Wiseup Tx

Lydia Bean is running for Texas State Representative (House District 93) as the Democratic Candidate. This district includes parts of Arlington, “Mid Cities", and North Fort Worth, stretching through much of Tarrant County. Lydia says her South Asian voters want what her other constituents are looking for too - well-funded public education, access to healthcare, and civility. She talks about how coming from a family of faith shaped her aspirations to work in public service. You can learn more about Lydia on her website. WiseUp TX is nonpartisan and does not support any candidate

Pooja Sethi is running for City Council in Austin, Texas (District 10). She shares how her South Asian identity influences her campaign - if she wins, she will be the first South Asian American to serve on Austin's City Council. Her work as an immigration lawyer taking on pro bono cases for domestic violence survivors motivated her to become a local leader. She has served the City on various Task Forces and decided to run for City Council to be a voice for those often unheard. You can learn more about her on her website.

Karthik Soora and Hena Rafiq are two of the co-founders of the They See Blue Texas Chapter. They See Blue is a National organization mobilizing South Asian Americans to help Democrats win races. Hear more about how their organization engages the South Asian community. With less than three months until the election, and amidst a pandemic, they are motivating South Asian Texans to vote for Democrats, and that Texas state races matter in addition to the Presidential and National races, reminding folks that politics is local.  WiseUp TX is a non-partisan organization and does not support any political party or candidate. 

We all know how Super Tuesday turned out for the Presidential Candidates but how about the down ballot races in Texas? Lots of South Asians ran on both the Congressional and State levels! Punam and Azra talk about how South Asian candidates fared and discuss results of the races with a heavy South Asian population. Tune in to hear all this and how South Asians could make a difference in the upcoming November election.

U.S. Congressional District 3 covers parts of Collin County, including parts of Plano, Frisco, Allen, and McKinney. An area known for its South Asian population! In this episode we meet with democratic candidate Lulu Seikaly. Seikaly believes the South Asian vote is critical for this election cycle. As a daughter of immigrants and Arab American, she feels uniquely qualified to serve her diverse constituents.

The Iowa caucus is TODAY! You may be wondering what is a caucus, how do they work, are there differences between a Republican and Democratic caucus, etc... Don't worry--we are here to help you WiseUp on what is a caucus! Tune in to hear more!

You rarely hear about a Bengali Texan running for office but guess what? There is one! Meet Donna Imam, who is running for Congress in TX31! TX31 encompasses parts of Austin, Roundrock, Leander, and other northern suburbs. Tune in to hear more about her political platform and if elected, how she intends to improve healthcare, education, and real pay for all. **Please note that WiseUp TX does not endorse any candidates. We simply want South Asian Texans to WiseUp and learn more about the candidates running for office!**

The Houston runoff elections have arrived! Raj Salhotra is in a runoff for an at large city council position. Tune in to WiseUp on his platform and how he intends to fix the educational, flooding, and transportation issues facing Houston. 

Judge KP George, representing the Fort Bend county area, was one of the first South Asian judges elected in Texas. Tune in to hear more about what a county judge does, what prompted him to run for office, the hurdles he overcame, and how he hopes to move a fractured South Asian community forward after the visit of Prime Minister Modi.  **Interview was done at TribFest on September 27, 2019.**

Check out our latest interview with, Asma Uddin, the founder of altMuslimah and the author of the book, "When Islam is not a Religion". The book takes a look at religious freedom in the United States through the prism of attacks on the constitutional rights of American Muslims. We discuss what motivated her to write on this topic and the reason why she chose the title for her book.

Tune in to hear about some exciting updates about WiseUp TX! We are also joined by one of our awesome interns, Areeba Amer, to discuss the Millennial v. Gen Z thoughts on the 2020 Democratic Presidential candidates we saw at the Texas Tribune Festival last weekend.

Tune in to hear about some exciting updates about WiseUp TX!  We are also joined by one of our awesome interns, Areeba Amer, to discuss the Millennial v. Gen Z thoughts on the 2020 Democratic Presidential candidates we saw at the Texas Tribune Festival last weekend.

#GreenNewDeal #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming What are all the #2020election candidates talking about? Our Daily Planet helps us unpack these terms & explains why many 2020 Presidential candidates have the #environment at the top of their platform.

Early voting has begun for local elections and will continue till April 28th. Election Day is May 4th, May the Vote Be With You! Check out this interview with Aisha Ojha, who is running for HEB ISD Trustee. The interview was conducted by incoming board member, Ava Damri.

An update on Texas politics, a reminder of upcoming local elections, and an interview with Afshi Charania who is running for Fort Bend ISD School Trustee! The interview was conducted by incoming board member, Karim Farishta.

When you are at a South Asian establishment, do you wonder how the other South Asian workers are treated? Unfortunately, many South Asian American business owners mistreat their own South Asian employees by threatening to call ICE on undocumented workers, human trafficking, wage theft, harsh working conditions, and taking advantage that their employees don't speak/understand English. It's easy for us to complain about the current political situation on social media, but how many of us are looking within and realizing the many issues we complain about are happening within our own community? As we end Women's History Month, check out our latest interview with Pabitra Benjamin, the Executive Director of Adhikaar, a women founded organization catering to the Nepali American community. We chat about the many instances where South Asians take advantage of their own, bring the same racism from the subcontinent and apply it here in America, and how we can start having conversations to change workers rights within

Did you know that men and women are not considered equal under the US Constitution? Yes, you read that correctly. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a bipartisan movement to guarantee equal rights for all US citizens regardless of gender. There needs to be 38 states to ratify (approve) this legislation so Congress can add it to the US Constitution. Currently, only 37 states have ratified it. It’s Women’s History Month and this is the perfect time to bring up this relevant issue. I chat with Jamia Wilson, the Executive Director of the Feminist Press, about her advocacy fighting for the ERA, why the ERA is so important, and what we can do to ensure this legislation moves forward. Jamia and I both want to tell our future children that they live in a place where both genders are considered equal under the US Constitution.

We dedicate this segment to the 51 lives lost in the terrorist attacks at the two Mosques in Christchurch, NZ. In the two previous podcast segments, we interviewed inspirational women for Women's History Month. We continue this in our latest interview with Deepa Iyer and the conversation couldn't be more timely. We discuss the current Islamophobia rhetoric permeating American politics and media, which are detrimentally impacting the South Asian, Muslim, and Arab communities. We also talk about accountability for our politicians and media on Islamophobic rhetoric, and how we move forward in solidarity.

We continue our interviews with inspirational women for Women's History Month. Today our interview is with Nabila Mansoor, who is running for City Council District 2 in Sugar Land, Texas. Tune in to hear about Nabila's policy platform and the latest political news happening at the Texas Legislature.

Interview with Rabia Chaudry by WiseUp TX