Uptown Voices

In this episode, Octavio Blanco and Led Black engage in a deep conversation with independent journalist Nick Valencia about the current state of immigration, the role of ICE, and the challenges faced by independent journalists. They discuss the emotional toll of reporting on tragic events, the importance of community activism, and the need for unity among marginalized groups. Valencia shares his experiences and insights on the impact of political discourse on immigrant communities, emphasizing the necessity of independent journalism in today's climate. The conversation highlights the power of community and the importance of finding joy amidst struggles.

Takeaways
Nick Valencia emphasizes the heavy emotional toll of reporting on immigration issues.
The conversation highlights the importance of independent journalism in amplifying marginalized voices.
Proximity to whiteness does not guarantee safety for marginalized communities.
The current political climate has created a culture of fear in immigrant communities.
Community engagement and activism are crucial in the fight for justice.
Independent journalists face unique challenges and threats in their work.
The need for unity among marginalized groups is more important than ever.
Cognitive dissonance in political discourse affects how communities perceive their reality.
Finding joy and solace is essential for those fighting for social justice.
The power of community can be harnessed to effect change and challenge oppressive systems.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Independent Journalism and Current Events
03:53 The Impact of ICE Actions on Communities
10:35 Proximity to Whiteness and Its Illusions
14:23 The Shift to Independent Journalism
17:35 The Climate of Fear in Immigrant Communities
20:48 Cognitive Dissonance in Political Discourse
25:43 Reaching the Disillusioned and the Role of Independent Media
28:23 The State of Law Enforcement and Journalism
31:29 The Role of Independent Journalism
34:18 The Importance of Community and Activism
37:08 Finding Joy Amidst Struggles
40:57 The Power of Community and Collective Action
44:53 Recognizing Our Power and Responsibility
49:30 The Impact of Community Economics
54:33 The Importance of Unity and Continued Advocacy


Creators and Guests

Host
Led Black
Host
Octavio Blanco

What is Uptown Voices?

A podcast focused on the Uptown neighborhoods of Inwood, Washington Heights and Harlem. Our neighborhoods have a voice and we want to be heard and felt. We love Uptown.

Each episode will elevate the people here who are making a difference in the life of this community. We’re also committed to “real talk” that seeks solutions that improve the quality of life in our beautiful Uptown neighborhoods.

Octavio Blanco (00:00)
Yo everybody, how's everybody doing? It's Octavio Blanco and it's another episode of Uptown Voices. Glad to have everybody on the show today. It's a special, special show. We're super excited. Today I'm here with my brother, ⁓ Led Black. He's the voice of Uptown. What's up, Led? How are you doing?

Led Black (00:19)
Yeah

Octavio Blanco (00:23)
Before we get into our special guests, I want to hear from you. What's up?

Led Black (00:28)
Doing good, brother, tell everyone to subscribe, and I'm really excited about this guest you were able to get for us. I think this is what we need to be talking about right now.

Octavio Blanco (00:37)
Yes, yes, yes, before I ⁓ let things progress any longer, I wanna make sure that we're talking to Nick Valencia. Nick Valencia is a independent journalist. He's based out of Los Angeles and Atlanta, Georgia, but he's been incredible in covering

the events that are happening, the historic and unprecedented events in this country that are happening all across the nation in regards to the ICE incursions in our communities. He's always first. He's always the one who gets us the information first whenever I'm on socials. And I follow him at Nick Valencia at Nick Valencia News.

on Instagram and he's on Facebook and he's on YouTube. Nick Valencia and I are former colleagues. We used to work together at CNN. But both of us have embarked in our independent journalism. ⁓ Nick, welcome to the show.

Nick Valencia (01:31)
Yeah.

God bless you guys. Thank you so much for having me, man. I'm excited to be here.

Octavio Blanco (01:43)
Nick, first of all, tell me how you doing? I appreciate that you're taking time off today from your family. I know that you're currently, you know, hanging out with your your with your people. It's important. It's important to to keep those keep keep keep close to our families and our and our people. So we do appreciate you out here.

Nick Valencia (01:57)
Yeah.

Octavio Blanco (02:07)
Guys, ⁓ let's, ⁓ I want to tell me how are you doing, Nick? How are you doing?

Nick Valencia (02:13)
You know, I feel heavy, man. I woke up this morning feeling pretty heavy. know, I think first and foremost, thank you guys so much for having me, man. I'm really grateful to be here. I'm really grateful to tap into your audience. New York is a big demographic for us. A lot goes down in New York in terms of immigration. And you know, you probably have gone through this before yourself, Octavio, as a journalist. Our success, you so hearing all the flowers that you're giving me, it sounds awesome, but I know that it's happening because people's worst days are unfolding.

And the irony for a journalist always to celebrate their own individual success, you know, to be able to amplify a message that needs to be out there. It's difficult because I know that the reason that there's, ⁓ that I'm getting traction right now is because there's a moment to meet and we're meeting the moment. And what we see happening out there right now, it's, it's disgusting, man. It's so sad. And we live in this new world where it's like a tale of two realities, you know, it's the reality that Trump and his administration has, has

you know contrived and sort of you know Manufactured and then it's what's really happening right now And so that you know that has me feeling heavy most days, you know But but the way I deal with that and the remedy for that is using my platform to speak up and speak out against what's

Octavio Blanco (03:21)
Yeah, go ahead, Led.

Led Black (03:23)
Yeah, and I want to say, Nick, again, I want to just commend you for the work you're doing, because it is very heavy. And I want to take your take on on on Renee Good's death. You know, like I remember when that happened, I called my wife. I was almost like a mini panic attack. Like to me, it was one of those things like I was telling Octavio is the new shot heard around the world. Right. The the the way this woman was killed in cold blood and also the way people have like the way it split people. Right. Like the way you've shown you like.

Nick Valencia (03:42)
Mmm.

Led Black (03:51)
how bad people can be, like trying to claim that was justified. What was your first take when you saw that as someone that's immersed in this news and this topic and this new America?

Nick Valencia (04:01)
We've seen people shot at before and injured. We've seen people die even when they're running away from ICE agents, but we've never seen a murder in cold blood like we did in broad daylight. And I really think what we saw, I wasn't so surprised on it. For me, it was like only a matter of time before somebody got seriously hurt or killed. For me, it's really sort of an indicator of the attitudes that ICE agents have in America right now. It's like sort of this perspective of try me, I dare you.

And that's what we had and that's what we saw play out in video. We saw Jonathan Ross act like he felt like he could do whatever he wanted out there and he did. And right now we see the Trump administration, people within his administration come to his defense, even though what we saw with our eyes is really the truth. And we can't have people get into our mindset and tell us not to believe.

what we're seeing with our own eyes. We need to see, we need to believe what we're seeing with our own eyes and speak up and speak out on it. I mean, look man, it's really difficult. I've seen that video multiple times at this point and every time I watch it, I see something new. Like yesterday, if you go back to the video, there's a point where, even before things escalate, before the debate of whether or not her wheels were turned towards Ross or whether they were turned away,

Octavio Blanco (05:02)
We need to see.

Nick Valencia (05:23)
He had his cell phone in his right hand recording. He shuffled it over to his left hand to prepare to draw his firearm because he was ready for things to go down. He was ready to escalate and not deescalate. And that speaks to the attitudes of ICE agents in America right now. They feel that they have carte blanche and that they could do whatever they want to do and get away with it.

Octavio Blanco (05:42)
Yeah, it's it's you know, we very early on said that this was a murder by ICE, you know, we, we were right there when the the administration was starting to, you know, discuss and put out their

misinformation about what had happened. We were very clear about what we saw. And our, our social media channels blew up with pro-MAGA and what I would consider to be anti-freedom comments. What's, what's it been like for you in terms of when you're now no longer this independent type of journalist?

I mean, I'm sorry, you're no longer this corporate type of journalist. You're an independent journalist. How has it been like for you in terms of the feedback that you've been getting from your audience?

Nick Valencia (06:44)
Well, now they're calling for ICE to come to my doorstep, Octavio. Now they're saying that this third generation Mexican-American who's been in this country for over 100 years, the border crossed our family, we're those types of Mexicans. We are from the Southwest portion of the United States, and in 1848, it became the US, it used to be Mexico. And now people are online and they feel emboldened to say, you are encouraging people to break the law. You are encouraging people.

Go out there and record and put their lives in danger and ice needs to come pay you a visit. So I Mean look man. I'm taking different precautions now. My family does not make appearances on the internet anymore You know there there is a very deliberate and calculated move, you know the way I move online now My mom says I shouldn't be around my kids by myself in case I get detained and then all of a sudden my kids are

You know, they don't have, they can't get in touch with the mom. Let's say you can't get in touch with my wife and where do my kids go? You know, so it's these kinds of precautions that I'm starting to take. And also, and this is not to be poetic or dramatic, but yesterday, or I guess it was the day after Renee Good was killed, my wife came up to me and asked me to give her the context of my, of our attorney and of others in case that happens because.

I think it was always in the back of my mind that maybe I would be singled out by the administration because I'm doing things that they don't want covered and shouting very loudly and getting a lot of traction for it. And so I think it would be dumb for me not to consider this as a possibility that the administration would target me and that they would target other independent journalists. I know for a fact, I don't want to take his story away, but I know for a fact there's an independent journalist right now in DC where they took his White House.

press pass from him because he was very vocal. And so that was at the end of last year. And so now you guys see it, we've turned a corner in this and it's a new reality in a new world and we have to prepare for that.

Led Black (08:43)
Yeah, Nick, I agree 100%. You're not wrong for taking those extra precautions because we've crossed the Rubicon, right? We're in another place and every day it seems to be accelerating, right? And again, it goes from the man at the top, the tyrant at the top, to the person at the bottom, right? Who feels empowered to do what they're doing. And you're not wrong. And one of the things that I find so interesting is on my socials,

Sometimes on the post themselves, they'll tag ICE, you know what mean? On the post themselves, right? And that to me is crazy. But I want it again to one particular Latinos, right? How so many have really just gone to the other side, right? If you could talk a little bit about that phenomenon, how somehow they feel that they're not coming for them, how they're buying the administration line, and how for real, to me, it's so disappointing, right? That we don't need, at this crucial moment of our

Nick Valencia (09:26)
Yeah.

Led Black (09:39)
collective history, we don't even have each other's back. If you could just talk a little bit about that.

Nick Valencia (09:44)
Proximity to whiteness is not gonna save us, man, and I speak from authority on that. I'm a third generation Mexican American. My parents grew up in South Central, went through the race riots, and they were very intentional about trying to whitewash the shit out of me. They named me Nicholas Aaron Valencia, right? I was playing tennis and ice hockey and hanging out. They wanted me in rooms where all the white people were so I could succeed and make everything I could of myself. And then I get shipped off to Atlanta to go work at a major Fortune 500 company.

Led Black (09:47)
Mm. Mm.

Nick Valencia (10:13)
And it's then that I start encountering the Gardner jokes and I'm the punchline all of a sudden of being the landscaper. And it was then that I realized I kind of got an indication of it at USC going to USC. You know, I grew up in Igorock in Northeast LA and I always thought I was better off than I, than I was because we weren't latchkey kids. You know, I had two parents at my house. I wasn't a cholo.

⁓ And then I go to USC and realize, man, I'm not really no matter how white I try to act I'm never gonna be like these folks from Coto de Casa Orange County living in gated communities and then I get exposed to the real world and go out into a company where I'm the punchline and it doesn't matter how Well, I speak English how good I dress my education I got put in Latin America because I'm the brown guy in the newsroom all of a sudden

And so I say all of this to say it does not matter how much you think you could reject where you're from or how dark you are and how white you want to act. People are going to see you and the darker your skin is in this country in this world, the harder that you have it. And right now, because of the Supreme Court and Justice Kavanaugh, there are these things called Kavanaugh stops. And you guys have dealt with them stop and frisk in New York for a long time. Now it's nationwide. If somebody has the

Indication that they think that you're here illegally and all they have to do is look at the color of your skin Or how you dress or the shoes on your feet and they're gonna come and shake you down Kavanaugh said that it would only be an inconvenience to an American citizen if they were shaken down So then why was Dulce Consuelo Morales Diaz held for 25 days in ice custody? Even though the feds had her birth certificate. Why are they still fighting those documents? That's that's the that's the era and this Rubicon like you talk about that we live in now

All of this stuff, your support for Trump, your posts, all of these things, they don't fucking care, man. They want to make this country white again. Stephen Miller isn't talking about illegal immigration. He is talking about immigration. Birthright citizenship is up for debate now. That's the world that we live in.

Led Black (12:11)
Yeah.

Octavio Blanco (12:16)
Yeah, it's the world that we live in. ⁓ I've got to also sign on to what you're saying. My name is Octavio Blanco, but for most of my childhood, I went by Andrew, which was the Americanized version of my middle name, Andres. And like you, I think ⁓ my parents were very nervous about people hearing my name, Octavio.

you know, treating me differently. And, you know, and they did even though my name was Andrew. When I was in high school, my my nickname was taco, you know, which is the the essentially the same as, as a black person's nickname being chitlins or something to that effect. You know, and I had to add in the in the beginning, I had to fight against that. And then later on, I actually, you know, embraced, embraced it. And when I went to college,

Led Black (12:49)
Wow.

Octavio Blanco (13:05)
I reclaimed my my ⁓ given first name Octavio Blanco and but ⁓ I wanted to ask you Nick about independent journalism and what I would consider to be entrepreneurial journalism. Tell me a little bit about your journey and why it's so important in this time in this day and age.

Nick Valencia (13:22)
Because we're uncensored, We're not beholden to any boss. We're beholden to the people that watch us and read us and listen to us. I went like I felt like I used to work for bosses. it's like when you go out and get sent out into the field, you only worry, in a sense, if your boss likes it or if you make slot and it's like, oh, great job. And that just means that you were at 715 and you made slot at 715 and your package was 230. Right now, it is such a

a much more purpose driven mission. I feel like, CNN and couldn't come to terms, CNN, we couldn't come to terms, my contract was up ⁓ at the end of May. Monday morning that happened, I was devastated. Monday afternoon I get a call from the History Channel that puts me out in LA two weeks later at the same time that the siege of Los Angeles is happening. And so I took my phone, I took my cell phone out there.

Literally, I just took this phone that I have in my hands and I started recording and the first clip that I posted after I left the old place was four million views or three million views and then the first month we did six million views this last week we did four million views, know, so this idea that I Because I was devastated man. I felt like I often put my value in the hands of other people Unfortunately as confident as sometimes like as I come across, you know, it's like ⁓

they think I'm not good enough, you know? And then the affirmation and the god shot that I got from the world was that not only was that good enough, but I had something to say. Los Angeles got targeted, there was a social justice movement, and my community was being persecuted. That is an intersection with my life, man. I joke that it feels like Slumdog Millionaire, know? It's like everything in my life was sort of made for this moment and this point. Because look, man, like what shit are you gonna talk to me?

Led Black (15:02)
You

Octavio Blanco (15:04)
Hahaha

Nick Valencia (15:10)
You know, I'm here in this country legally. I've contributed to this country. I've added value. I made it to the apex of journalism. And this is a choice that I'm making. It's not that I can't go back to the mainstream or get a job in the mainstream. It's that I don't want to. feel so, I feel like this is where God wants me. This is where I need to be right now. And I am leaning into this as scary as it is, as uncertain as it is, as much as I don't have this huge safety net anymore.

Led Black (15:29)
Mm.

Nick Valencia (15:40)
I'm trusting God and believing that I show up and be consistent and the world is going to reward me for it.

Led Black (15:46)
Amen for that brother, because you are fighting the good fight. And it feels like, you know, this this moment is what it calls for. There was an article I read earlier this week in the New Yorker by Jordan Salama, and it was talking about a Mexican family that was self-deporting, right? Because they lived in such fear and they lived in California and they talked about our community is being terrorized in a way that like, and especially if you're undocumented, right?

Nick Valencia (15:48)
Amen, man.

Yeah.

Led Black (16:15)
that it is such, it's a regime of fear. Can you talk about what people are feeling on the ground in our immigrant communities across this country? Because I think people don't understand, like I think we're kind of blind to the pain of others, even within the Latino community.

Nick Valencia (16:32)
Where are the don't tread on me folks led? Where are the people that say this is government overreach? In any other country it would be secret police target ethnic minority. You have now the vice president going on Fox News saying we're going door to door. The president of the United States telling Nora O'Donnell, I don't think we've been going far enough. And then it's not just rhetoric. On Friday we started getting reports of that out of Echo Park, the Los Angeles neighborhood of Echo Park, which is a gentrified neighborhood. It is a whitewashed community that still has a strong element of Latinos.

Led Black (16:35)
Hmm.

Mmm.

Mm-hmm.

Nick Valencia (17:01)
But is it a mistake that they started targeting places that they don't usually hit hard to sort of maybe send a message to the white Americans who are trying to be allies with us? That we're gonna go door to door and knock on your neighbor's doors? There was a man who got taken in front of his front yard. I showed up to his door. They didn't get a chance to knock on his door, but that's not to say that they wouldn't. And then yesterday morning, we woke up to reports in uptown Minneapolis of a family, a Somali family, entire family taken because they knocked on their door. This is what's happening.

It's only getting more and more aggressive. They're only getting more and more, you know, the attitudes. Like I talk about the switching of the hand of the cell phone of Jonathan Ross to, you know, this is before even things got escalated. They're not there to deescalate a situation. They're there to ratchet it up. And they feel like no matter what they do, they're gonna be protected. And really quick, I just wanna say this because I hear this all the time about, you know, we should do it the right way or they're breaking the law. This is ⁓ law and order.

It's rules for them and rules for everybody else. They have no care or desire of doing it the right way. People are being taken from their green card appointment interviews. People are being taken from showing up to court cases. They're sending people outside administrative immigration hearings to intimidate in hopes of getting you to self-deport. And then once you get in their custody, it's all about keeping you in their custody so they can make money off of you. It's $2,000 a day. It's like $25,000, $30,000 a person.

It's all about money in the bottom line, and they're using terror to sow this fear throughout our country.

Octavio Blanco (18:32)
And it's so interesting to hear the cognitive dissonance coming from the White House when it comes to protests and freedom of speech. We are hearing about, you know, the protests in Iran that are happening this week and the president saying how if any, if we hear of any shooting, we'll be shooting. Meanwhile, we have protests in the United States and the United States is shooting.

Nick Valencia (18:46)
Right.

Octavio Blanco (19:01)
So, you know, I'm absolutely not ⁓ for violence in any way, shape or form, but this cognitive dissonance, this ability to sort of speak out of both sides of your mouth and believe what you're saying at both times is incredible. I'm surprised, you like you were saying, where are the don't tread on me? I'm also surprised. Where are the people that are calling for freedom and justice and the people who say,

the government shouldn't be in my in my life. Where are those people? It's it's a real a real shame. When we hear this cognitive cognitive dissonance. What is what is your what is your view on that? And do you and are you hearing that as well? Or am I just am I just imagining things?

Nick Valencia (19:43)
No, absolutely.

Absolutely. And laws don't equal morality. We had laws in this country that made black people three-fifths of a person. Brown people were hung as well. We had people that weren't allowed to vote in this country simply because they were women. There are people in this world right now, and I don't want to even give their names oxygen, that are saying that Trump isn't going far enough. That's what I don't understand with this. It's not going to stop at the undocumented American. They're expanding.

private prison infrastructure every single day. And you think it's gonna stop at the undocumented? They're gonna go towards the undesirable Americans. Trump, I did not wanna believe this, man. Initially, I think I was telling people, because my son's four years old, they talk about Trump in school at four years old, he's such a big force, and he's like, is Trump a bad person? And this is before he got elected, and I said, you know what?

People can be both good and bad. Good people can do bad things, bad people can do good things. And you know, some people think that Trump's a good person. And this is, you know, was telling him before he got elected. And now, I don't know what to tell my son because of what I see and the revenge path that he's on. I did not want to believe that his second term, I thought, you know, look, he's a WWE president, he knows optics, he knows media manipulation, he's just gonna talk, he never locked up Hillary Clinton. But now,

He has these people around him, like Stephen Miller, that are just like, we need to take control of this country, like Steve Bannon. We need to whitewash America. And he's like, okay, let's do this. Yeah, because the way I've been treated is unfair. We have had Trump on the tip of our tongues for as long as I can remember. I used to leave the back door open with air conditioning on growing up, and my dad would say, what do you think, our last name's the Trumps? Close the door. He is.

Octavio Blanco (21:22)
you

Led Black (21:26)
Wow.

Nick Valencia (21:27)
And I say this not as a compliment, but he is the best, he is the best our country has to offer right now in terms of a president. He is a reflection of where we are in America. I started to see him more as an entertainer and through the prism of him being this WWE, WWF, you know, we grew up with that with Vince McMahon, entertainer where he knows how to keep the attention of a crowd. He knows how to manufacture and manipulate a message. He knows that optics are so important.

which is why when you look up on TV, his cabinet looks like a central casting, you know? And so what he's doing right now is optics for his supporters. He's going after, his supporters feel like these people really are taking their jobs. When you go into the Central Valley, there's no white Americans there doing our service workers positions. I'm in a hotel right now. All the service workers here are people of color. You know, there's...

There's this cognitive dissonance where it sounds good, yes, get the illegals out of our country, America first. He takes these morsels of truth and he globs onto them and people start believing it and then it just goes too far. You see what's happening out there, Leandro and Octavio. I don't know how people can say this is okay, because sooner or later it's gonna come for people that you care about. And we struggle from this disease of individualism in this country and until it happens to the individual, they don't care.

But every day more and more individuals are being impacted by this.

Led Black (22:50)
That's an excellent point. And I think it's one that's not talked about enough that this is a purely optics presidency, right? Like, know, ice Barbie, you know what I mean? She'll show up with a hat. You know, she does wear, she'll, I think in Minnesota, she told a Latino you're under arrest. Like it is such optics. ⁓ And what's amazing in the way you say is the way they control the message, right?

Nick Valencia (22:57)
totally.

Led Black (23:13)
It's like they could have done the decent thing and said when Renee Good was killed, hey, we're investigating, but they didn't. They went on offense right away, right? And I think that's really important because you have a whole strata of this country that doesn't get the news, right? it's a cult, right? And they're feeding from the trough. How do you combat that though? Like, because you're not getting to those people.

Nick Valencia (23:36)
Yeah, and don't try to reach them anymore. When I first launched my independent career six months ago, my first guest was a Latino for Trump, Joel Cavazos from the Rio Grande Valley, where there are a lot of Latinos for Trump, very close to the border, a lot of Republicans there, people don't know that. And it was very clear to me as I started in the weeks and months after my launch that they're not reachable. People like that, they may understand and they may have personal conversations with you where they seem like they agree.

Led Black (23:57)
Mm.

Nick Valencia (24:03)
But I know people in my life who are hardcore Trump supporters and they're never not going to vote for Trump. They feel like he is authentically himself. Some of them are okay with a third term. I joke to some of them for more years, for more terms, because they're that, you know, they're that blinded by whatever he offers them. You know, I am going after people who are disillusioned by politics right now. People who don't vote because Trump thinks that he had a mandate, but there were millions upon millions of people that did not vote.

that sat this one out because they felt like they have a choice between the lesser of two evils. So I think the remedy here is to continue to give platforms to people who I think are part of the solution. So there's a huge progressive movement right now. don't know, you know, for me, speaking honestly,

I am of the mindset where like, don't know if this country is ready for third party. I don't know if it's just a waste of a vote. I'm kind of with those people, you know, it's like, okay, lesser of two evils, but then if we just choose a progressive candidate, are we just throwing it away? But the fact is there's a movement happening. And so that maybe, you know, that takes off. Maybe, you know, we really start to look at hard, take a hard look at our political system. The reality is though that we're pretty entrenched in how things are right now. And so my...

objective is to reach people who are not politically involved. My audience went 10 years younger overnight, so it's 25 to 44. That's a very crucial demographic of people. And I think now more and more people are starting to open their eyes to just how brutal this is. And Renee Good's death was a flash point for a lot of people because they're able to see it with their own eyes. And then you hear what border Barbie is saying, and then you see what JD Vance is saying, and then you watch the video and you're like, okay.

I could see with my own eyes. And that's what's happening with independent media. We're important. It's not just legacy or traditional media. That's what's happened. New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, all these places, they're going to be there. The fact is, now we're important too. And I really take that role and that position that I'm in very seriously.

Octavio Blanco (26:04)
Yeah, mean, let I know that you have some very, very strong feelings about where we are on politics. And I'd like you to react because I know that you have some some some reactions and I like hearing your reaction because I do believe that you have some very well formed opinions about this. And the more that I see things happening personally, the more to the left I find myself going. Whereas previously, I've always felt myself to be

⁓ much more of a centrist. I just don't see myself being able to stay there.

Nick Valencia (26:33)
same.

Led Black (26:36)
Yeah, I mean, like, I just feel like there's much more at play than we're there, than they're letting on. Right. And like the term of remigration, right. Like they really don't want any of us here. You know, they just don't want us. And it's becoming obvious. But going back to Nick, I want to ask you a question, because one of the things that I find super interesting is that this is just the beginning. Right. ICE hasn't gotten all their funds yet.

Right? So, so right now we're at the beginning, we're at the cusp of something. Where are we going?

Nick Valencia (27:13)
October 1st was a new start date for a lot of those agents and you saw a lot of the more brutality started to happen and that wasn't by mistake. You're seeing now these under trained under qualified overly paid people who are out there with a chip on their shoulder and they want to I mean you hear this criticism of law enforcement. I am not an anti-law enforcement. love my school resource officer. We still high five the cops when we see him. This is.

What strikes me, what we're seeing with ICE agents is this critique that you hear from law enforcement that they just want to use their guns, they're just out there ready to beat somebody up. That's what we're seeing with these ICE agents. It's like this crop of recruits signed up because they want to be able to be in charge and flex their authority. It's like the worst what we hear about law enforcement. You know, what's to come? Man.

The undesirable Americans, I told you I'm getting prepared. I have money for bail in case it comes down to that. I have mentally started to prepare myself that this is potentially going to be a bad year for journalism. I feel like what we're doing right now is so important because our institutions have been corrupted, even if the players within the institutions, the individual journalists have not. At the very top, it's all about the elite helping each other out, which is why we're seeing such a, I guess, ⁓

the summer we saw such an attraction towards independent journalism. Those millions of views are millions of eyeballs. In the six months, sure, some of those millions of views are accounts that are watching it multiple times, but we've hit, I think, like three million individual accounts in the last six months. That's three million individual people who are watching it. And so those are local news.

stations don't even get those kinds of numbers. know, CNN sometimes or other cable news outlets may not even get those kinds of numbers. And so for me, I'm like, we are important. We have a duty here to serve and to step up, you know, and man, I think sooner or later in any journalist's career, the journalists that I've admired, they've taken a stand sooner or later on something.

Edward Murrow did it early on against advertising at CBS. Walter Cronkite also at CBS did it years later when he spoke out against the Vietnam War. Peter Jennings did it in 9-11, after 9-11 when he got emotional and patriotic. And more recently, Anderson Cooper did it during Hurricane Katrina where he showed us that it was okay to feel as a journalist and cry on air. I am just doing the same thing that all the journalism greats before me have done.

And I don't know why I'm getting emotional, but it angers me, man, that our community is being persecuted and attacked. And people don't see that, I just don't understand, and it angers me so much because I have people I know who are in custody and back home. I see Trisha McLaughlin say, we have 600,000 Venezuelans that could just go back to Venezuela now that Maduro is gone.

Is Cuba next? Like, what is it going to take for people to open their eyes? And I think that for me, I see that and rather than bury myself under the covers here and just sleep all day because it's depressing, that I say I need to be an action man. I need to be out there fighting this with my voice, with the God given talents that I've been given and the position that I have to speak up for people who cannot speak for themselves.

Led Black (30:25)
Amen, brother, amen.

Octavio Blanco (30:26)
Amen. Amen

to that. so Nick, look, I really appreciate you coming on the show. I know that you've taken time out from your family. And I know that, you know, the how important that is. So I don't want to keep you on. want to let you have your day with your with your family and kids. And I really do, you know, commend you and and support you also as far as I can, because we're on the we're on the same journey here.

Nick Valencia (30:42)
God bless you guys,

Octavio Blanco (30:54)
You know, we're both ⁓ able now more than ever to utilize our voice. remember when Trump, number one, the first things that he said was that the Mexicans were evil and the worst of the worst. And our employers at that very early, early stage didn't respond the way that they should have. They just let it go for much too long. And now look at where we are.

Nick, thank you. Thank you for being here.

Nick Valencia (31:24)
Thank you guys, man. I'm so sorry. ahead. I'm sorry to cut you off.

Led Black (31:26)
Now I

was gonna say, I just wanna make sure you let everyone know where they can follow you and thank you so much for this work you do because you're right, I've been very emotional myself. This is important work. It's heavy work, but it needs to be done. our people, our ancestors, deserve nothing less. So thank you so much for doing this work, brother.

Nick Valencia (31:49)
When I hit my knees and prayed before I left CNN, my higher power told me, be prepared to go out on your own. And when I hit my knees and prayed today, I hear to keep going. And so this stuff is affirmations, man, to be able to reach your audience of tens of thousands of people, you know, to connect with people that care, like this keeps me going. Because guys, man, I'm sorry to get emotional, but this is really fucking hard, man. This is hard work, but it's important work.

Led Black (31:59)
Mmm.

Nick Valencia (32:14)
And so for you guys to make me feel seen is really important as well. So gracias a usted this man. really appreciate the time here. And you could follow me at Nick Valencia news at Nick Valencia news across all platforms, Twitter, blue sky, YouTube, Instagram, and my sub stack. have a show every Tuesday and Thursday live at 3pm Eastern where I interview lawmakers, activists, ice widows, people who have been impacted by this Trump mass deportation policy. We're taking a stand because somebody has to. So thank you guys so much.

Led Black (32:21)
Gotcha. Yeah.

Thank you so much, brother. Have a good day. Enjoy the rest of your weekend,

Nick Valencia (32:45)
You too.

God bless you guys. Bye bye.

Led Black (32:47)
And to everyone listening, know, make sure you follow Nick Valencia news, right? This is no longer, we need to be informed. We need to stay on top of this. This is ongoing and it will only get worse. And all we have is each other. Octavia, man, this is an amazing guest, man. Like he was inspirational. I feel a little better, a little more ready for the fight. And again, we do have a fight in our hands, you know, and it's very local.

You know, I talked to you about the of hate I get on my DMs, right? And it's a lot, you know what mean? And it causes friction, you know what I mean? And I get mad too, I'm from the hood, you know what mean? Like, I wanna go, like, yo, meet me on 192nd, like, you know what I mean? But you can't do that either. But it is tough, so thank you for getting such an amazing guest, man. This was, think, what I needed today.

Octavio Blanco (33:38)
Yo, you know, it's what we need to hear. It's what we need to be a part of. Some people make question like, ⁓ you're Uptown Voices. Why are you talking to somebody who lives in Atlanta and Los Angeles? Well, the fact of the matter is that, yes, we are Uptown Voices. Yes, we talk about the local issues. You can check us out every Tuesday on our channel, because we talk to the people.

who are making a difference in this community. But Black and Blanco is part of Uptown Voices. Black and Blanco, we hope, represents Uptown's voice. We hope that Black and Blanco is where you guys can come and say, you know what, I'm from Uptown, but I care about what's happening beyond the borders of my own community in Upper Manhattan. I want to hear about what's going on across the world. I want to hear what's going on across the country. And I want to be a part of this.

Right? And so, yeah, I think it's super important to be here doing what we're doing. And I am also super excited to be going to the protest today at 1 o'clock down on 60th Street. So, you know, we can make our voices heard.

Led Black (34:31)
Mm-hmm.

Octavio Blanco (34:58)
in real life because yes, we're here behind our screens and I think that's super important, but we also need to be out there in person to be heard, to be seen, to be felt. If you've never been to a protest, it's an incredible feeling.

the vibration that happens there, the energy is really something else. And I encourage everybody who's frustrated with what's going on to go out there peacefully and let their voices be heard.

Led Black (35:31)
Yeah, I mean, also to the point is like, you know, this is Washington Heights, this is Uptown, this is Harlem, this is Edward. We are frontline immigrant communities, right? So we need to be talking about what's happening around the country because it's happening here as well. And again, I think that it's about also, you know, learning from from our brothers and sisters across the country, see what they're doing, see what works, see what doesn't and and knowledge sharing because the same ICE officer that's in Minneapolis is going to be in New York City or is going to be in L.A. It's the same people, it's the same apparatus.

I think it's super important to knowledge share and to continue to record, to share, coalesce. I think it's super important. And I also want to say, which is interesting, we also need some time for joy. And my wife gave me a great Christmas present. She bought me tickets to go see Big Daddy Kane last night.

You know what mean? And what was important about seeing Beat that came last night, you know, and I must speak from the perspective of my wife, right? Like my wife, you know, she likes to call herself the chief operations officer of the home, right? And as a mother, right? As she's really distraught by this, right? Like she, hurts her. And for a time being, for an hour or so,

You know, we got to forget about ICE and Trump and we watched Big Daddy Kane in the city winery yesterday. So like, I'm just trying say that like we do have to take this time, you know, for joy, right? You know, I think some people are just too blissfully unaware. They don't even know what's happening around them. But for those of us that are immersed in this, for those of us that really care, you know, you do need a little bit of time to try to find some joy and...

and some solace and just, it's cause you need that to keep moving, man, because we are, we have entered another phase of this and we haven't hit the bottom yet. We're still going.

Octavio Blanco (37:26)
Yeah, and to that point, you know, for the people uptown in Washington Heights, Inwood, Harlem, you know, we've got such a vibrant community with so many events occurring. We've got so many beautiful parks, even in the even in the cold weather, even in a day like today. Take advantage of those things. Go for a walk. Explore. Be a part of the cultural events that are happening. Be a part of Noma. Be a part of Inwood artworks.

get involved in the community board, you know, get out there, you know, organize a cleanup of your block. And to that, I would say also, I'm going to make a, a little promo in March. I believe it's March 30th, but as the date comes closer, I'll be sharing more. We're going to be, we, we actually secured a New York City parks mulch truck to come to the corner to come to Cabrini Boulevard and

put mulch in some of our tree stumps below 181st Street. So we're gonna be taking care of those trees. So I encourage everybody who feels sort of like the world is spinning out of control to take a minute and stop and think, where can I have some control? It might be just in your own day and go out and take a walk. It might be to organize something with your neighbors. But whatever it is, take that moment to exercise some control.

to try to find joy, get out, maybe get your hands dirty in the dirt. Maybe go out and take in some sun when we're blessed with some sun like we are right now. So yeah, I appreciate what you're saying, Led. And I also appreciate that this new administration that's coming in seems to be very cognizant of this idea of joy.

Led Black (39:10)
Yeah, and I think what you said is super important, right? That community is the answer, right? And what we need to now is strengthen those bonds. I think that's more important than ever because we need each other, right? We don't exist by ourselves and we need to stand up for each other. And again, I hate to keep going back to like...

the page, right? But I can't hate like, ⁓ you know, think some people want me to only put like pretty pictures of uptown and stuff, right? And I'm not supposed to speak about what's happening in my community. But again, this is a frontline immigrant community, right? It will be a dereliction of duty if all I'm putting is pictures, right? I'm going to use my platform for my people every single day, right? And that's why it's really important. cannot hide. If you're not hiding, we can't. We got to keep moving forward. Keep, you know,

keep looking out for each other. And also, you know, I think that one of the reasons that we're here is because we let too much slide.

Right. And, you know, we'll have that dumbass Trump friend, the cousin or uncle, and we let them say the nonsense. And we didn't want to engage because, you know, my man hasn't read a book in 25 years. Like, he doesn't know anything. Why am I even going to engage? But I think we need to engage because sometimes the loudest voices, you know, is the one that people listen to. So we got to keep pushing our message. And again, sometimes it really is ridiculous for Latinos to be supporting this. think John Langarizoma put it best. says,

Latinos for Republicans is like roaches for raid, right? It's like, how do you not, like, I just don't understand how you think this is gonna be good for your community. And now that you see it, how are you cheerleading this on? Like, I have, there's so many, it's not just trolls, right? Like I get real people posting like, yes, Ice Baby. And they're destroying our community and you're cheering it on, you know? So I say all that to say like, we need to be really clear.

And we need to keep supporting each other. We need to keep strengthening these bonds because the travails have just begun. This is just the beginning. ICE is going to get a huge infusion of billions, right? And Vance already said they're going to start going door to door. I've already heard of counts of them going door to door. So imagine door to door, that's Nazi shit. That's Gestapo shit. That's brown shirt shit.

And I told my wife along, like during the first term, that if Trump was ever able to like, basically put money in the hands of the worst, of the most reactionary white people, if he was able to do that, we would be in serious danger. He didn't get to do that his first term, but now he's doing that, right? He's giving them money to be a part of this.

He's giving them money to go hunt down black and brown and immigrants across this country. It is being financed and organized and it is a war on us. And I think people need to realize that, people need to wake up. We need to, with love, of course, you know, I love what Nick said about, I'm not trying to reach the Trumps no more. I'm not trying to reach the maggots anymore. You know, for me, a lot of those people are dead. I'm not trying to reach you because...

If you're seeing all this and you're still on that side, what can I do? You know, I used to a lot of times engage with people, DMs, we used to go back and forth, because I wanted to understand how you could support the tyrant. But at this point, I don't want to understand anymore. And I'm not going for them. And I think you have to reach for the people that care and for the people that are unaware. Like you have to continue to hit that mark and continue to reach out to them because with, you know,

With unity comes strength and we can no longer fuck around. We need to get really serious because the world being weighs on us is very serious.

Octavio Blanco (42:54)
I agree. And I think that we need to make sure that we take care of ourselves because the fact of the matter is that we're still at the very early part of this this campaign. You know, now ICE and that whole agency has billions of dollars to play with. And we've started to see that they're building out their culture. They're building out their ideals. They're building out what they're about. We saw them recently use

white supremacist music in one of their advertisements to recruit more ICE agents. So truly they are going to try and continue to build their narrative and they're unabashed about their desire for a white nation. It's not really a mystery anymore. And those of us who are watching, our audience who...

are still on the fence about whether or not this administration is doing the right thing about immigration. I'm not gonna have that conversation because the fact of the matter is that our immigration system has been broken for a long time. So it's been impossible for people, even if they were to try to do it the right way to actually get in and save themselves from the circumstances that they're facing in their countries, circumstances that are often being.

that were often caused by the United States imperialism, which we're seeing again. you know, and now even now when we have people in this country who are immigrants who are trying to go the right way, no, they're being taken from their immigration proceedings. So they're not being shown that the right way is is protected. They're just being taken and now they're going door to door. They're building their culture. And let us not forget that they are also

⁓ shooting people, whether they be immigrants or non-immigrants, in cold blood, in the middle of the road as they exercise their First Amendment rights. It's a disgusting turn of events and it's unfortunately also just the beginning. So we should all continue to be aware and brace ourselves.

Led Black (44:51)
Yeah, yeah, you're 100 % right. It's time to meet the moment, right? We are not powerless, right? We have power, right? We just need to recognize it and organize and agitate, right? Because one thing we, look, you know, we also have the power of the dollar, right? You know what saying? Latinos, immigrants, people of color, we spend a lot of money, right? And that money is power, right? And, you know, if you're running ads for ICE, we could fuck with you too, right?

And I'll you perfect example, Spotify. Spotify was running ads for ICE. The people lost it and they just canceled the subscription. ICE is no longer, I mean, Spotify is no longer running ads for ICE. Same thing needs to go for Telemundo and Univision. Like, especially Telemundo and Univision, right? You have made all your, everything you are is because of Latinos, right? There would be no Telemundo and Univision without Latinos. And then you hear, you come on and you put,

As for ICE, that's a stab in the back, right? That's a stab in the back. But again, we have power. We can organize against it. And again, that's what we need to be vocal. We need to tell the abuelas, the tias, yo, listen, stop watching it. They are our enemies, right? They are not taking care of us. And if we do that, again, we can't change hearts, but we can hurt pockets, right? And really that's what we can do and we need to do it. And we need to start really...

really coalescing around each other, community is the answer, but it's not gonna be easy, right? There will be more deaths. This is just the beginning. But I think if we remain steadfast, we will get something out of it as well. We will recognize that we have power. We are not just gonna sit here and take it. And I need our community to really, really wake up. We need to wake up. We need to really get together because what's coming

Octavio Blanco (46:36)
Yeah.

Led Black (46:41)
is not gonna be for the weak, but we're not weak, right? You know, my mother came from Dominican public with nothing, right? And she raised me and my brother through the worst of New York City crack era, You know, so we're not weak people. We've, you know, when we put this country on our back, you know what saying? And the reason America is America is because of immigrants, is because African-Americans, is because those other people that no one's ever wants to show love to. So it's like, we also need to understand that we have power.

And we need to exercise that power and we need to get together. need to do anything we need to as every day. There's no more days off for this. No more days off.

Octavio Blanco (47:18)
And if you ever question the power that we have as a community, I would direct your gaze to Dyckman Street. I remember in 1998 when I moved to uptown, Dyckman Street west of Broadway was barren. There was only two businesses there. And they were both Dominican immigrant businesses. One was a bodega and the other was a clothing shop. East of Broadway on Dyckman Street,

Everything was Dominican. All the businesses were Dominican. There was a fly club that was Dominican. There were restaurants that were Dominican. So look at Dyckman Street today. It's thriving. East of Broadway, West of Broadway. It's a go-to destination for people all over the city. People from downtown come uptown. People from the Bronx come to Manhattan. People from New Jersey come up to Dyckman Street to have dinner, to listen to music, to...

to congregate and have fun. And that's dollars and that's power. So that's what we have. We have that ability and we can direct it where we feel it needs to be directed. And when the administration and when our government is fighting against that, we need to stand up and show them that we do have power. So, you know, I'm so happy to be a part of this community. I'm so happy to be here to be able to bring you these folks.

I want to let you know, Tuesday, we've got a great interview coming up. What do you you want to you want to you want to you want to let the people know a little bit about who's going to be on the show on Tuesday?

Led Black (48:50)
I don't remember. I don't remember. We do so much of these shows, I don't remember. You put me on the spot. ⁓ Jack, Jack and Iman from the Washington Heights Board of Chamber of Commerce. Jackie was, we have a great guest coming, guys. Jackie was another one of these guests that what they do and who they are is the same thing. And she's a tireless fighter for the businesses in our community, right? And again, going back to that, like we really...

Octavio Blanco (48:51)
You don't remember? Jackie, Jackie Aleman.

Led Black (49:18)
need to see ourselves in the light that we are. We are hardworking people that make this country run. And I think she's a perfect example of that. And again, we just need to keep fighting that good fight because the fight, didn't want this fight, but it has been brought to us. And I think one of things I also want to talk about is the importance of this is also the conversations that we don't have that we need to have, right? That we're not talking the way we need to talk, right?

And I wanna say that like, when he talked about proximity to whiteness, I thought that was a great point to make. A lot of us sometimes think that if we just talk with the perfect diction, if we just go to the right schools, if we just do this or do that, that will be accepted. But I just want all those, they'll never accept you. You'll never be.

white enough to join MAGA, you know what mean? They'll use you, right? But they don't accept you. They don't, you've never hear Trump shout out Latinos for Trump, right? And I don't even call them Latinos for Trump. I call them Lombones for Trump. You know what saying? But you've, never given them a shout out. What are you doing? Like you're selling out your community for people that don't even give a fuck about you. So I just think that there's conversations that we need to have as Latinos, as immigrants that.

that because we just, think too much of us, we have a narrative, but we just don't know it.

Octavio Blanco (50:45)
And it's really hard to have those conversations, especially now with how charged up our politics are and how angry we are with one another. And I think rightfully angry from the left anyway, because our people are being shot and killed with impunity. know, it's a shameful state of affairs. But I think that people like Jackie, people in this community who are putting their

their money where their mouth is, making sure that people's lives are improved, that people's existence is seen is so important. So we're gonna continue to do this. We're happy to have you here in our audience listening to us. We're happy for your support. ⁓ It's something that we're gonna continue doing. It can be emotionally draining.

⁓ But it's it's really important important work and we're doing it because we love our community. We love our people. We love our country Right. We're not doing that because we don't love our country, right? People want to people want to make it sound like we don't love our country. That's absolutely not the case We love this place. That's we live here We want this place to thrive and this place can only thrive in unity with everybody in unity, you know, so ⁓ Yeah, so go ahead

Led Black (51:55)
Yeah.

No, and I wanna say to our audience, you know, on IG, please go to our YouTube page, you know, please subscribe, it helps us out. And also like, you know, the last live, right, where we were talking about Renee.

and her untimely passing. We got so much fucking hate. And I think it's like bots, right? But it was like the hate was crazy. And again, I really wanted to fuck with them, right? Because it's like, they were like, hey, you guys should, I'm gonna report your page. And I wanted to say like, ⁓ I'm sorry, the truth triggered you snowflake, right? These people talk so much shit. And then they're like, my feelings are hurt. Like, shut the fuck up. You know what saying? So to our audience, go to our YouTube page, put some comments towards, you know, for us, because it's like,

Octavio Blanco (52:18)
Yeah.

Led Black (52:42)
the amount of hate they were getting on YouTube. To me, I don't give a fuck. I it doesn't intimidate me. I don't even think they're real people. But it's also like, it's just so, it's such an operation, right? It's like one comment and then we got like the same comment, you know, by 13, 14, 15 other people. And it's an operation. But again, like let's continue to coalesce and show love to one another. So subscribe, comment.

Tell your people about it, right? We've been rocking now. How many episodes? We're like 40-something episodes deep now, right?

Octavio Blanco (53:14)
This one, if we're counting both Uptown Voices, you the interviews that we do and the live episodes, this is episode 41. ⁓

Led Black (53:23)
It's amazing, you know what mean? And we haven't missed a

week. You know what I mean? This this this might seem, I love to talk shit, but this is still a huge ⁓ undertaking for the both of us, right? We both have lives, families, you know, things we need to do, but we take time, multiple hours, you know, you do a lot more time on this than I do, cause you're doing all the backend. So, you know, show that love, spread that uptown love, like our pages and tell people about us, right? Because this is how we grow.

Octavio Blanco (53:33)
Yeah.

Led Black (53:49)
And again, like we're not stopping. I'm not stopping. You know what saying? Like my mother came, like I said, my mother came with nothing and she's not stopping. My mother's still rocking out. So I'm gonna keep rocking out for my people, man, because this is the time to do it. And like if I wasn't doing this, I wouldn't feel good or right about myself. And I wanna say this, like I've lost hundreds of followers, you know, because of my stances, but then I've gained thousands of followers.

So I don't look at it even as a loss, as a realignment, right? If you're Trump's nuts, that's good for you. I'm not fucking with you, you know what mean? That's on you. That's what I'm saying. It's like, it's so weird. I put a post on my story about, what are you gonna do when the day that it happens? Are you gonna celebrate the day that it happens? And then like.

Octavio Blanco (54:17)
Mm-hmm.

Hahaha

hahahaha

Led Black (54:34)
And that's when the trolls get triggered and they're like, and the feelings get hurt. And it's like, yo, you're standing up for this monster who's waging war on our community. Like make it make sense. Make it make sense. And those are the conversations we need to have that we come with these ridiculous notions because maybe you're light skinned. think that you're white because you might've been white in your home country. You're not white here.

Octavio Blanco (54:43)
Yeah.

Led Black (55:00)
You know what mean? And that's not attacking white people. I want to shout out all the well-meaning white people, all the progressive white people, like especially in Minneapolis who are fighting for their neighbors. Shout out to them. I love them too. But I'm saying to those black and brown people that think that if they just behave white enough, they're going to be accepted. No, too. You're going to be rounded up too, dumbass. And again, I don't even care. Go your way. Go to a manga rally if you think it's safe and see what happens to you. But again, we need to just hunker down.

Octavio Blanco (55:20)
You

Led Black (55:30)
Close ranks and join arms.

Octavio Blanco (55:33)
Yes, sir. Yes, sir. So look, let I think we've been on for about an hour and I gotta say I gotta I gotta get going. I gotta I gotta few things to do. I'm gonna be going. I'm going to that protest. I hope everybody else I hope others will make it out there. I thank you. I thank you. Led Black for for allowing me to partner with you and for making this such a great success. And I look forward to more to more success in this in the future. And I and let's keep doing this by Lante, my brother.

Led Black (55:42)
You got a protest to make. That's right.

One thing real quick, I'm going to go today to go see The Voice of Hind. It's a movie about Hind, the young woman, not even a woman, she was a kid that was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, pinned down, and basically she had the wherewithal to call the Red Crescent. And so the movie's made based on those tapes and they reenacted the dramatization. So everyone, you should go see that movie, The Voice of Hind.

Octavio Blanco (56:28)
Awesome.

Voice of Hind. All right, my brother, much love. Peace.

Led Black (56:32)
Three soon. Yes, sir.