In this episode I’m joined by AJ Cartas, a social influencer and founder of “Our Damn Time.”
Our Damn Time is a political organization whose mission is to promote the well-being of people of color, women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community by providing resources to empower, educate, and mobilize to enact deep, structural change.
Key Topics:
- AJ shares his experience immigrating to the US from the Philippines a month before 9/11
- How he gathered one million followers on his social media accounts his first year in 2015
- Launching campaigns for progressive candidates who understand racial and social inequality and can uplift under-represented communities
- Working with people under 30 who are new to politics
- Colorism in the Filipino community
- Experiencing racism towards Asian in elementary school
- How racists use social media to recruit young white kids
- How AJ responds to racist attacks in his social media, who he calls out and who he ignores
- Racism towards Asians in the LGBTQ community
- Being in a relationship with a white man and the racist comments by other white men
- Reaching out to Black friends after the murder of George Floyd and understanding his own privilege
- Stereotypes in the white LGBTQ community about people of color
- Helping to get progressive candidates elected and why it’s so urgent this election
- Using social media influencing to build equality and stop injustice
AJ Cartas is a social media influencer, entrepreneur, author, speaker, and mentor. He previously had over 1 million followers total on.his social media and have worked at Director-level positions at companies like ByteDance and Calm. He published his book, Startups & Downs, where he writes about his vulnerabilities and challenges when he dropped out of college to move to Silicon Valley. He is currently the CEO & Founder of a social media agency, Syzygy Social, and has a non-profit, Our Damn Time, that advocates for equality by supporting political candidates with progressive policies.
Founder & CEO
415-818-9710 (text)
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