WELCOME BACK. ON THIS INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY, WE WANT TO CELEBRATE AND HIGHLIGHT THE WOMEN THAT ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN OUR COMMUNITIES. AND JOINING ME LIVE THIS MORNING IS COAUTHOR OF SOMOS LATINAS VOICES OF WISCONSIN, LATINA ACTIVIST ELOISA GOMEZ. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE, FOR INVITING ME. OF COURSE. OKAY. SO LET’S CHAT A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THIS. SO THIS BOOK THAT YOU HAVE HERE IS THE BOOK THAT YOU COAUTHORED, AND IT SHARES A STORY OF 25 WOMEN WHO, WITH WISCONSIN TIES, WHO HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE HERE IN OUR COMMUNITY. RIGHT. WE REALLY WANTED TO FOCUS ON OLDER LATINAS WHOSE STORIES HAVE NOT BEEN TOLD IN THE PAST AND WHOSE STORIES NEEDED TO BE TOLD BECAUSE IT’S VERY INSPIRING. THE WORK THEY WERE INVOLVED IN EITHER POLITICAL RIGHTS, MIGRANT RIGHTS, PEACE, ACTIVISM, AND THESE ARE STORIES THAT HAVE NOT BEEN TOLD BEFORE. SO WE WANTED TO TO TELL THE STORIES, ESPECIALLY WHILE THEY WERE STILL ALIVE. OUR WOMEN ARE LARGELY IN THEIR SEVENTIES AND EIGHTIES. ABSOLUTELY. SO I DID WANT TO TALK ABOUT THAT, TOO, BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE THIS IS A REOCCURRING THEME WITH ALL OF THE WOMEN THAT ARE FEATURED IN THIS BOOK. LATINA LATINAS IN GENERAL ARE VERY ACTIVE IN THEIR COMMUNITY. THEY GO A LONG WAY TO MAKE SURE THAT THEIR VOICES ARE HEARD. HOWEVER, THEIR STORIES ARE OFTEN NOT TOLD. WHY IS THAT? YOU KNOW, IT REALLY DOES MIRROR THE STORY OF WOMEN’S HISTORY OVERALL, WHICH IS WHO WRITES THE BOOKS. AND THE BOOKS ARE LARGELY WRITTEN BY MEN. AND SO I THINK THAT THERE IS A REAL LACK OF CONSCIOUSNESS ABOUT THE ROLE OF WOMEN, PERHAPS VIEWING IT AS LESS IMPORTANT. AND SO I THINK THAT AS WE WRITE THE STORY OF LATINA WOMEN AND THEIR ACTIVISM IS BEGINNING TO BE TOLD BY WOMEN THEMSELVES, AND I THINK THAT THAT’S A REAL FORCE THAT WILL CONTINUE OVER TIME. YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. AND SPEAKING OF THE IMPACT THAT WOMEN CAN HAVE IN THEIR COMMUNITY, WE ARE ABOUT FOUR WEEKS AWAY FROM THE SPRING ELECTION FOR THIS YEAR. AND YOU WERE ACTIVE WITH THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS IN MILWAUKEE COUNTY. SO SPECIFICALLY ON THIS WOMEN’S INTERNATIONAL DAY. HOW IMPORTANT IS THE WOMEN’S VOTE? FIRST OF ALL, EVERY VOTE IS IMPORTANT. IT’S JUST SO CRITICAL. AND I THINK WOMEN HAVE ACCEPTED A ROLE OF REALLY PROMOTING THE VOTE. AND I THINK THAT WE CAN EXPAND THAT ROLE FURTHER. I THINK PEOPLE VOTE BECAUSE THEY LISTEN TO THEY ASK OTHER PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, WHO SHOULD I VOTE FOR? WHAT ARE THE ISSUES? AND WOMEN HAVE TRADITIONALLY PLAYED A ROLE IN THAT. AND I THINK WE’RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO PLAY A ROLE IN THAT. WE’RE MUCH MORE INVOLVED IN POLITICS THAN WE’VE EVER BEEN. AND I THINK THAT’S A REALLY GOOD TREND. YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. WHAT TOOLS AND RESOURCES ARE OUT THERE FOR OUR COMMUNITY? WELL, THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS IS A NONPARTISAN ORGANIZATION, PROMOTES PROMOTES VOTER EDUCATION, MATERIALS. THE WORK THAT I DO IN PARTICULAR FOCUSES ON BILINGUAL, BI CULTURAL MATERIALS. SO WE’RE REALLY INTERESTED IN GETTING OUT THE VOTE, ESPECIALLY AS EVERY ELECTION CYCLE, THE THERE’S ALWAYS SOME CHANGE THAT HAPPENS. AND IF WE DON’T GET THE WORD OUT ABOUT WHAT THESE CHANGES ARE AND THE IMPORTANCE OF VOTING, I THINK FEWER PEOPLE VOTE. SO I THINK THE WOMEN, THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS HAS A ROLE TO PLAY AND IN HELPING ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS LEARN MORE ABOUT THE VOTING PROCESS. ABSOLUTELY. AND ANYWAY, SO NOW THAT I HAVE YOU HERE, I’M CURIOUS TO ASK YOU, WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO THE WOMEN’S VOTE, SPECIFICALLY THE LATINA WOMAN’S VOTE. ARE WE WHERE WE NEED TO BE IN THE STATE? NO, NOT YET. BUT WE ARE HEADING ON THE RIGHT PATH. AND I THINK THAT’S THE IMPORTANT MESSAGE. WE’RE HEADING ON THE RIGHT PATH. WE HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO. AND I THINK THE THING IS, IS THAT WOMEN REALLY WANT TO WORK TOGETHER TO CREATE THAT CHANGE. SO I’M REALLY OPTIMISTIC ABOUT WHAT WE’LL SEE IN THE NEAR FUTURE. YEAH. AND LIKE YOU SAID, E