Ysabel, a tenant rights lawyer and advocate for other social causes, decided to enter the election, tired of seeing a council member unconcerned about the population, where people didn’t trust him, and where the most vital demands of the community were ignored.
Ysabel Jurado has caused a political earthquake in Los Angeles by becoming the frontrunner in the political race to occupy the City Council seat for D-14.
“You remind me of the Manny Pacquiao story,” I dare to say.
On the other end of the line, a question mark can almost be heard.
“Pacquiao, also Filipino, defeated every Mexican he faced, and Mexicans loved him. Now you, you’re defeating a Latino and Mexicans and Latinos love you,” I explain.
She laughs. A clear, transparent smile can be heard.
Ysabel Jurado, a tenant rights lawyer and advocate for other social causes, decided to enter the election, tired of seeing a council member unconcerned about the population, where people didn’t trust him, and where the most vital demands of the community were ignored. No one saw her on the horizon, but thanks to a grassroots campaign, door-to-door, and face-to-face, she was able to position herself in first place in the initial round with an eye towards the final November election.
“We won’t step back, we will continue forward, there’s no turning back,” she says.
Her father lived as an undocumented immigrant for some time, experiencing what many immigrants experience: exploitation, wage theft, and other abuses, which impacted Ysabel’s story.
The daughter of Filipino parents, her mother immigrated to the United States first thanks to her grandmother’s legal status. Her father stayed in the Philippines, waiting for the opportune moment to reunite.
“They maintained a long-distance relationship until one day my mother sent a message to my father,” she laughs, always laughing. “She said, ‘someone is courting me here. If you take too long to come, you won’t find me.’ My father came immediately, with three thousand dollars in his pocket, that money soon disappeared.”
Her father lived as an undocumented immigrant for some time, experiencing what many immigrants experience: exploitation, wage theft, and other abuses, which impacted Ysabel’s story.
That part of her story was rewarded with a happy childhood, full of love, with relatives, and classes in Filipino and Hawaiian dance classes.
“Very similar to Mexican dance,” she tells me.
The only questioning she had about feeling different was when she attended a private school in Los Feliz. But that soon passed.
“My culture, the teachings of my parents, have given me all these values I have: hard work, which is part of Filipino culture. In our house, we always hosted newcomers, those who needed a place to sleep,” she says.
Another thing she values is creativity, which life and the tough conditions she faced at times instilled in her.
“Broke people are the most creative; we figure out how to solve things and we don’t give up, I lived it and still believe that,” she adds.
The connection with the Latino community has always been present.
During her teenage years, her parents sent her to the Philippines for the summer with her family. There she began to realize the extreme needs that people have. Her family didn’t have much money, and seeing poverty in certain areas of the country injected her with that social consciousness that she has carried with her since.
“I saw children asking for something to eat, as well as other problems, and I wondered, ‘Why?’ I decided to try to do something about it. In the Philippines, it’s very much alive in our philosophy to help others, to love them, and always thinking community,” she says.
For Ysabel Jurado the connection with the Latino community has always been present.
“I have been with the Latino community practically since I was born. I have always been involved with them. During the pandemic, when I started my work as a lawyer with tenants, 70 percent of them were Latinos. They call me Chavela, Chavelita,” she says, laughing.
However, this noble woman also has to have a strong personality to be able to fight and face adversities, and, above all, to face an election and obtain the success she is having.
“I’m a single mom. you have to be strong. I look younger than I am, when I had my daughter, everyone wanted to give their opinion, judge you. It seems that you always disappoint them because you don’t meet their expectations when it’s my life and not theirs. When they saw me on buses with my baby, people would question me, ‘how can a young woman like you have a baby so young?’ That shaped my character. Being resilient. If I believe in something, I do it, I fight to do it,” she says.
Her father, a man concerned about his daughter, was reasonable, but straightforward. “He said to me, ‘you’re a lawyer, if you lose you can still work,'” and she laughs again. “But then he said, ‘Don’t let the community down, Don’t f…k it up’.”
When the recordings of the racist comments involving the current councilman of the district, Kevin de León, and the former council president Nury Martínez were made public, they injected her with that strength to want to change things.
“It was the last straw, it was about putting an end to this situation, changing it. We couldn’t tolerate this anymore,” she said, and decided to start her campaign.
Her father, a man concerned about his daughter, was reasonable, but straightforward.
“He said to me, ‘you’re a lawyer, if you lose you can still work,'” and she laughs again. “But then he said, ‘Don’t let the community down, Don’t f…k it up’.”
Ysabel is a woman who values her privacy, this popularity has been strange for her, she takes it day by day.
“My daughter noticed when people started greeting me on the street. I use public transportation a lot, people come up to me and greet me, they say, ‘you don’t know who I am, but I know who you are,'” she says.
And coincidentally, at this moment of the interview, she interrupts the conversation, a neighbor arrived at her door and was making victory signs with his fingers.
She has strong criticisms against those politicians who don’t show their faces, don’t have dialogue with their community, and don’t offer solutions.
She believes that despite the history of corruption of many politicians in public service, changes can be made, things can be reversed, such as stopping gentrification in Latino neighborhoods like Boyle Heights.
“If they don’t have the courage to face the community, what are they doing in their position?” she says.
She aims not to make those kinds of mistakes. She is optimistic; she believes that despite the history of corruption of many politicians in public service, changes can be made, things can be reversed, such as stopping gentrification in Latino neighborhoods like Boyle Heights.
“For now, I’m going to rest a bit, evaluate what we did, and come back to plan our strategy for November. Taking a break is always positive. I believe that with the right policies we can combat rent hikes, evictions, help the community. We need the goodwill and hard work that we bring. We have to keep this clean of corruption, it’s going to take time, but we can do it,” she concludes.
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