A Conspiracy of Service - Alex Palacios

Episode 1 Recap

Jerome Evans, Brendan Phillips and guest Alex Palacios talk politics, service, and understanding the values that motivate our actions.

Insights

Political Acts

There is more to political actions than just voting. Political acts include educating yourself and others on the issues that affect our systems, providing services that benefit those people that our political system leaves behind, and raising children whose behaviors embody the values that our systems should embody.

Systems that are made by humans can be changed by humans.

Sometimes we behave as though some systems created in the past are perfect or infallible. In our conversation, Alex reminds us that our political systems are human-made systems. And human made systems can be changed by humans. What typically gets in the way of changing a human made system is that some humans are benefitting from that system to such an extent that they feel motivated to maintain the status quo.

Transcript

Jerome: Welcome to Bottomless Coffee. We’re building a community of people that have looked around the world and thought, “We can do a little bit better than this!”

Right now, we’re bringing people together through conversations with changemakers who have agreed to be a part of our community. First up is Alex Palacios, a proud trans person and politician of color.

Please support this content and our community by going to Patreon.com/BottomlessCoffee and becoming a Community Member. And learn more about all of our guests and our community at BottomlessCoffeePodcast.com.

Jerome: Here we go! Welcome to Bottomless Coffee! Hey Brendan! well, it’s been a little bit since I’ve seen you in person and it’s always a joy to see your smiling face. How are you?

Brendan: I’m good, I’m good. We’re, what, three days till the election so just taking it one day at a time. I’ve been reading Eight Steps to Not Lose Your Mind in these next 3 days. All of them were like what not to fixate on. So I’m trying to push all that out and keep it together.

Jerome: Okay so Brendan is taking part in what I’m hearing is an eight step program. What step would you say you’re on?

Brendan: Well I got the voted one so check that off the list and now it’s just meditation, alternate nostril breathing, and chardonnay.

Jerome: I’m here for that last for sure.

Brendan: How’re you doing? I’m doing really welI! I guess, in case anyone doesn’t know who I am or if they’ve just wandered into this podcast or video – I’m Jerome. I try to be really nice. I’m trying to find my zen in this time before the election because I feel as though I’ve been involved in politics for so long that I’ve set a well-oiled machine in motion and now I just need to make sure that it’s running… until Tuesday. And then we’ll be okay. Hopefully.

So today we’re going to be talking politics and intersections. And before I introduce our guest I just want to ask you Bredan. Have you heard politicians debating any of your fundamental civil rights anytime over this week or last week?

Brendan: Yes. I mean Alito and Thomas at the beginning of this term said that they wanted to revisit Obergefell which is of course the decision that nationalized the ability for for gay marriage. And hearing that debated again is is a little worrying

Jerome: That actually hits very close to him. And it’s funny, I wrote the question but didn’t think about it. I just got married on the 10th of October and our officiant is obviously very pro gay. But she was also like, “If you know anyone that needs to get married before a decision comes down that might strike down the law then let me know, I’ll do it for free, and I’ll crank out as many in a day as I have to in order to make sure that as many people are protected as possible

Brendan: Wow…

Jerome: And I was like, “That is so real… but you did make this about you on my wedding day and we can’t have that.

Jokes aside, it was a beautiful moment.

But let’s talk to our guest! Alex! Hi! How are you?

Alex: Hey how’s it going I’m pretty good!

Jerome: Yay! Thank you so much for agreeing to do this. Thank you for being here. I’m really excited for this conversation because I know how much there is about you to share. But let me just revisit some of the things that you provided to us and we’ll make sure that they’re all still true.

Alex Palacios. Is that indeed your real name?

Alex: Yes

Jerome: And your pronouns are they them?

Alex: Yes, proudly they/them.

Jerome: Fantastic. Born in Honduras and of Garifuna descent. Did I pronounce that properly?

Alex: Yeah!

Jerome: And raised in the Bronx?

Alex: Yes in the South Bronx. Just about a mile from the Yankee stadium.

Jerome: Now you know Brendan is in New York right now?

Alex: Yes I’m feeling a little homesick right now!

Brendan: Well if you were feeling homesick did you see the story from the Bronx where the guy was walking on the sidewalk and fell into a vault full of rats that crawled all over him?

Alex: My mother sent me that, yeah.

Brendan: I think that’s just how they welcome you to New York. Everyone has to have one experience like that. You know, fight a rate for a slice of pizza on the subway.

Alex: And if you eat the slice you get extra points.

Jerome: That is horrifying, I’m going to have nightmares about that.

Let me ask since you are not in New York – thank goodness – you work for the Aliveness Project? Would you mind just telling us a little bit about the Aliveness Project?

Alex: Yes! The Aliveness Project is a community center based in South Minneapolis that provides resources to people living with HIV. I myself am a person living with HIV and I started there as a member. That’s what we call the folks that are affiliated with us. They are our members. I became a member there in 201, I served on the board, and I stepped down from the board to take an outreach position to do testing and education. And recently I’ve been promoted to member services. So before I was dealing with geting folks in touch with resources if they didn’t know their status and now I’m dealing with people who do know their status but just need extra support.

Jerome: Fantastic! And you’re also – I feel in your extra time – involved politically in the City of Minneapolis. You both ran for City Council recently and you’re actively involved in the local Stonewall DFL caucus.

Alex: Yes, yes and there’s still time to spare!

I serve as membership director for Stonewall DFL, the LGBT caucus here in the State of Minnesota. And that was really the launching pads for me as far as running for office locally. And I guess we can talk more about that later but it has really been an incredible experience. And a humbling one! I would do it all over again.

Brendan: Jerome, for the people who are not Minnesota voters can you explain what DFL is?

Jerome: Yes – absolutely! Thank you. The DFL is Minnesota’s local democratic party. Except DFL stands for Democratic-Farmer-Labor.

And it looks like I froze.

Brendan: Jerome did you freeze?

Jerome: I froze!

Where did I get to?

Brendan: At the end of – it’s a coalition that’s grown over time that’s similar to the Democratic Party.

Jerome: Okay – well if I got all that out then we’ll be okay.

So Alex what we’re going to do is take the quickest of breaks and when we come back we’ll ask you a couple of questions on political power, service, and what I know to be your favorite topic of conversation – intersectionality. Sound good?

Alex: Sounds great.

Jerome: Hi there – it’s Jerome again. So we made it to 8 minutes and 50 seconds into our conversation before we encountered our first two technicals limitations. At one point when Alex is describing their new role with the Aliveness Project the audio dropped when they were describing that they now work with members who are aware that they have HIV but need more support. And then a little later our conversation froze while I was describing the Democratic Farmer Labor Party. For a politician that will likely be seeking the endorsement of the DFL in the future – that’s really the last thing that you want to have happen. If you’d like more information on the DFL including a history of the merger of the Minnesota Democrats, the Farmer Party, and the Labor Party then please go to DFL.org.

So while these comically timed technical glitches mark the first moment of embarrassment in this podcast venture, it also marks an opportunity for growth for the community. And since the goal of the podcast is to inspire people to improve what they can improve in the world around them, it seems only fair that I share some of the harder parts of producing a podcast and YouTube show. In subsequent episodes you’ll see Brendan, myself, and our guests trying varying production techniques to deliver the best quality product. And I’m glad to say that we do succeed though it takes us a few episodes to do so.

Coming up, Alex will discuss the factors that brought them to a life of service and share a story with us about their first encounter with the intersection of politics and service.

Jerome: Okay – we’re back! That was a very quick break. Back with Alex Palacios and Brendan Phillips. And now we’re going to talk about the Aliveness Project a little bit more. I want to point out that you did hold a citywide rally to highlight violence against the black transgender community. And in the other twelve point list of service work that you provide … I’m just curious!

Was service work an intentional decision for you or is it something that you found yourself accidentally going into professionally?

Alex: I would say neither. I would say that it’s closer to the happy accident but I would call it a universal conspiracy. Things in my life just sort of conspired to get me to this point. And I would be lying if I said that there was a lot of intentionality to get here. But my upbringing, right? I was raised by a nurse and a pastor who also served in the armed forces in Honduras where I’m from originally. And so those were two very clear examples of service.

Jerome: Can you take us down the path? Tell us a little bit about your life and what led you to where you are today because what we really want people to get out of these episodes is that you can make a difference within your sphere of influence no matter who you are. Anyone within their sphere can make change within the system that they’re in. And you have gotten to a really admirable place where – as Brendan pointed out – you and I are the only ones sitting here who have run for office.

Brendan: I’ll get there eventually.

Jerome: I hope so.

Brendan: 2040 is my new target date for running.

Jerome: Well clearly I’ve got room in here for a Brendan sign so I’m ready.

But please Alex, tell us about the path that led you to service and that brought you to running for office.

Alex: Yeah! And I would – if I may – amend your statement to say that you can choose to have a life of service and give yourself because of who you are, right? Rather than no matter who you are because it absolutely matters. And my story is one of making lemonade out of the lemons that I was handed.

I was fortunate enough to be able to emigrate to this country when I was just 6 years old and it was an uphill climb. It was certainly an adventure at 6 years old but there were certainly obstacles that were presented. Including coming to terms with my queerness, including the break-up of my family, including just being a child and then a teenager in New York Public Schools.

I would say that my story is sort of anointed by woundedness. And I didn’t have to remain wounded, I didn’t have to remain a victim of my circumstances, but I did have to go through some pretty tough things before I could figure out that those things didn’t define me.

Jerome: So it’s kindof a universal story. We all have tough circumstances that we have to deal with but at some point I feel as though we make the choice not to be defined by those circumstances and to make of our lives what we want to make of them.

And famously, at least in my mind famously, with you – when we first met you had no plans for running for office. So I’m still impressed that within just a few months of that conversation you were holding that vigil and wearing a cape, no less! A cape that would go really nicely with your new hair, by the way.

Brendan: So from that point of overcoming that personal woundedness. A lot of people at that point would say, “That’s a lot of work. I’ve done the things that I need to do to get to that point,”

But what made you go the step further to then spread that. Because those are two different things. And you could almost hear yourself saying, “I overcame a lot. My work’s done now,”

Alex: So that’s a great question. I think overcoming is a never ending process. I think that that is something that we get better at – we get more practice at – and there’s always something to overcome. And when you realize, well when I realized that, and when I sat and thought about the fact that there are powers greater than myself out there that I have yet to tap into.

That’s really the theme – if you will – of service for me. And a lot of it was from being a lonely teenager. A lot of it was from…

I’ll share this with you.

The first time I ran for office was when I was in 8th grade and I ran for student body vice-president. And the only reason that i did that … I was very unpopular in school … I was the only out person in my middle school and in the South Bronx that’s rough going. But I did it because I heard some teachers talking about the fact that students who were learners of English as a second language didn’t have the resources that they needed and didn’t have anyone to talk to outside of their peer group. And so the first thing I did when I won that election – because I won – was go to those ESL classrooms and I introduced myself in Spanish. And I told them that if I can do it then so can they. At some point I did not know English at all and here I was, student body vice-president. So that was my first service commitment, if you will.

Jerome: Fantastic! Thank you for sharing that. I’m going to call that a Bottomless Coffee exclusive.

Brendan: So they take us through the journey of how you go into it as an adult as well. It sounds like the seeds were there. What sparked you to get into it?

Alex: So this childhood, happy coinkydink suddenly branded me as a leader. So through high school it turned out that I was the person that did things that nobody else wanted to do. By the way I was in the first graduating class of my high school, a lot needed to be done. And, story of my life, if nobody else is going to pick up the baton then I’ll do it.

And that led to a leadership scholarship which is how I go to college. I went to DeVry University – Indiana. Four year, full leadership scholarship through The Posse Foundation. So grateful for that. But again, that came directly from leadership.

Fast forward a little bit, I move to Minneapolis. I’ve just discovered that I’m HIV positive, I am entering the depth of my addiction – I do identify as an addict. And I was just in a really, really dark place. And once again, it was someone at the Aliveness Project seeing that I was being of service in the space – because that was the only thing that I really could do at the time – who really fostered that. So shoutout to Amy who was then the executive director and to Teddy. They really nurtured that and helped me get my life back to where I needed to be.

And so the Aliveness Project in a lot of ways taught me what the principles of co-governance are, what the power of community are, and how imperative it is that we are of service. That we give back. That we practice courage. That we are generous with our time and with our efforts.

If you have found yourself feeling sidelined by life during political seasons then this next section is for you. In a series of cognitive leaps Alex makes the argument that everyday actions can actually be political actions. The argument is passionate, at times eloquent, but unfortunately the bottom dropped her right out of the audio quality during this segment. For this YouTube video I’ve uploaded subtitles that will help us all remain present during the conversation. But to be honest, I did think about removing this section altogether. But – as we’ve previously discussed: you take the good, you take the bad, you put it together and there you have Episode 1 of Bottomless Coffee. Rough around the edges but brimming with potential.

If during the next few minutes find yourself having trouble understanding the conversation, that’s okay. Just skip ahead. The audio stabilizes for most of the episode after this little bit. And for those who need it, I’ve typed out a full transcript of this conversation and posted it at BottomlessCoffeePodcast.com

So when we were on break Brendan mentioned something about organizing and for the benefit of people who are listening, Brendan, would you mind asking that again?

Brendan: In a lot of cases when we think about political power and the ability of power to effect change we think of things like office holding, legislation, courts – but there’s a lot of power that’s in service and nonprofit organizations that we don’t typically think of as parallel. Can you share some experiences of A) how to think about that and B) how that can effect real change in the world in a way that’s separate from the politics that we’ve been experiencing for – what feels like 10 years – but for the last couple of years.

Alex: It really does feel that way. Your question takes me back to a conference that I attended two days ago called Positive Changes. It was all about the intersection of racism and HIV. And ultimately our identities, our privilege, our access to resources are all defined by systems that are political. And these political systems are human made. So let’s be clear that we’re talking about human made systems. These are the drivers of our *unintelligible*. And so by being able to take ownership of your identify, by being able to take ownership of your civic duties – by living out loud and being courageous and uncompromising in being this person – that is a political act.

And agencies like nonprofits, schools, and other public entities have a strong focus on advocacy which is part and parcel what politics is. Advocating for a result that benefits – hopefully – the masses, or the largest body of people. And – of course – now we’re talking history. We have to temper that with systems like racism that this country was founded on and perfected. That doesn’t mean that we get to give up. It doesn’t mean that we end our work with accepting that these systems are – it means that we get to hold each other to talk and say, “If we truly want people to live and breathe this political work, not just for running for office but for being fully and wholeheartedly yourself and understanding your worth, then we have to build equitable systems. We have to dismantle the foundation of this country and rebuild,”

It’s not impossible. It’ll be difficult and it’s going to take time but the more of us that commit to that labor then closer we’ll get each and every day. And I really believe that.

Brendan: So – for people who haven’t committed their entire live to that labor but do agree with you. Which is the majority of people. What are things that they can do that will enable people who are doing the brunt of the work to do it well and enable the goals of the movement to be achieved.

Alex: Let me be clear about the fact that I think that anyone who spreads kindness in the world, who helps another person be more fully themselves – is doing a political action. If you are a mother who is too busy to do text banking or phone banking but are teaching your children about what a ballot is and what a bill is – you’re having those conversations then you are doing a political action. If you are telling them that you love and that they’re perfect just the way they are and that they should always strive for self improvement then you are doing a political action. If you have never turned on CNN but you enjoy writing about your interests and sharing that with the world then you are doing a political action. Political activism starts in your heart and what we know as political actions are the reverberations of that.

And so anyone can be politically active, you just have to have that intentionality of saying how do I make something – anything – better, stronger, and more equal. This is a conversation that I have all the time with my sister. She’s a single mother of two and she does not have time for any of this. She’s been unfazed about the fact that I ran for office but she’ll be the fist one to tell her daughter why women are marching on Washington. Or she’ll share with her son why the topic of sexual violence is so prevalent right now. These are political actions. These are actions that will change our systems in the years to come.

Jerome: Well okay! Alex, you know me. You know that I am itching to take the microphone because I also have things to say!

But that is not this show. So right now let’s take the shortest break and then be right back.

Part of the reason why I love this conversation with Alex is because they have such a firm grasp on their values and they’re able to articulate their values to people who don’t necessarily share those values in such a way that they understand. And that’s not an accident. As political candidates Alex and I spent months standing in front of groups of strangers and articulating our values, our policies, and how our values and policies aligned to create a vision of a greater community for those around us. And we did that over and over and over again.

And that really is part of what I hope our Bottomless Coffee community will think about. What do we believe? Why do we believe what we believe? Do our actions align with our articulated beliefs? And when someone asks us, “Why are you so different?”

And they will ask.

I want us to be able to tell them what motivates us to get out of bed in the morning to make those difficult decisions. Because that is where the power of change lies.

Jerome: Hi! We’re back. We had what turned out to be a little bit longer of a break and we have a new, impromptu question for Alex that was so good that we wanted to bring it back and share. I have to read this one.

Getting people to recognize political acts in the service of building the systems better – speaking to that – how do you get people to work with you on agreeing to what better actually means?

Alex: I love this question because it reminds me of when I wanted to be an actor. There was a time in my life when I really wanted to be an actor. I took courses for acting in front of a camera and everything – I really wanted to pursue this. And one of the things that I learned in study was about the actor’s motivation. Nobody goes into a scene and believes that they are the villain. They are not a villain, they are just a person with a specific motivation and a specific set of values that leads to a specific action.

It’s the same in life. We label each other and we label ourselves. And we place judgement – that’s just human nature. But ultimately, what it comes down to is understanding that a person who is disagreeing with me because of me and it’s not that they’re disagreeing because they’re flawed morally – but ultimately what it comes down to is understand their motivations. Why they behave and think in a certain way. Why they value the things that they value. And what connections we can make to each other. Because that’s when you really start to see people take a step back and think a minute about what they’re saying. When someone is saying something by rote – you can definitely tell. “Oh, this is something that you picked up on MSNBC or FOX news. Great. Let’s get to what you actually think,”

Jerome: I think that’s such a great point. I feel as though… hmm.. When I ran for office I had a strong values message as well. And I think that’s when I began to realize that a lot of people don’t take the time to actually think through what their values are and why their values are what they think they are.

And I think that really ties into these questions about acts and service. What’s one thing that someone who has never thought about it before can do now? For free? You can start thinking about why you believe the things that you do and start to question if maybe some of the values you hold are outdated. And need to change. That is also free.

Brendan: Have you never met someone where their values are just so fundamentally opposed to what you think of a better world looks like that you cannot connect with them?

Alex: Oh, I absolutely have. My assertion is that that doesn’t need to be a static thing. And that we can grow closer in the understanding of our values and how they drive us forward. When I was phone banking during the campaign there were some people who answered and said, “I am not voting for you. I will never vote for you. And don’t you ever call me again,”

What was behind that? Obviously I didn’t get the chance to have that conversation with them but I didn’t take it as there being something wrong with me or wrong with them for them to say these things. I took it as, “I wonder what it is about what I’m presenting that’s so off-putting to that person?”

And on the same token when I went door knocking – and door knocking during COVID was a trip – and I’m sure Jerome shares this experience – you did get the chance to have deeper conversations. “So you’re voting for the other person or you’re undecided, what is important to you and how does my vision connect to your values?”

And it’s often surprising how quickly people will be able to give you at least some grace and understand that our visions which seem diametrically opposed can be a little closer together.

Brendan: Do you have any examples from the door knocking or the phone banking where it started out far apart but you were able to connect a little bit more.

Alex: Yes! We once knocked on a woman’s door where according to our list we were looking for the college aged son …

Jerome: Of course you were!

Alex: That’s who we were there to talk to but mom answered the door. And she’s from Britain and she just did not understand why anyone would want to defund the police. Could not understand that. We did not convince her to vote for me but what we did do was make the distinction between making police officers – which if you’re looking at attack ads right now that’s all that the other side is saying, that we are coming after police officers. But we distinguished the person in the uniform from the uniform itself and what it represented. And that made a huge difference in the quality of our conversation.

Jerome: You were out there doing the work! I find myself thanking you. That sounds so trite but as you describe it that is an act of service so thank you.

Brendan: Yeah!

Alex: Well you should thank yourself then because you were out there doing the very same thing.

Jerome: True.

Brendan: And I’m here to make a podcast!

It sounds like going through that work provides a lot of opportunities for thinking about conversations and topics like that in new ways. Are there any lessons that you’ve learned so far that you wish you had known before getting into all this?

Alex: I think that I became much more aware of the flaws in the standard political process. What we think of as the political process. There are all sorts of barriers and obstacles and those things that are fairly relevant to my life outside of politics become magnified in my life in politics. So the discrimination, the identity politics, the personal attacks, the refusal to reach out and extend a hand to someone whose starting point in this race was way, way far behind. And the refusal to understand that. Nobody’s asking for a handout, we’re asking for equity. Those things became very real. Those dynamics became very present while running for office but ultimately I had to continue being the person in the arena as Teddy Rosevelt put it. I had to continue being the person who sought to work around, jump over, crawl under all these obstacles with different dynamics in different dilemmas. Not because I had to be exceptional but because if I could do it – someone else was coming behind me.

And I say also – separating the labor from self-indulgence. And what does that mean? It means being able to bring your entire self into the political arena. It means widening your perspective of what the political arena is. It means knowing that an office will not give you power, at least political power as we were talking about earlier. What gives you political power is people.

So co-governance and intersectionality – my favorite word as Jerome knows. My belief in those things as guiding principles has deepend so much and I am very grateful.

Brendan: So for the uninitiated in this terminology, can you explain what co-governance means?

Alex: Co-governance pushes back against the narrative that the person holding office leads from the front. And yes, politicians should be aspirational. They should strive to have the conversations that lead progress, that propel people forward. But co-governance means that at every step, in every decision, at every level you are involving the community. You are making sure that as many people as possible that you represent have the chance to have their voices heard on legislation, policy, timelines, procedures. Everything from how we source our energy to where our children go to school and if they should have different opportunities because they go to school in different zip codes. To what bus route runs by your house. To where we dispose of our trash. All of these things people sit in halls and make decisions about but unless they’re backed up by the voice of the community it’s not sustainable.

Brendan: Yeah, because you often think of there being two classes of people. The people who govern and the people who are governed and you think of them very separately. And so I guess co-governance is breaking it down and saying that people who are governing aren’t just representing the community – they are part of the community. Is that right?

Alex: Yes! And so are the people in office. They are part of a community and that can never be forgotten. So the governed are the governing.

Brendan: And it feels as though that has gotten worse over the last fifteen or twenty years with the nationalization of politics because it kind of takes you out of the community. So what you two are doing by making politics very local is fighting back against that a bit.

Jerome: Yes, 100%. It drives me nuts when people – politicians in particular – even progressive politicians fire off these aspirational policies or legislation when they haven’t really done the community work to make sure that they’re adequately supported when that legislation comes out.

In my mind immediately comes the Zero Waste Act, the Housing for All Act – these are good policies that people’s values align with but people don’t know that their values align with them. So for instance – and I promise that I won’t go long – Housing for All. When you say Housing for All it sounds weird and almost socialist in the worst sense. But when you ask someone if their grandparents should be kicked out of the home that they’ve lived in for 30 years because their pension dried up – should your grandmother be able to stay in her home in that case or should she be on the street? All of a sudden they’re on team grandma.

You pass by the homeless person in the alley and you say, “I can’t understand why the city or county or whomever can’t get these people a home,”

Well that’s Housing for All. And when politicians don’t do the work to take those discrete examples that everyone has experience with and show them as the underpinning of that policy then the policy falls flat, and sounds absurd, and gets ridiculed on FOX News. And so I 100% agree with you Brendan – Alex and I are doing exceptional work!

Brendan: Well, yeah! And you mention the discrete examples of things connected to policy as one of the ways that you can connect with the values in people’s minds. I guess we need to do more of that in the work that we’re doing.

Jerome: 100% agree with you.

Alex, I hope that you’ve thought about this next and very tough question. If someone is listening or watching right now, what can they do to support you?

Alex: Great question! The first thing that people can do is commit to having difficult conversations with people who disagree with them. I think that’s a great way to support me and everyone who believes in the promise of this country. And I’m willing to bet that if you ask any person across this country if they believe in the promise of this country – most people will say yes. So let’s get to that.

I’ve been having a lot of draining conversations about racism, priviledge, and intersectionality. I’ve sort of branded myself as the intersectionality person. But it can be emotionally draining. Not least of which is because many of us have the privilege to go to Google on your cell phone, go to the library, have conversations with family members or community members or friends. So practice that privilege and learn about racism, intersectionality, and privilege.

But in more concrete ways, if you’d like to support me as we talked about earlier – I work for the Aliveness Project as the Member Services managers. The agency is 35 years old, it started with a potluck for 25 people who were having trouble getting served food, let alone families and friends turning on them. And then no human interaction whatsoever. So now it’s become this great agency statewide. So please support the Aliveness Project down in South Minneapolis.

If you’re a person with HIV, if you’re a person that’s HIV negative- get to PREP. If you’re a person that does not know their status come down and get tested. If you’re a person who is living with HIV then come down and let us be a part of your family.

Finally, support whatever movement you see that aligns with your values but make sure that that movement does align with your values. For example, Stonewall DFL. Our mission is to connect with LGBT folk and help them get to office or positions of leadership and we need community support to get that mission done. But we’re not the only group out there. So please find out – whether it’s your senate district or your congressional district – find out how you can be helpful.

And if that’s not the way in which you can help, continue putting kindness and love out there. Continue asking for the best in people. And, as I mentioned at the beginning of this question, having difficult conversations.

Jerome: Well there you go! I should have been keeping a list! And maybe I’ll go back to the recording and make one.

You can find out more about Alex and Bottomless Coffee at BottomlessCoffeePodcast.com. And I’m really excited about everything we’ve got coming up next in our future both as a podcast, as a youtube show, and in our friendship.

Thank you Brendan – great job!

Brendan: Thank you Jerome!

Jerome: We did it!

Brendan: Yay!

Thank you for tuning in to our first episode we welcome your comments and feedback as we grow and improve. Please consider supporting our work and Patreon.com/BottomlessCoffee. Full transcripts of our conversations, links to the YouTube videos associated with the podcast, guest updates, and our online shop all available at BottomlessCoffeePodcast.com

In our next episode we’ll be discussing caregiving with Rachel Austin a multi-talented performer and the founder of a nonprofit dedicated to connecting caregivers – the Love Labor Project. The conversation is fascinating and I think you’ll love it. See you there!

A Conspiracy of Service – Alex Palacios

Episode 1 Recap

Insights