Students Driving Change with Guest Irene Rubio 🌎
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Season 2: Episode 91 Description
In today's episode: 📢 There are so many ways to make your voice heard, which is why today we are talking about youth movements making waves. 🎙️ Host Bethany Van Delft speaks with political activist and first-generation college student, Irene Rubio to talk about creating change. And, test your student activist knowledge on today's Trivia on the Ten. ✅
Sources
Students across U.S. lead waves of COVID policy walkouts (spectrumnews1.com)
Portland students walk out of class over lifting of mask requirement | News | kdrv.com
30 Famous Student Protests | Stacker
17 Need To Know Facts About Greta Thunberg – #TOGETHERBAND
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TRANSCRIPT:
Bethany Van Delft 0:03
There's so much going on in the world right now. Sometimes it's overwhelming. Do you ever wonder how you can have an impact on big issues facing the world? There are so many ways to make your voice heard. Today, we're talking about youth movements making waves. I'm Bethany Van Delft. It's Tuesday, March 29th. And this is the Ten News.
Various Voices 0:26
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Bethany Van Delft 0:34
Students around the US are making headlines. From Brooklyn, New York to Portland, Oregon, students are protesting the lifting of mask requirements. And in Florida students staged a walkout to protest the bill that threatens free speech in schools. It's so inspiring to hear about students standing up and making their voices heard. There are lots of ways students can make a difference. I sat down with Irene Rubio, a political activist, and first-generation college student to talk about creating change. We are so excited to have you here with us. Thank you for being here.
Irene Rubio 1:10
Yeah, thank you for having me.
Bethany Van Delft 1:12
Let's just jump right in and tell us who you are, where you're from, and what you do.
Irene Rubio 1:17
Yeah, so I am Irene Franco Rubio. I am from Phoenix, Arizona. I am an activist, writer, and organizer of Guatemalan and Mexican descent involved in intersectional movements for justice on social, racial, and environmental change.
Bethany Van Delft 1:35
So, we hear so much about social justice activists and community organizers. Could you explain to us exactly what is a social justice activist? And what is a community organizer?
Irene Rubio 1:46
Yeah. So I would say a social justice activist is really anyone who is passionate about the justice of advocating for historically marginalized populations and communities that have often been denied access to really receive what we all deserve. And being a social justice activist is someone who advocates for this directly, whether that be, you know, in their local community, online, and in really uplifting these voices. While an organizer is someone who's doing the work on the ground every day, making that change happen, whether it be through local, grassroots organizing through uplifting these efforts, nationally, and so on.
Bethany Van Delft 2:29
When did this all come to you? And how did it happen?
Irene Rubio 2:32
Yeah, well, I grew up in Arizona, and in the west side of Phoenix, actually to be specific. And growing up in Arizona during a time when there was a bill called SB 1070, which Arizona is really known widely for, it'd be a bill that gave police and local law enforcement the ability to racially profile people. And growing up during this time, and seeing what racism really is like, as a young woman of color, really allowed me to see the injustice happening directly in my own community and seeing that my Latinx community and people who look like me were being targeted, just because of the way that we looked. And I think growing up with that, and seeing how I could eventually, you know, be part of this movement was something really empowering when I got to college. And so I got involved in local organizing, as a result of feeling inspired in that way. And kind of has been involved since.
Bethany Van Delft 3:32
That's cool. So you started becoming active as a college student, but you had been thinking about this for a long time, when you were young, when you were like our listener’s age, this is something that's been going on in your mind. So you are you're constantly planning and preparing and just really thinking about this work.
Irene Rubio 3:49
Yeah, I've actually never fully thought about it. But I would say, really, those pivotal years of feeling like I didn't have the power or the ability to enact change, I was already kind of taking different steps, whether it was reading, or writing, and using that as my way of further enhancing my understanding of what advocacy was, of the civil rights movement of all these different sorts of ways that I was trying to engage and understand it. But I just didn't know how to get involved. And I think being low-income being first generation growing up in poverty, you know, not having access to resources didn't really help. And so when I got to college, I finally had the chance to really apply myself and engage in these spaces, right, a lot of the time, it was just like not having a ride or not knowing who to talk to or not having a computer, you know, all these different things that that kind of set me back but I soon found my way in and I've been there.
Bethany Van Delft 4:44
That is wonderful. So, along the same lines, what issues do you think that our 8 to 12-year-olds should be paying attention to and learning about?
Irene Rubio 4:54
Yeah, I think one pressing one is the environmental justice movement right? Like, the climate crisis is something that we're all experiencing. Environmental racism is something that low-income, the youth of color are directly impacted by. And just seeing the various ways in which the way that our earth and the climate and what we inhabit, is being impacted by sort of oppressive forces, I think is really important and seeing what injustice looks like more broadly, and can give young people the understanding that they need to see, well, I'm being impacted too. How can I enact change?
Bethany Van Delft 5:35
That is such good advice. Can you give our listeners 30 seconds of advice?
Irene Rubio 5:40
I would say, constantly be in pursuit of enacting change be in pursuit of justice, of doing good for yourself for the collective well-being, you, your community, and everyone else. There's really nothing that you can do. You know, if you really believe in it, and believe in your ability, and your purpose, and your passion, it can absolutely happen. I would say just don't be afraid to be eager, constantly reach out to people to show that interest, and show what you can do to support the movement. And it would be great to have more people involved.
Bethany Van Delft 6:15
Thank you. I'm taking that to heart. So now we get to do serious, not-so-serious questions, and these are going to be real rapid-fire. Okay, so we're going to ask questions really fast. Just give a one-word answer. There is no wrong answer. Tell me when you're ready. And we are going.
Irene Rubio 6:31
All right. I'm ready. Here we go.
Bethany Van Delft 6:34
Do you prefer puppies or kittens?
Irene Rubio 6:35
Puppies?
Bethany Van Delft 6:37
Would you rather be chased by a shark or a tiger?
Irene Rubio 6:40
A tiger for sure.
Bethany Van Delft 6:42
What's your favorite movie and TV show?
Irene Rubio 6:46
Movie would be Under the Same Moon, it's a Spanish movie and TV show. Lately, I've been watching Emily in Paris, which is hilarious.
Bethany Van Delft 6:56
What's the most fun place you've ever been?
Irene Rubio 7:00
Guatemala because my family's from there. And it's just so thrilling.
Bethany Van Delft 7:06
Do you have any special hidden talents you want to share with us?
Irene Rubio 7:10
I can say the alphabet backward really fast?
Bethany Van Delft 7:14
Oh, can you do it?
Irene Rubio 7:16
I haven't done it in a while. Let's see if I actually can. Let's see. ZYXWVUTSRQPO and MLKJHGFDCEAV. I don't know why. I was stuck on the last five letters. But almost.
Bethany Van Delft 7:38
You got me, it sounded perfect to me. If you could say one thing to President Joe Biden, anything, what would it be?
Irene Rubio 7:46
Cancel student debt.
Bethany Van Delft 7:48
Yes. Agree. That was amazing. Thank you so much for doing this with us. We really appreciate it. And are such big fans of everything you're doing and I feel inspired walking away from this interview.
Irene Rubio 8:00
Awesome. I'm glad to hear and thank you for having me. This is great.
Bethany Van Delft 8:06
Do you know a young person making a difference in your community? Or do you have any issues you want to fight for? Let us know by visiting thetennews.com/contact and we might have you on the show. And now, here to give us the news rundown is our head writer Ryan Willard.
Ryan Willard 8:31
Thank you, Bethany. I'm Ryan Willard. And here's your rundown. March Madness is about to hit its climax. The Women's Final Four has been decided and will take place on Friday, April 1st, where South Carolina and Louisville will go head to head and Connecticut will battle Stanford and the men's final four will go down on Saturday, April 2nd, and Villanova will take on Kansas and North Carolina will go up against Duke on Saturday, March 26th. The solar orbiter came closer to the Sun than it's ever been. The mission launched in February of 2020. And the spacecraft flew within 31 million miles of the Sun which is less than 1/3. The distance between the Sun and the Earth. The solar orbiter is now inside the orbit of Mercury. The European Space Agency and NASA will share their findings in a few weeks when they're downloaded here on Earth. And Konto and Kota are the big winners at the Oscars. The 94th Annual Academy Awards happen on Sunday and the best picture went to Coda which stands for children of deaf adults and follows Ruby the only hearing person in her deaf family as she finds herself torn between pursuing her dreams and her fear of abandoning her family. And in console one Best Animated Feature Film it was without a doubt my favorite animated film of 2021, which means we can finally talk about Bruno. I think he's the most relatable character and so do my rat friends. Back to you, Bethany.
Bethany Van Delft 9:59
Up next, it's time for...
Various Voices 10:02
What, what, what's the big idea?
Bethany Van Delft 10:05
Trivia on the Ten. There are so many incredible student activists, but do you know which modern climate activist refuses to fly is vegan and once gave a speech where she challenged world leaders saying, How dare you? Is it a) Scalpronto Breslin b) Milou Albrecht or c) Greta Thunberg? Did you guess it? The answer is c) Greta Thunberg. Greta Thunberg is arguably the most famous climate activist. She began protesting climate change in 2018 with Friday's for the Future. Since then, she has inspired so many. She even led a march in Montreal, Canada, that over 7 million people attended. Way to go! Well, that's what we've got for today. But before we go, here's a quick note for the grownups. Thanks for listening to the Ten News. Look out for our new episodes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and extras on Saturdays. The Ten News is a coproduction of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and is distributed by iHeartRadio. The Ten News creative team is inspired by young activists and includes Tracey Crooks, Pete Musto, Ryan Willard, Adam Barnard, and Tessa Flannery. Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle and our executive producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. I'm Bethany Van Delft, and thanks for listening to the Ten News.
