Joe Biden will soon take over the reins of the United States government which is currently under more stress and turmoil than any time before. Solving the nation’s immediate problems will require every ounce of our intellectual capital and a strategic apportionment of our financial resources. While most Americans have confidence that Biden will be better at managing the coronavirus, it was the belief that Joe Biden is a fundamentally decent man who could appeal to our better angels that won him the presidency.
Biden has been painted as a socialist by his Republican rivals, but most of them know perfectly well that nothing could be further from the truth. At times, he has frustrated his Democratic colleagues with his folksy preference for bipartisanship. He is a prototypical moderate, which in the current hyper-polarized political environment can be surprisingly useful. Certainly, his empathy and decency as a human being will help calm a restless nation; however, our country needs more than warm thoughts right now – it needs bold solutions. You can’t pull a nation that has been battered by a health crisis, an economic crisis, and a social justice crisis by taking baby steps.
The Biden presidency will be dead on arrival if he doesn’t promptly address the issues that specifically affect middle-class, poor, and working-class Americans, which includes many of the same people who jumped on the Trump bandwagon four years ago. Whether through legislation or executive order, Biden’s first impression as president could be to provide a rescue package to save America’s small businesses, a significant reduction of student debt, a meaningful price reduction for prescription drugs, a national moratorium on evictions and foreclosures that extend through the pandemic, and for the soul of our nation, a swift termination of the diabolical policies that have resulted in the separation of families at our southern border.
Sure, I am looking forward to a more unifying rhetoric coming from the White House, but the best thing Joe Biden can do right now to heal this nation and bring us together is through real policies that reflect our values as a nation and truly help the people of the United States of America…especially those who have been ignored, abused and left behind for far too long.
In this episode, I break down how misinformation continues to shape the way undocumented immigrants are talked about in this country, and why that matters so much. I look at what a recent Dallas Fed report actually says about housing, wages, and jobs, and why some of the loudest headlines got the story wrong. But this is about more than bad reporting. It is about the human cost of turning people into scapegoats, the damage that misinformation does to families and communities, and why ending the division in this country begins with telling the truth.
Latinos make up about 20% of the U.S. population, and our economic power is growing even faster. In this episode, I talk about why that should change the way we see ourselves and the way we move in this country. We are driving household formation, workforce participation, GDP growth, and entrepreneurship, yet too often we still act like spectators instead of stakeholders. This is a conversation about economic power, confidence, and why controlling our narrative and asserting ourselves boldly is not optional — it’s our responsibility.
There are qualities in our community that no data point can fully capture, but this episode is about one of the biggest: grit. I talk about why perseverance, resilience, family, and purpose have always been among the greatest strengths of Hispanics and Latinos, and why those strengths can be a powerful advantage in a world being reshaped by technology, wealth, and access. But grit alone is not enough. If we want to translate all of that talent and determination into lasting economic and political power, we also need stronger networks, better platforms, and more intentional leadership. The opportunity is real. The question is whether we are ready to organize around it.