Part 1: Educating & Supporting Displaced Asylum Seekers w/ Felicia Rangel-Samponaro

According to Weeze

This episode is part one of two amazing episodes we’ve got with The Sidewalk School. In this episode, Weeze has a conversation with Director Felicia, about how The Sidewalk School was founded in response to the need for education and support for those facing displacement in the Matamoros Tent City, a refugee camp. They discuss the realities of asylum seekers and how they’ve been mistreated due to Trump’s immigration policy changes, Biden’s backwards approach to “fixing” them, and what we can do to support these folks who legally did exactly what they were supposed to, but have been displaced for years...years!

ABOUT WEEZE

Louiza Doran, known and referred to as Weeze, is a cis-het Amazigh* female identifying human who uses she/her/they/them pronouns. She’s known as a coach, podcast host, advocate, agent of change, strategist and educator (to name a few) but is ultimately a compassionate provocateur that is out to help folks uncover their path of possibility.

ABOUT FELICIA

Felicia Rangel-Samponaro holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Houston. Prior to moving to Brownsville, TX, she was a certified teacher in the Houston area. Felicia is married and is a proud mother to her 9-year-old son. Despite being a non-Spanish speaker amongst a fully Spanish-speaking staff, she has been a volunteer in the Matamoros Tent City with the Asylum Seekers since late 2018. Through her work with the Sidewalk School, she believes that anything is possible, especially creating and running schools in Mexico.

IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT

• The education and resources Sidewalk School provides to asylum seekers in the Matamoras encampment.
• How the Matamoras encampment grew to a population of 5000 displaced people!
• How Trump silently legalized the separation and kidnapping of children in internment camps.
• How children were sent to kid jails from a matter of weeks to years, deported back to their native countries, and placed in foster care.
• The backwards way Pres. Robinette has decided to “fix” the Migrant Protection Program.

CALL TO ACTION

• Donate to Sidewalk School: https://www.sidewalkschool.org

• Purchase Mel’s artwork: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SidewalkSchool

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

• https://drive.google.com/file/d/10p5HbMf0Uq92Vh-e6WRpp-6c7w_GbY7Z/view?usp=sharing

FOLLOW WEEZE TO STAY ENGAGED

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The Academy (it’s like Patreon): https://www.accordingtoweeze.com/the-academy

FOLLOW FELICIA TO STAY ENGAGED

Website: https://www.sidewalkschool.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesidewalkschool

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesidewalkschool/

Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SidewalkSchool

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/sidewalkschool