Hill: wealth was never a form of having a lot of money was never culturally was never a thing in our communities until recent. We didn't, we didn't. That was never, ever the standard.
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Akil Hill: This is all relatively new with capitalism, where all of a sudden you think you get money, and everything gets everything just magically gets better. I mean, you have access to different choices, absolutely in a capitalist society, if you have money, but in terms of the standard of what it's valued that had that has never been
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Akil Hill: a standard once we were. We valued people by culturally in the at least in the black community until recently.
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Hong Lieu: and the ho and the hoarding of the wealth is, is straight up. Imperial Colonial King Crap, you know, like straight up dude. The idea of you getting a lot of wealth is not to hoard it is to distribute it in your communities is to bring everybody up. A rising tide lifts all boats like not everything. I learned those features, bad man like what one thing that I learned with me forever man is like. If I'm meeting, then you're eating. You know the people that ride with me like if I come up and we all come up here. I mean
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Miguel Cruz: coming those closest with me, cause I didn't get here by myself.
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Miguel Cruz: Get here just like, buy my own free will, or my own Bootstrap, or anything like that. Now, like we'll talk when I took a village to like raise me up, and II don't forget that. Don't forget where I come from. So. But yeah, man, the whole. I think the whole point of wealth, and not just, you know, monetary wealth is just to share it. Man like what good is, what good is love? If you're just gonna like not do anything with it? You know what I mean? Yeah, what's we're good as love if you don't give it to your kids, and you know your spouse and all this, and that, you know. So yeah, I truly agree with that.
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Hong Lieu: And you gotta make sure you start to home with the family. Because if I'm this nice Guy has everyone doing, and then at home I'm some jerk. Then my son sees that I'm front, and then I and then that whole. So cycles broken, you know. So you gotta be. You gotta be that. You gotta be willing to be that able to be that for everyone you know, this is gotta be universal because you, we talk about equity and quality. You gotta prove
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Hong Lieu: show
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Hong Lieu: that you really do feel that we are all equal under the sun, you know, like we are all deserving of that of that love and that compassion, and just being there for people, you know, like.
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Hong Lieu: And and that's and that's how that's that's what drives me, you know we all try. We should all, but at the same time I can only control what I do, and I do. My! I do my best, you know, like in in Kenya's a channel, though, like good enough like close enough like it's like Maso manos, you know. Like, say that again, how do you say it? Like, it's, it's like, yeah, like, it's not too much, but enough, like, just enough, you know, like, kind of that kind of thing like muscle manual. So I think of it in Spanish.
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Akil Hill: yeah, cool. Yeah. So.
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Akil Hill: but yeah, great great pick. Okay, what you think we you got? We got picks. Yeah, I got. I'll drop wood real quick. I wanna elaborate too much. But I do wanna give a shout out to this guy in his restaurant. So my pick, we're in Hispanic heritage month, and we live in this great state of California. And you know, no doubt the contributions of you know Mexican people in this State in particular, since you know, I don't, not from California, but I consider myself
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Akil Hill: Do. I do consider myself to be from California wasn't born so. But so I'm gonna go with the choice. This is one of my favorite taco places. And I'm Gonna actually
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Akil Hill: seen you guys south of Santa Barbara to Oxnard. I think. On Oxnard Boulevard Boulevard. There's stretches of different types of food trucks, and I think I've tried all of them. But my favorite food truck is food truck on Oxnard Boulevard and vineyards. So right when you come into Oxnard. It's right there on the corner
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Akil Hill: in a chevron station parking lot it's called Tacos Elvlades.
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Akil Hill: and I'm telling y'all man like I've eaten my fair share of tacos, you know. And this place is definitely
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Akil Hill: by far my favorite by far. So they kinda specialize. They have all the different meats. But I I'm a big fan of of the there, and what they do is to they also have shrimp. So they have like, if you're you're talking about burritos, they have a kind of like a turf and surf where they mix the shrimp and the Asada, and make it into a burrito. But the Tac. But the Tacos are really good, and one thing I will say, and I really.
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Akil Hill: you know, in in terms of like supporting local businesses and local people who are working class people. And I've really seen this truck kind of blow up. I mean. I used to go there, you know, like Pre Covid. And it was a small, tiny trailer, you know, and it just kept getting popular, you know, more popular, more popular.
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Akil Hill: and I would laugh because the chef and I be kind of keep became friends, cause where I would, I was always down there. We always say What's up? He thought. I lived in Oxnard until I told him I didn't, and he's like what you drive down here for my food, and then I'm like, absolutely I do. And you know. And so we kinda bonded. But recently, the truck has basically
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Akil Hill: blown up. And so he got like
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Akil Hill: a truck that's like triple in size. No businesses is popping now they're selling. I got fresh guys. And and so the funny thing is,
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Akil Hill: he used to have long hair, right? And so III took a break from that Taco text. It was always busy. So I went back, you know. Maybe you know, last month.
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Akil Hill: and I'm like, I wonder if he sold it, because it's so popular now, cause cause that he kind of looks like his his brother. But it's not the same guy. I don't think
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Akil Hill: so. He got cut his hair. He was wears glasses, and so when I he was saying, what's up to me? I'm like yo. Did you sell it, did you? Is this your brother's business? He's like? No, it's me full. He's like I cut my hair and I wear glasses. It's I was like yo. I thought it was you. But you look different. You know. I'm like you got the finde glasses on, you know, like businesses. Hey, man, how's business going?
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He's like, it's going great. And it, you know, it's like, was for me. It's a true St. Success story
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Akil Hill: to see someone start out
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Akil Hill: and believe it's like a risk of betting on themselves, you know, and with small food truck. Now it's blown up, and you know it's it's a
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Akil Hill: get a little weight when you order, but you know I see him and his family in there is has, like, you know, son, 8 years old working the front. It's just a beautiful story. And so if you're ever in Oxnard, and you need Tacos. Yeah, please stop by that truck. II you know I'm trying to plan something from my office and a mission and records to all of us. Go down one night, have Tacos at his truck and then go bowling. But
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Akil Hill: you know it's just one of those stories where you feel good, where you're spending your money, you know. You know, it's going to a place of, you know, that's going to be good use versus, you know, big change and stuff like that. So that's my pick for the week. I'll I'll I'll stop there. But
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Akil Hill: definitely. you guys could try that definitely. Well, thank you for that man, and that goes back to what you were saying about how food is healing man. I just pictured him and his family going in there, and
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Akil Hill: how how that's helping them bond and also helping them, you know, move up to economic ladder, or whatever you know what I mean. And other people back. Man, you know what I mean. It's just kind of like an all-around like, like one of those stories that just feels good and just like it's not just food. It's not just our. It's a healing being a family. So I think that's no man. So I'll definitely be stopping by, you know. Enjoy.
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Akil Hill: Does he have that used to have old beater truck when he first started. You know he's like, yes, my, that's my truck, I'm like, oh, I know business is good, supportive, though, man, he's a great guy
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Hong Lieu: anytime. You see the grind payoff cause there's times where you'd you've seen people grind, and it doesn't pay off, and it really hurts your soul. But when you see the grind paying off, and it's good product, and they doing they doing good for themselves like it just warms the heart. It's definitely definitely worth supporting small business like that.
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Hong Lieu: So my pick along those lines.
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Hong Lieu: Hispanic heritage month, but also just really bomb talk was in the neighborhood, the little food truck that's that. It's like a trailer that posted behind food land. They've been under new ownership recently, and they've they've they were always pretty good, but now they're really good, they really they really. I don't know what they did, but
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Hong Lieu: everything's on point. I go there at least couple of times a week. Get get tacos, or my wife gets the and stuff. But there, there! Whole menu is pretty on point. I like the 3 bus. There is not as crispy as other places, but sometimes I like when it's not as crispy. Cause I like that chew. You know I like. I like the chew Oregon meets. I'm not. I'm that guy. But so talk to me, man, I gotta shout it out. And then, on the other side of the West side, on Korea and San Andreas, right on that big busy intersection on the weekends
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Hong Lieu: by the gas station. There's a lady that's Tacos, they Canasta, which is not, you know. There's there's not a lot of Tacos they can ask the places around, because they are, you know, Basket Tacos as a translation, but they are steamed, and not like kind of grilled, and so sh so in terms of
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Hong Lieu: the city cracks down a folks, they have open flame out in the streets on street vendors. All that. So she is fully legal. Please support. She has her stuff in a cooler cause. She steams them in advance and just chilling in the cooler.
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Hong Lieu: If you know Taco, they can ask that. It's it's if you haven't had before. It's worth trying, because the texture different. There's still Tacos, there's still, you know, but there, but there's steam so that the choose a little different. But the flavor is still there, because with with the Tacos they can ask, because steam the the tortilla become. Do you know, really take center stage? The filling really gets heightened like you really taste them, the Masa, when when you're just steaming it, you don't have any sort of like heat on that.
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Hong Lieu: And then also, there's also a guy in the area. I'm not gonna blow up his spot, because you know, but he does Carnitas on Saturday and Sunday. So he's right in that area. You look around you'll find him and he's he's he's the best, you know. 16 bucks a pound, or you can just do Tacos, and he's got that the thing about Carnitas I love. You know in La, the place, that the specializing Carnitas.
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Hong Lieu: 2 aspects of it is that you get more than just the shoulder cut. You know, you get like this. You get some skin. You get some organ. I know keel doesn't wanna do this. But but but and that's what this guy does. Where, when he's giving me Carnitas, I'm getting a little bit of everything, which is what I want. I mean, I'm not getting ear tail, which I which I still miss, but I like having all like a little bit of everything. So when I chop it up and make tacos, I'm getting a little jelly by the skin a little bit of, you know, like stomach lining. And then
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Hong Lieu: yeah. So he and then that that's citrus flavor. Because you know, you, you yeah, exactly. A lot of times. A lot of times is very muted where you you definitely taste the meat. But you don't taste like the marinade behind the braise and his. Really, you get that little citrus, pop where it's like, yeah.
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Hong Lieu: So yeah, II don't know. I don't know the guy's name. If you're in that area you look around. You find him only Saturdays and Sundays. He's not there in the week. He me he's got another, another hustle. But but yeah, definitely, we're supporting cause he got you'll see the big ocasio, and he's just sitting there with a big old stir just like working that. Yeah. So so I'll I'll put some links in the show notes.
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Hong Lieu: just like, yeah, someone. I'm not trying to blow people's spots. But I'm trying to like, say, support small business out there. Absolutely
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Akil Hill: absolutely
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Hong Lieu: alright. So, closing out the show, rounding out, riding at home, stretch Miguel higher learning piece of culture. As many as you'd like, book, music, movie, TV film, anything, anything you got
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Miguel Cruz: since we're, you know, doing, you know, Hispanic heritage month, like.
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Miguel Cruz: I just wanna shout out the music man like the music of of like
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Miguel Cruz: that's what's been saving me recently, you know, this year has been really hard, you know. The year started off with my cousin passing away, you know. So
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Miguel Cruz: your S. And P. Is my cousin Eddie, and and it was just like hard man and what I really love about our culture. Man is like, like, we can transform all this pain into like beautiful music. Yeah, I mean for me, like.
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Hong Lieu: like, like heartbreaking, heartbroken songs and Spanish just hit different than than they do in English, or like angry punk rock and Spanish just hits different than it does in English, you know. Obviously, there's no kind of I'm sure someone cooperate. If Elvis can rip off chuck berry some I can do some Cumbria and be like yo. This is my true authentic self.
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Miguel Cruz: There's actually some dude on tick tock that does like the best of blue my song in English. But yeah, man, the music man, it it saved my life. It's got me through so much, you know, and there's so much like good music out right now, you know. Yeah, like, II didn't really mess with like the new stuff anymore. But I've gone into like some of the best of blue. My songs and they're they're pretty good, you know what I mean like
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Miguel Cruz: like group of feedmare like. You know, things like that. I'm not like a big band guy, but like, I'm a huge song guy like every a lot of bands have like good songs, if you guys so our Instagram does. This band called Easy Band, or something, but they do covers, you know. They covered like.
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Miguel Cruz: dismiss this charming man, but they do it in like North Daniel style. You know what I mean like my chemical romance is the black Parade. I don't even like that song, but how they covered it! Oh, man, it was is crazy like a North Daniel, but you know they have, like a whole pinto and accordion, and the whole 9, and they just play it like
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Miguel Cruz: with their own flavor man. And it's kinda like it's cool to see that I love like one band. There's also this band called Mexic, that when you mentioned the Smith cover I was thinking of Mexican right away. Bands do like songs in English songs with Smith songs things like that like putting our own spin on it, you know. I mean, I was thinking of like man. How come
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Miguel Cruz: Hispanic heritage ones? How can. We don't even get a month. We get like 2 weeks of 2 months. I was thinking about that, and I was like, you know, what cause a lot of us are in one spot, you know. A lot of us are like our roots are from somewhere else, and we'll replant it somewhere else. So I think it's very symbolic. And I mean so I think the music also reflects that right? So when I took a music class a long time ago. You know, music comes from like German poker music. If you listen to the like the band, it extends from that. And so a lot of our music is is mixed in with
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Miguel Cruz: a lot of other stuff. You know what I mean. So I think that was beautiful about like Latinos. We have like so much influence from all over the world, and you know, I mean one of the port calls is like La la la. That means like the cosmic race, because, like in Latino culture, we have like people that like have, like red hair freckles, you know, after all, Latinos, obviously, and many people that have a cousin who looks Filipino. We have like a little bit. We have flavor of all over the rainbow of the human race, and I feel like that's what makes our music and
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Miguel Cruz: our poetry so like enriching man. So like. I think the arts for me about our culture. I can't just name one Hong. I'm sorry, but it's just like
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Miguel Cruz: like you said, you know, Punk Rock. Save my life, you know. Music save my life, you know. There's like music like
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Miguel Cruz: like. There's one song like, you know. I heard it when I was younger. But now that I'm older
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Miguel Cruz: Oh, that's that's
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Miguel Cruz: that really just hit different, you know. So yeah, man, I can't name just one. But yeah, those are all you got. You got plenty of names in there, there's plenty to put in the show notes. Yeah, okay, cool. Cool.
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Akil Hill: Thanks.
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Yeah.
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Akil Hill: so I'll throw next to, because it's funny that you you start. You started with music, cause that's what's gonna be my choice. And then, obviously one of my favorite albums of all time. And it is kind of relates to what you're saying about the diaspora, the Latino diaspora. But Bueno Vista Socio Club
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Akil Hill: is one of my all time favorite albums. And it's it's a classic, and most people know know about it. But I would be remiss in Hispanic characters much not to throw Buenos a social club.
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Akil Hill: And so that's my pick. My choice for the week. Just really good keeping music. There's some legends big time legends O on on that album, and so just just
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Akil Hill: check it out to the listeners. Yeah.
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Hong Lieu: that's my choice. I mean that that album is like they're to me. They're like the Wu Tang clan of like like Cuban music like you can go down a wormhole of any of the artists on there, and just look up their solo records, and you got a lot of quality, just like.
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Hong Lieu: yeah, yeah, there's there's just a lot of really great, you know, really great artists there and then combined. That record is a true classic. It's probably yeah, absolutely great. Pick right there. Yeah.
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Hong Lieu: Cuban Wu Tang clan right there. So I I'll keep it moving. II shot a shout out, Yeah, Hispanic heritage month, the the the closest place I touched, you know, via the punk rockers in East La. Show me all the all the music and stuff. But you know, like
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Hong Lieu: does Scott Espanola, you talk about how the the music sounds like that. Scott, N. Espanol is definitely it. It like th. The move from bond to Skyn Espanol. Is not that not that drastic, you know, cause it's the same kind of Reggae riffs are in there and stuff like like I can dance. I can skank, you know, the skank and dance like, and when I go to parties, kickbacks, and stuff so all that stuff. But there's 2 bands, one of bands you told me about, Miguel, which is why I don't like deceit seats from la Post punk
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Hong Lieu: post punk new wave. I you know East LAI used to talk about always joke about the Holy Trinity, because, you know, Smith, Pesh Mode, and the cure
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Hong Lieu: such a big part. I mean we we we're all punkers, but we all started from kind of new wave post punk like we I we all kind of got into Smith's, or we got into some, you know, depeche mode the cure, and then got into Goth or punk from that, and then and then all that other stuff. But
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Hong Lieu: the seats is just taking that sound and just running with it. They're they're from LA. You know, but they they do a mix of of just really great catchy eighties, new wave songs, and if you look them up I'll put their links and show notes. They play a lot of small shows. So it's a chance to go to Small club show and see what that see what that scene is all about.
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Hong Lieu: Another band. I wanna shout out, depression, Sonora. Let me let me make sure I get that right.
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Hong Lieu: depression. Yeah. Depressio on Sonora Guy from Madrid. So he, during the pandemic
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Hong Lieu: made just started doing some bandcamp, Demos, because he was lock, you know, locked in. So you're just kind of at home. So you recorded some Bandcamp Demos. He's another guy really has that like
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Hong Lieu: right between Joy division, new order. You know that sound where it's like, really the bass. The bass hits like that new wave bass. Really the really jangly guitars, and just just really good, like there is his music on Spanish. But you can. II take the time, and I look in the lyrics, try to translate as best I can when I'm listening to. I have no idea. So I'm just vibe and with the vi-vin with the rhythm. But but that's that's what I like to do is I go back and I will break down kinda lyrics.
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Hong Lieu: kinda like with the scasta back in the days because of this kind of money, folks were really political, like, yeah, I mean, vooda, close goals was really really the a hallmark band from me, seeing them a couple of times. But then all the bands that would open for him like to just put inches. Do you wanna know, like the there's a lot of bands that really had a lot of message going with their music. And and that sort of really
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Hong Lieu: loved about. You know, these, these post phone new way folks are also speaking truth to power. But it's more of the it's the emotional stuff, you know? Like we do, we, you know, email, music, American music. There was an email scene. And and I think about a lot of the the I don't wanna call it email. But when you know the definition emails, emotional music. And they, you know, I just tapping into that kind of personal aspect of it because the stuff that folks are going through and a lot of that stuff does go unspoken.
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Hong Lieu: So so so a lot of those bands, you know, like, we're really kind of shining a light on that aspect of it. Whether it was Goths or whether it was all the new waivers like
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Hong Lieu: like we, we're we're struggling out here, and the politics are tough, but also individually, things are really tough. So it's like, it was good to have that. And it's good to have that balance like I said, the balance earlier of academics and and kind of street life that the balance of like emotional music mixed with political music. You need that balance as well
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Miguel Cruz: and just and just the random party jams, too. But yeah, that's what I love about music, man. So I've always played music. I've always done music. I do different types, but it's like
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Miguel Cruz: it's like different type styles of painting like you can't do like what you can do with like postponed like the disease. You can't do that kind of music and express like certain other things, and I mean, like gangster. I pitched you with, like the angst, or whatever you know I mean. I love Punk Rock, and I was then cause I was powerful and being angry right, but like as I grow up is like, Hey, yeah, I'm angry. But like the root cause of that, because I'm sad. Why am I sad? Blah blah blah, you know.
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Miguel Cruz: So like I feel like different genres of music hit on different, like spectrums of like the human feeling, or whatever you know, I mean. We all go through different stuff, and then different music hits different for different situations, you know. Like I said, when I want to heartbreak. I love.
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Miguel Cruz: you know Spanish music, you know. I mean the seas, you know. They got me through a lot, you know. Just oh, man, I just I just love that man. And yeah, like, I went to like dope man. And
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Miguel Cruz: yeah, II truly just think like music is is so much more than just entertainment. You know what I mean for me, like the music that I like is like it just connects humans, you know. I mean, it connects the human experience to other people like when you hear a song like man, how did they put that into words? That's exactly how I feel. But I couldn't even encapsulate that, or like man. That guitar is like exactly what I'm feeling right now. You know what I mean. So I think it's like there's something sacred in there, there's something like that connects humans together like no other like music, you know.
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Miguel Cruz: Yeah, just for this month. And like, I've been listening to a lot of like, you know, stuff in Spanish and like like you said for all the dash for not just but yeah, there's a pass from Spain like it's called muto, like, I really dig them stuff like that, you know. But yeah, man.
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Hong Lieu: and if you listen to enough enough music in any genre, the the messaging starts to overlap like in hip. Hop you got gangster rap. You got political hip. Hop you have a Mo. You have a lot of email. Rap. Now, you know, in in a post atmosphere world, a lot of
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Hong Lieu: I mean, it just depends where the music is coming from, like people. Minneapolis lot of. That's where that like, when top of turn of the century, yeah. Slug. And those fools they were doing kind of email wrap stuff. I mean, Minneapolis. They're not trying to tell you how hard the streets are, Minneapolis compared to the east or west coast, you know. So they had a rapper what they knew. So that's one of those things where, depending where the music comes from, like you, you imbue your own self in the message and like. And nowadays everyone's singing a rapping before we're like, Oh, these mobile rappers singing a rapping, what is this?
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Miguel Cruz: But now it's okay. So now you can be more expressive in that respect which is like it is, there is definitely some overlap, and that's the thing where I noticed it all music, drum, and base like. At first it was just like Mcs toasting
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Hong Lieu: about how much stuff they had, and then after a while, you you got to. They started peeling back the beat per minute, doing more reflective stuff. So each within each genre music the message there's like some universal messaging there. But then it just allows you to
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Hong Lieu: pick the music for your mood, you know, like the rhythm and the melody the Bpm. Like. So you can. Really.
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Hong Lieu: if you're open to it all, you know, even country and classical. There's similar pieces where like where someone would be like. Oh, that was a really angry classical piece I'm like, but then II start to get it. You know you gotta have every like any. Anyone who's an artist has to have that out there for their expression, whatever they're doing. So they make it fit into whatever they're doing. So it's like.
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Hong Lieu: so it's it's really it's good to have these kind of conversations where you can just throw a bunch of stuff out there and just let and just to let people know like whatever you love, whatever you pick, even if even if you're appears like a key, and you're and you're just down with the real real stuff. You don't need that email when you're live.
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Hong Lieu: there's still something for everyone, and that's and that's the best part about it all. And that's the best part about music. And that's the best part of this. This this piece. Hired learning is that we're not trying to tell you what is good and what is not good.
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Hong Lieu: We're trying to tell you that anything you're into is good as long as you're able to extract that knowledge and truth from it. So you. So we're asking you to think critically about the pieces that you're ingesting.
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Hong Lieu: not in, not of what they are, but what they do for you.
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Hong Lieu: So that's why that's where the power comes. I'm not. I could tell you to read, you know James Joyce and and the Iliad, and you'd be good to go, but that doesn't speak to everyone equally
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Hong Lieu: so. That's where we try to get in, where where you're at and which what speaks to you, I just wanna know speaks to you, and then we can vibe off that, and that's and that's that's, you know that that's it. That's so. It's really beautiful. How how this you know.
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Hong Lieu: how it's all broke down, and and and and really the the spirit you are. Miguel is like, yeah, I mean.
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Akil Hill: II wanna aspire to be more like Miguel in my life. We all, should we? We all should we all should have a little little Miguel in our shoulder telling us what's what's up, what's what's what's the real cause? You might get stabbed, hey? I value bad at you for that. That's a classic story. I'm glad you shared that with that.
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Akil Hill: That's taking one for the team for a hold on! I love that story, man. I'll never forget it.
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Hong Lieu: Thank you, Miguel, before we let you go. Any final words, any last any last final thoughts or words, anything you like to say about anything
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Miguel Cruz: another man, and just to touch back on like the music piece, I think, like, you know, we hit about like art and human expression. I think that, like any type of art, is just, you know, meant to evoke human expression or evoke. You know, emotions. Anything like that took a class, and I was in university about like the importance of art, and what the teacher. What the professor told me, is like
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Miguel Cruz: any art is supposed to just evoke human emotion. So whatever evokes human emotion is is considered art. So it could be like painting graffiti, whatever you know what I mean. And like all this types of music we're hitting on like, I truly think that that's like the meaning of life is to create. I think we're all artists. You know what I mean, like, an art doesn't have to be just confined to like a picture frame or anything like that like how you dress as an art, how you, how you communicate with the world isn't our, how you carry yourself as an art. You know what I mean, how you speak as an art. You know how we do anything as an art, and and I think that's like kind of the meaning of life is to create
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Miguel Cruz: and share with each other, you know. And I think just music is just like a super explicit way to do that. So I think that's why I save my life, man, I think, because, like people, created something and shared it. And I was able to relate to that. And hopefully, one day when I grew up, I wanna do the same thing. Man. So yeah, thank you guys for touching on that. So really appreciate that
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Hong Lieu: higher learning right there, higher learning. And II will also add, when I grow up, you grown man, you grown, you the elder. Now remember, we talked about this, hey? Stand in your light, Miguel. Stand in your light, man. You're like.
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Hong Lieu: yeah.
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Hong Lieu: thank you so much, Miguel. It's all. It was an honor to have you as always, Akil. Thank you so much, and thank you to all listeners until next time. This was Vaquero Voices - take care y'all.