Why I Vote: Puro Political Pari [Interview]
Interview Questions by Brittany Campbell
Three LatinX women joined forces over a year ago to take out the Republican party. How? By starting a political “pari” of their own. The word “pari” derives from the Mexican saying “puro pinche pari”, which translates to “pure fucking party” or something like, “party all fucking day!” This saying gave inspiration in creating the name and setting the tone for their community organization, ¡Puro Political Pari! Thus, they became a LatinX-led organization dedicated to recruiting LatinX folks and allies to mobilize voters in battleground states with the largest LatinX presence, Arizona, Texas and Florida. These were what Swing Left dubbed, “Super Swing states,” or states whose voters would have the greatest impact on the presidential elections, U.S. Senate races and the state houses key to rolling back Republican gerrymandering. So pari-goers would pull up a chair, a nice adult beverage, some papitas and choose their political poison: they could 1) letter/postcard write, 2) textbank, 3) phonebank and 4) register eligible swing state voters. It was easy, no experience was necessary and it really was a pari. ¡Puro Political Pari! has maintained its momentum, even during a quarantine. The mujeres tell us more about themselves and their ¡Puro Political Pari!
Who are you?
Stephanie: I’m Stephanie Loera, 34 years old from the Inland Empire. Proud daughter of two young trail blazing parents born in the small Mexican town of Calvillo, Aguascalientes. Member of a BIG loving family. Grateful to be employed at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, LA’s first Mexican-American cultural center/museum. Former musician and lover of all things cumbia. Raised on Mexican/Filipino catholic church sessions, cenaduria foods, “Caliente” booty shaking Saturdays, summer family trips through Mexican jungles listening to cassettes of Trio standards--oh, and also on Gloria Trevi and Michael Jackson jams--and sessions with grandma selling tamales in the Cardenas parking lot.
Mel: I’m Mel Loera, a 29 year old Aquarius rising with a Capricorn sun and moon. Stephanie is my older sister, we have two younger brothers and a dog named Pepper. Our parents are from Mexico, so my siblings and I are first generation Americans. I am an artist who has fronted a rock n’ roll band, acted in independent films and hosted many drag shows. I’m currently studying at Pasadena City College to obtain a degree in Communications.
Esperanza: I am Esperanza Sanchez, a young 30-year-old born and raised Angeleno with a keen interest in art, history, politics, pop culture, watching movies and television shows, and listening to Pop, R&B, Soul, Jazz, Alternative, Classic, and Oldies. I am a historian and museum curator and enjoy going to see live performances of music and theater. My parents took me to multiple museums, national parks, and observatories in my youth, and it’s one of the main reasons I am a museum curator today. My parents are immigrants from small towns in Mexico, and they worked hard to establish their own business with limited means and education. Both families can trace their roots to European and Indigenous ancestors and taught us to be proud of our diverse ancestry. My parents emphasized the importance of being a good and active citizen and helping others, especially immigrants who face racism.
How did you get involved in PPP?
Stephanie: I got involved in PPP because I noticed a massive need for folks who spoke Spanish and that were culturally competent/sensitive to reach out to our people in battleground states. We’ve recently been dubbed the second largest voting block in the country. What we do now is setting the infrastructure for how Latinx folks will be protected and engaged politically for generations to come. We CANNOT let the Republican lay that groundwork and exploit it.
Mel: My sister Steph got me involved with PPP after she tricked me into going door to door canvassing one day. She told me we were going to brunch, so naturally I went. After that experience I began helping my sister with the planning, letter writing and social media for Puro Political Pari.
Esperanza: I became involved with PPP when Stephanie reached out and asked if I wanted to reach out to swing-state voters for the upcoming election. In our first meeting, Stephanie and Mel mentioned how they are trying to get the Latinx vote to mobilize and how they wanted to provide tools for anyone to help reach Democrats while also socializing and meeting talented and creative people.
How did the pari change with COVID?
Stephanie: Quite a bit, but not necessarily for worse. Before we’d meet in person at our small apartment or a super low-key local bowling alley event room that wasn’t being used. We’d enjoy some simple Mexican botanas, like papitas with Valentina sauce, egg rolls, adult beverages and good tunes, while writing letters and training to text bank. We just recreated this virtually on Zoom, but it turned into a BYO....everything gig. Lol. Folks would show up with their drinks, we’d send them the Spotify music mix to play and we’d start writing letters, phonebanking or texting. Going virtual also helped us cast our net even further since it was virtual. People from throughout all of CA and the US could join us.
What is your role in PPP?
Stephanie: I’m one of the co-founders at PPP and, you can say, the lead. I helped create the concept and structure, which was largely modelled after Swing Left and Civic Sundays (two very partisan groups doing extraordinary work throughout the US). I help build relationships with voter mobilizing groups working locally in battleground states and select campaigns whose outcomes we feel will predominantly impact Latinx folks. I work closely with my two co-organizers, Esperanza and my sis, Mel. These are two brilliant, creative and passionate women that have helped expand and improve el PPP.
Mel: I am the Creative Director and Communications for Puro Political Pari. I oversee the social media for PPP as well as communicating via email with our pari people. During our pari time I’m usually the one cracking jokes, it’s easy to do given our current political administration.
Esperanza: My role consists of providing training on voter registration, text and phone bankings for Democrat campaigns, and our partners at Field Team 6. I am also actively involved in learning new Latinx Get Out The Vote campaigns and becoming an expert to bring back to our volunteers at PPP and provide assistance during our meetings. And I was also an officer in coordinating our letter packets with Vote Forward.
Why is the LatinX vote so important?
Esperanza: The Latinx vote is crucial because 32 million are eligible to vote in this upcoming election. The Hispanic, Latino, and Latinx community is not monolithic and has been referred to as the sleeping giant (because many have not voted consistently in recorded numbers). Depending on who you are speaking to, you may find someone who identifies as Hispanic or Latino instead of Latinx ( a word used by younger generations as gender-neutral and inclusive of all groups). Many political campaigns have made the mistake of not reaching out to our community early in their efforts. Besides, we have different generations with conservative and liberal views on the economy, health care, government, and so much more. If a campaign believes using the Spanish language is enough to have our community support them, it’s not! And this is why PPP focuses on reaching out to Hispanics, Latinos, and Latinx voters. We are taking action to get our community involved in registering to vote, voting by mail, or in-person early to avoid long lines and spread the word with their family and friends about voting.
What have you learned since joining PPP?
Stephanie: Probably the biggest thing I’ve learned is that you DO NOT need to be a political science expert to participate in democracy. In fact, expert or no expert, YOU ARE NEEDED. Democracy must be kept alive and that takes committing to an active role and giving it genuine attention. There are larger forces beyond us with so much money that bring about change. Our money is our PEOPLE-POWER and we must remember that the world won’t move without it.
Mel: PPP has taught me a lot about the importance of community. Seeing how people come together to try and save our democracy is incredibly inspiring. One of my favorite sayings is, “The power of the people is greater than the people in power.” Everytime we have a Puro Political Pari I am reminded of that.
Esperanza: I learned that no matter how big or small our group is, our passion for politics encourages us to do more. I am more of an introvert, and through PPP, I have become more comfortable with reaching out to swing-state voters directly over the phone. I can also see the progress among our PPP people who have also taken steps to reach out to voters through phone calls.
How would you describe a PPP person?
Mel: Pari people are about action, they want to be productively, politically active. They are diverse, we have artists, students, scientists, teachers, extroverts, introverts and more! These are people that want to go beyond a repost with their activism.
What are you hoping for this election?
Stephanie: Total take over! Lol. We want to flip every single battleground state. We want down-ballot victories all over the country. We want the White House, the Senate, State Legislatures and all local elections to go blue. We also want to block Amy Barrett from the Supreme Court, we’ll need to fight like hell for that. Generations of progressive victories by our elders depend on all of this.
Mel: I hope that Americans are better than what tr*mp’s administration portrayed us to be. From the moment that man became president, I knew he didn’t represent me, it’s sad to know so many people feel otherwise. I would hate to see the progress of our country digress into a land of racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, guns & Mountain Dew rivers.
Esperanza: I hope that this election will elect Biden to White House and candidates who advocate for expanding civil liberties, social justice, access to healthcare and education, and voting rights. Also, politically the nation has been divided and polarized in the past. However, the polarization levels we have reached during this current administration allow fringe and racist groups full of conspiracies to become mainstream and represent our government. I hope this election will remove them from having a platform that can reach and manipulate people to work against our nation’s democracy.
What are you plans for after the election?
Stephanie: Rest and retreat! …followed by continued work in battleground states to 1. restructure our political system, 2. register more BIPOC voters, 3. Prepare to campaign for pertinent 2021/22 elections and probably most importantly, 4. take a close look at what happened in the 2018/2020 elections and genuinely process what we learned so we can plan and keep expanding our efforts.
Advice to those who want to become more politically involved.
Esperanza: The first step is to think about a few questions about politics, and it doesn’t need to be in too much depth:
What do you know?
What do you want to know?
What are you interested in doing?
What is your level of comfort?
The next step is critical to becoming politically involved; you must listen, watch, and read the news. You don’t have to do it every day, but this is your introduction to politics. Definitely look into a few trusted news outlets and read a few articles to establish your opinions on facts. Believe me, knowledge is power! Also, you don’t have to be an expert to try to understand politics. If there is something you don’t understand, searching on Google helps. And having conversations with your trusted family members and friends who have more information will expand your political involvement.
There is also A Starting Point established by Chris Evans and his partners. And this is literally a starting point that doesn’t have comments or likes or dislikes from viewers so you can focus on what politicians are saying or writing. You are getting the information directly from elected officials on various topics. And it encourages you to start doing your research.
