Arizona Equals May

In today’s episode of the Arizona Equals Conversation, we talk with May Tiwamangkala, Democracy Defender Director​ at Arizona AANHPI For Equity. Topics include climate anxiety, online community, and progressive organizing in Arizona. May also shares how their experiences as a formerly incarcerated person and the child of immigrant parents informs and motivates their work. Additional context for the conversation * AZ AANHPI For Equity * AZ AANHPI Youth Leadership Civic Engagement Fellowship * April 2021 | The Unity March Rescheduled * Toastmasters * A/S/L Internet Slang * Facebook’s Real-Name Policy * Third World Liberation Front * September 24, 2022 | Phochella Music Festival * Fuerte Arts Movement Arizona Equals is a conversational interview podcast rooted in the idea that stories have power. Each episode, we sit down with an LGBTQ+ person living in Arizona to talk about their community ties and experiences in the state. Visit our website to listen to the full archive or to sign up to be a guest on a future episode of the podcast. Full Transcript 00;00;00;05 - 00;00;26;08 Jeanne Hi. Thanks for listening to the Arizona Equals Conversation. I'm Jeanne Woodbury. I'm the policy and communications director for Equality Arizona and the host of this podcast. Arizona Equals is a conversational interview podcast rooted in the idea that stories have power. Each episode, we sit down with an LGBTQ+ person living in Arizona to talk about their community ties and their experiences in the state. 00;00;27;24 - 00;00;59;13 Jeanne Today on the show, I got to interview May Tiwamangkala. They're a personal friend of mine and the democracy defender director for Arizona AANHPI for Equity. We first met a little over a year ago when we were working together at a migrant rights and criminal justice nonprofit called Puente. Since then, we've been able to share knowledge and to collaborate a bit, including with a recent LGBTQ+ Healing Circle event hosted by Arizona AANHPI for Equity at their offices in Tempe. 00;01;00;23 - 00;01;24;06 Jeanne I've always been really impressed by the quality and originality of May's work and the dedication they bring to the work. And so I was really interested to find out what some of the motivations are that drives them to do the work. And over the course of this conversation, I was able to uncover some of those layers from their time in Arizona's criminal justice system to their experience as the child of immigrant parents. 00;01;24;28 - 00;01;45;24 Jeanne At every turn in May's story, they're always finding ways to use their skills and their interests to help others and to build community. I was so happy to be able to record this kind of conversation with them, and I really hope that you enjoy the interview, too. But before we get started, if you're listening to this episode on the date of its release, it's August 31st. 00;01;46;06 - 00;02;12;02 Jeanne In just a little bit over a month, we'll hit the registration deadline for voters who want to participate in the 2022 elections. With that in mind, we're dedicating most of the month of September to voter registration events, and we need your help as a volunteer. To help us register voters in the month of September, visit EqualityArizona.org/Events today to sign up for some of our volunteer opportunities. 00;02;12;23 - 00;02;28;28 Jeanne And now let's get the conversation started. 00;02;32;27 - 00;02;46;27 May Hi. I'm May Tiwamangkala. I am the democracy defender director at AZ AANHPI for Equity. That's Arizona Asian-Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders for Equity. 00;02;47;05 - 00;03;02;26 Jeanne Thanks for having me here today at your office. Last time I came here was for the LGBT Healing Circle event that you put on, which I was really honored to be invited to. I think that was a great experience and it was the first time I had seen your office, and I'm just really impressed with all the work you're doing. 00;03;02;27 - 00;03;27;12 Jeanne When I got here today, you had like a dozen people coming in and out. And it seems like the scale of your work is really taking off. You're doing work that I don't think really any other organization is doing the way you're doing it. You know, you have your focus areas, but then you find focus areas that are corollary and associated, and you use that to expand the whole scope of your work. 00;03;27;13 - 00;03;37;27 Jeanne Like with the LGBT healing circle or with the criminal justice work that you do. So can you tell me a little bit about how you got involved in this organization and what your approach is to that work? 00;03;38;10 - 00;04;07;02 May Yeah, well, what really got me into organizing and advocacy was me being incarcerated. Back in 2016 I was locked up. I spent, you know, a good couple of months in county jail. And I saw how many people were freaking out about possibly spending, you know, so many years in prison. And they had no idea how to navigate the system. 00;04;07;25 - 00;04;37;17 May And I do have, you know, some college in my background, and I was like the only one who really knew how to write, really knew how to read the legal paperwork. So I would volunteer my time to kind of like discuss things with people who were, like fighting their charges. And then, you know, when I was in prison, that's when I really wanted to help others. 00;04;37;17 - 00;05;05;14 May And I did. We hosted Toastmasters. You know, we trained for public speaking, just, you know, to help people out with their interviews, how to advocate for themselves and just be comfortable with their story and not feel like, you know, they are the bad guy. Like, there's a reason why, you know, this has happened in their life and there are people out there who are empathetic and compassionate and believe in second chances and all of that. 00;05;05;14 - 00;05;10;16 Jeanne Yeah. And that there are ways for the system to work that could be healthier for them. 00;05;10;24 - 00;05;11;23 May Right. 00;05;12;05 - 00;05;37;07 Jeanne I think it's really interesting when you talked about your very first experience in the county jail where it wasn't just what was happening to you that motivated you to get into advocacy, but you said, here's a way to apply my abilities. And that's what got you motivated, is you saw people struggling with a system that didn't really care about them, didn't care about working right for them. 00;05;37;07 - 00;05;38;17 Jeanne And you said, oh, I can help. 00;05;39;02 - 00;06;07;08 May Yeah, they were just a number. And I think just me having a little more education than majority of them really helped my case. You know, I was facing up to 12 years and they wanted me to do four and a half years I ended up, you know, pleading for leniency. And I ended up getting two and a half, little under three years. 00;06;08;15 - 00;06;28;10 Jeanne What is that process like being confronted with a with a plea bargain or being given that, you know, that that kind of terrible message of here's the potential sentence you could be facing, and then going forward from there to find a way to improve the situation. What is that like? 00;06;29;14 - 00;06;50;28 May It's really intimidating. I mean, I know like over 90% of people who are charged, they just take the plea bargain because they say, like, if you lose the trial, you lose a case, there is a good possibility that you'll get the maximum. And most of the time the maximum is at least 12 years. And no one wants to risk that. 00;06;51;12 - 00;07;05;15 May They'd rather just do the four years or the five years. So then, you know, they bargain or they take the plea. And then they also don't have resources to get an attorney to go through the trials and stuff. 00;07;05;20 - 00;07;38;07 Jeanne From the moment someone gets put into the system, it's not like it's something they've ever been prepared for by anyone. And it's not like they are given the best resources by the system. And I think that there's like a psychological experience to that that is difficult to comprehend that I've only really been aware of because … This is a public episode. 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