News (Noticias) Tagged ‘latino congreso’

The $5 million nonpartisan voter registration effort, announced at the third annual National Latino Congreso on Friday, comes amid an unprecedented campaign by community organizations and Spanish-language media to boost Hispanic civic participation — and two new reports showing signs of success.”*

A delegation of community leaders and students from El Paso will attend the third annual National Latino Congreso in Los Angeles this weekend.”*

To All Latino Community Leaders:

After registering more than 25,000 voters in warm-up activities over the last period, it is time for SVREP to ramp up massive community mobilization. We invite all forces in the Latino community (and its allies) to unite and organize nonpartisan voter registration drives that mobilize the Latino vote in the fall elections.

In ten days, organizations and elected officials from 36 states and 13 countries will gather at the 3 rd Annual National Latino Congreso (www.latinocongreso.org) in Los Angeles on July 18-20. At the Congreso, they will launch “Movimiento 10-12” to help raise Latino registration to 12 million, and drive 10 million voters to the polls in November. A successful mobilization will send a powerful message in favor of justice for immigrants, federal action to reactivate the economy, fixing our broken educational system, extending health care to all, and ending the war in Iraq (the top five Latino issues).

SVREP (www.svrep.org) has joined together with LULAC, Hispanic Federation, NALACC, LCLAA, HMLA, MAPA, and hundreds of local organizations and elected officials to launch a coordinated national nonpartisan campaign in more than 20 states to register and turnout 250,000 new voters during summer and fall.

All “Congreso” attendees, as well as all others willing to unite, are invited to join this nonpartisan effort. Below is list of SVREP targeted counties, in which SVREP will provide training, financing, data, media support, materials, and other technical support to community-based coalitions that pledge to mobilize their memberships and volunteers to do neighborhood-based voter registration (and turnout) during August-November. SVREP will invest $3 million towards its portion of the goals (registering and turning out 150,000 voters).

If you are interested in joining this effort, nominating candidates for paid voter registration coordinator positions, want to launch a local coalition, or otherwise help please attend the Latino Congreso (www.latinocongreso.org) or contact us one of our field representatives:

TX/WA/OR:       Veronica Hawkins, vhawkins@svrep.org, 800-404-VOTE

Jacquelyn Longoria, jlongoria@svrep.org 800-404-VOTE

NM/CO:              Jaime Chavez, jchavez@svrep.org, 505-730-7555

CA/NV:               Martin Rodríguez, mrodriguez@svrep.org, 800-222-5654

Ruben Villareal, rvillarreal@svrep.org 800-222-5654

AZ:                      Adelita Villegas, avillegas@svrep.org, 602-367-1554

FL/GA/NC/VA:  Alvaro Fernandez, alfernandez@the-beach.net, 305-308-6079

124 SVREP Target Counties/Regions

(# projects indicated in parenthesis, coalition partners priority communities coming soon)

Arizona (20): Maricopa (11), Pima (3), Pinal (1), Santa Cruz (1), Yuma (1), Cochise (1), Coconino (1), Globe (1)

California (34): Los Angeles (18), Orange (1), San Bernardino (3), Riverside (2), Santa Barbara (2), Ventura (1), Fresno (1), Kern (1), San Diego (2), Imperial (1), San Joaquin (2)

Colorado (11): Pueblo (2), Adams (1), Arapahoe (1), Denver (2), Larrimer (1), Weld (1), San Luis Valley (2), Boulder (1)

New Mexico (14): Bernalillo (2), Dona Ana (2), Santa Fe (1), Taos (1), McKinley (2), Rio Arriba (1), Valencia (1), Chaves (1), Sandoval (1), Eddy (1), Grant (1)

Texas (24): Cameron (5), Hidalgo (10), Dallas (4), Harris (2), Nueces (1), El Paso (1), Bexar (1)

Florida (13): Miami-Dade (10), Hillsborough (1), Orange (2)

North Carolina (1): Eastern NC (1)

Georgia (1): Fulton (1)

Washington (3): Yakima Valley (3)

Oregon (1): Salem-Woodburn area (1)

Nevada (1): Clark (1)

Virginia (1): Northern Virginia (1)

PDF Version

The Mexican American Political Association (MAPA) and the Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana join the call of other conveners, co-conveners, and endorsers to welcome you to the Third Annual National Latino Congreso. Please look at our website now at - www.latinocongreso.orgSince 2006, the National Latino Congreso has brought together Latinos from all walks of life - from grassroots community members to national elected officials - to create a united independent Latino agenda on a variety of issues.

Help us welcome Senator Barack Obama on Friday, July 18, 2008 at the Bonaventure Hotel for dinner, and engage him on the issues that are important to our community. https://latinocongreso.org/registration.php.

Join us in engaging Senator John McCain in a discussion on the war, the environment, immigration reform, the use of torture, global warming, and other issues on Friday, July 18, 2008 at the Bonaventure Hotel for lunch. https://latinocongreso.org/registration.php.

The Congreso first broke new ground in 2006 with delegates from 20 states creating a platform of 70 resolutions. In 2007, delegates from 300 endorsing organizations and individuals from 15 states passed 98 additional resolutions.

The resulting 168 resolutions, created by Congreso delegates from over 500 organizations, encompass traditional issues such as educational reform and immigrant rights as well as issues of growing concern for Latinos nationwide - public health, urban greening, foreign policy, climate change, and much more.

Make no mistake about it - the pressing and urgent task before us collectively is to register to vote millions of new Latino voters, encourage those already registered to get involved in electoral campaigns, and mobilize our collective voter strength in the millions to make use of the vote on Election Day in November.

There is a role for every member of the family. Those too young to vote or those who haven’t obtained citizenship status are important players in this campaign. They can make the difference in the mass mobilization of our community to march in the streets and march to the ballot box. This year we must move and act as one united family, and leave no one behind.

We welcome you to join MAPA or Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana and become a delegate or observer as we prepare our multiple delegations to attend and participate in all the town-hall discussions, debates, votes, and exchanges.

Join the many organizations that are conveners, co- conveners, and endorsers to the National Latino Congreso - www.latinocongreso.org.

Willie C. Velasquez Institute

League of United Latin American Citizens

Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund

National Day Labor Organizing Network

Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project

National Alliance of Latin American and Carribean Communities

Hispanic Federation

Mexican American Political Association

Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana

National Hispanic Environmental Council

You and your organization can also become an endorser to the Congreso. Join us today in forging the broadest unity between Latino organizations in the United States.

Si Se Puede,

Nativo V. Lopez

National President

www.latinocongreso.org

https://latinocongreso.org/registration.php

Voting rights section chief John Tanner has apologized for saying earlier this month that “minorities don’t become elderly the way white people do: They die first.”

The apology went out to a number of attendees of the National Latino Congreso, where Tanner made the remarks. You can see one of them, to the president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, here. The letter is dated Friday, October 26, a week after Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) publicly called for Tanner to be fired based on those remarks.”*

“The National Latino Congreso draws Latino leaders from across the United States to discuss policy and electoral strategy. But the presence of representatives of Latin American governments alongside the U.S.-based Latino groups and community based organizations at the meeting raises intriguing questions about Latino and Latin American identity. NAM Contributing Editor Roberto Lovato spoke with Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez Herrera at the National Latino Congreso in Los Angeles.”*

“Some 2000 Latino leaders and activists from throughout the United States came together in Los Angeles October 5-9 to iron out a plan of action and a social justice program of issues for the 2008 elections with the goal of bringing out 10 million Latino voters that can play a decisive role in the presidential and congressional elections.

Latinos can be decisive in determining the presidential electoral in the key battle ground states of “Florida, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Nevada … and congressional elections in twenty states” that can change the political direction of the country said Antonio Gonzalez, president of the Southwest Voter Registration project, in opening up the 2nd National Latino Congreso convened by 10 national Latino organizations and hundreds of state and local groups from 22 states.

“We are going to mobilize massively to reach record levels of Latino vote” on the key issues of immigration reform, the war, greening cities, health care and climate change declared Gonzalez. While recognizing that “today we don’t have a critical mass to affect that change”, Gonzalez said this can be achieved with “conscious thinking, planning and organizing” leading up to the 2008 elections.” “We have big issues not only as Latinos but as citizens of the world,” he concluded.”*

“Karen Linares’s face contorted as she stared at the thick, rusted pipe and the bottle of brown water before her. The reddish-brown props used by an environmental panelist speaking about water politics at the second annual National Latino Congreso reminded Linares of water she’s seen in the numerous places she’s called home.

“The LA river water running by my house is full of filth,” said the 22-year-old Salvadoran-Chicana delegate to the five-day convergence of left-leaning Latinos held this past week in her hometown. “I saw the same brown water in El Salvador. In Tijuana you see the sewage trickling down the dirt roads,” she said. Asked what, if any, connection existed between the water she saw in her neighborhood and the water in her parents’ homelands, Linares answered, “Clear water runs upward where the money runs. Brown water runs down where poor brown people are.”"*

Most are in Spanish but there are some in English.

“Some 2,000 Latino leaders and activists from throughout the United States met here Oct. 5-9 to map an action plan and social justice program for the 2008 elections. Their goal is to bring out 10 million Latino voters who can play a decisive role in the presidential and congressional elections.

Latinos can determine the presidential race in the key battleground states of Florida, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Nevada, as well as congressional races in 20 states that can change the political direction of the country, said Antonio Gonzalez, president of the Southwest Voter Registration Project, in opening the 2nd National Latino Congreso.

The gathering was convened by 10 national Latino organizations and hundreds of state and local groups from 22 states. “*

“This week’s Latino Congreso taught me that, from Maywood, California to the Bronx and Cochabamba, Bolivia, brown people are drinking brown water. I also learned about the deepening wells of of elite fear beneath racist metaphors like “brown tide rising” used to describe the political ascent of Latinos across the continent.

But what struck me most was how problems like the dirty brown water are giving rise to a political clarity and unified vision unprecedented in the annals of hemispheric history. Like the oceans and subterrenean waterways that have always united us beneath the surface, political agendas from the Canadian border to Patagonia are starting to flow from the same source: the pursuit of justice.”

“Unbelievably, the Chief of the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice, John Tanner, contends that while it’s “a shame” that elderly voters may be disenfranchised by new Photo ID restrictions at the polls because many don’t have driver’s licenses, minorities don’t have to worry quite as much. Why? Because “minorities don’t become elderly the way white people do. They die first.”

Yes, that’s what Tanner said last Friday at the National Latino Congreso in Los Angeles and The BRAD BLOG was in tow with video camera to prove it…

The NLC kicked off their 2nd Annual convention over the weekend, including an expert panel titled, “It’s Not Over - Defending the Right to Vote Against Disenfranchising Tactics.” While many issues were covered over the course of the 2 1/2 hour panel, the most hotly debated subject was the current rash of GOP-pushed Photo ID laws sweeping the nation, just in time for the 2008 Presidential Election.”

“Brother International Corporation’s Industrial Products Division, a global leader in the industrial sewing market, launches a remarkable new ink jet garment printer in the Latino market to reveal its latest technology to Latino business owners in the textile industry and raise awareness of this new technology, the GT-541 delivers better performance and productivity in the screen printing industry.

The Brother GT-541 uses ink jet technology that prints on many garments in high quality color directly from a computer. The GT-541 marks the progression from screen printing technologies to a cleaner, faster, and more productive way to imprint images on garments. This ink jet garment printer is as simple to operate as a desktop printer, can network with multiple units, and delivers great print quality. The investment for printing can be as low as .50 cents for the ink and $1 to $2 for the t-shirt, which can be sold at market rate from $15-$30.

The GT-541 is faster and less expensive to operate than traditional screen printing machines because there is no set-up, tear-down, clean-up, screens, squeegees, or pallet adhesive. The GT-541 water based ink can be cured by a standard heat press, eliminating the need to purchase a conveyor dryer, and significantly reducing operating space requirements.

“The industry is literally lining up to bring the GT-541 into their businesses,” said Peter Holland, Senior Director. “Brother is the only manufacturer developing this technology that has field tested their printer for over one year at embroidery and screen printing businesses. We placed twenty-nine units and imprinted more than 100,000 shirts in a real-world setting to make sure we delivered the quality and durability we projected.”

Brother’s GT-541 concludes its debut at key Latino Heritage Month events as part of a test market introduction to the US Latino market, it will participate in Univision Radio’s Risas y Ritmo (Laughter and Music) hosted by renowned Spanish DJ “Piolin” Sotelo, Girls Night Out hosted by Rocio Sandoval “Peligrosa,” at the Fiestas Patrias event at the Los Angeles Coliseum and Sports Arena, the LA County Fair at the Pomona Fairgrounds, and will culminate at the National Latino Congreso.

“We want to close the gap in technology among Latino screen printers and introduce the latest technology to people who aspire to opening their own business,” said Fernando Padilla owner of Stitch City, a Brother International distributor in Southern California. “We are introducing this new technology as part of a test market to give the Latino Textile industry – and the community at large – an introduction of the businesses possibilities of owning the GT-541 a technology that is more efficient and less expensive to operate than traditional screen printing and that is currently revolutionizing the costly screen printing industry.”

Brother offers a full line of industrial sewing and embroidery machines, software, accessories, parts (PAS Store) and training from the single head to multi-head models. The company is recognized for its high-quality, state-of-the-art machines and accessories – offering ease-of-use and flexibility at competitive prices.

About Brother

Bridgewater, New Jersey, is the corporate headquarters for Brother in the Americas, (from Canada to South America) and has fully integrated sales, marketing services, manufacturing, and research and development capabilities located here in the U.S. In addition to its headquarters in New Jersey, Brother has facilities in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Tennessee as well as subsidiaries in California, Ohio, Canada, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Argentina.”

“With the presidential campaign well underway, Latino community and labor leaders are gathering in Los Angeles to develop strategies for mobilizing voters, strengthening their political influence and pushing for the legalization of undocumented immigrants.

Hundreds of Latinos from throughout the nation are expected to participate in the 2nd Annual National Latino Congreso, which began Friday at the Sheraton Los Angeles Downtown and continues through Tuesday.

Record numbers of green-card holders became U.S. citizens this year, following the massive immigrant rights marches and citizenship drives. But activists said they now want to make sure those new citizens register to vote and cast ballots.”

I have been at the Congreso (will write more later) and happened to be sitting next to this journalist for a good part of the morning, a very nice lady. A quick search (need to search more) found only this article and one other about the Congreso plus a few press releases.

“Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich told audiences in California and Oregon yesterday that the United States would not be able to resolve its economic and immigration issues until it resolves its trade policies, and he renewed his promise that his first act in office will be to cancel the United States’ participation in NAFTA and the WTO.

Kucinich addressed the National Latino Congreso in Los Angeles Sunday morning, then carried his populist No-NAFTA message 1,000 miles north to Seaside, OR, where he repeated it to a rousing reception at the Oregon AFL-CIO State Convention Sunday night.

He noted that NAFTA and the WTO were sold to the American people as a way to provide better wages and economy. But, as he and other critics had predicted, the pacts ended up destroying high-paying manufacturing jobs in the United States and seriously depressing the economy of Mexico, forcing millions of Mexicans to come to America in search of work. Once here, Kucinich said, the immigrant workers were exploited and often forced to work for low pay and few, if any, benefits, driving down the wages of U.S. workers.

The immigration issue is in many ways becoming a scapegoat for the problems being caused by trade issues, Kucinich said.

“The dialogue in this country has gone from the Statue of Liberty reading ‘give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses’ to discussions of rounding up immigrants from mass deportations,” Kucinich, speaking in a mix of Spanish and English, told the Congreso. “We have moved from President Reagan saying ‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall’ to calls today to build a wall of our own.”

The six-term Ohio Congressman also continued his call for true single-payer, not-for-profit universal health care, an issue that separates him from the other Democratic candidates who favor subsidies and mandates that would keep the for-profit insurance companies involved in health care.

Kucinich is a co-author and co-sponsor of HR 676, a bill to expand Medicare-like coverage to all residents of the United States. Although the bill has 84 co-sponsors, none of the other Democratic candidates have signed on. In fact, Kucinich said, current and former Democratic Presidential candidates have said “they don’t want to take on the insurance industry.”

“Somebody’s running for President of the United States, and they are saying they can’t take on the insurance companies? If you can’t take on the insurance companies, who else can’t you take on?” Kucinich asked the cheering AFL-CIO crowd.

He also outlined his bill in Congress to extract U.S. troops and private contractors from Iraq, while protecting the Iraqi people and their assets.

The way for the Democratic Party to win elections, he said, is to get out of Iraq quickly — not in 2013, as other Democrats suggest — and to give Americans “real health care,” not just more inadequate health insurance. But, he noted that the Democratic Party leaders and other Democratic Presidential candidates are not moving in that direction.

Noting that the Latino vote is becoming a more important voting bloc every year, Kucinich asked the Congreso audience how many people had lost faith in the Democratic Party. About three quarters of the audience raised their hands, and about half of the audience indicated support for a stronger third party to challenge the current two-party system. Kucinich promised he would take that message back to Party leaders.
Kucinich for President 2008″

“Leading the way on environmental concerns and solutions for communities of color in the United States, the National Latino Congreso (NLC) will feature a full day of agenda-setting resolutions on Sunday’s NLC Environment Day.

“Environment Day is extremely important to us as Latinos as we set up a common agenda that will ensure an important voice at the decision-making tables in addition to helping protect the world we live in for our children, grandchildren, and future generations,” stated Antonio Gonzalez, president of the WVI.”

“The National Latino Congreso, meeting in Los Angeles this weekend, has unanimously passed one of two resolutions presented by representatives of the Kucinich for President campaign and will consider a second one today.

The Congreso, expected to draw upwards of 2,000 Latino elected officials, community leaders, and activists from across the country, is developing a political and social action agenda for the coming year, and hopes to have a major impact on the 2008 Presidential election campaign. The campaign of Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich is the only Presidential campaign that is officially sponsoring the Congreso.

Kucinich will be the keynote speaker Sunday morning at a breakfast sponsored by the Latino Vote Caucus. Today (Saturday), Rep. Kucinich’s wife, Elizabeth, will address a luncheon meeting on “America & the World in the 21st Century.”

The resolution approved Friday night calls for the Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff’s Department to shut down a telephone hotline set up to encourage people to report the whereabouts and activities of persons the callers suspect of being in the country illegally. The Congreso resolution says the hotline encourages “racial profiling and promotes discrimination of the Latino community of Maricopa County.”

The second resolution deals with the “Minuteman Project,” a group of individuals who patrol the U.S. border with Mexico to discourage crossings. The group is all volunteer, raises its funds from private sources, and, while heavily armed is undocumented as being a bona fide law enforcement agency.

The Congreso resolution finds that the Minuteman Project “promotes violence, hatred, racism and discrimination which are not representative traits of the honorable and just American society that has a rich legacy of immigration and inclusiveness.”

On Saturday, a group supporting the Minuteman Project will picket outside of the Sheraton Los Angeles Hotel where the Congreso is being held. The protestors claim they will be peaceful, although one pro-Minuteman Internet blog on Friday discussing the Congreso included the comment “Target rich environment…I suggest we treat the event like a M.O.V.E. house in Philadelphia…”

The blog referred to an incident in Philadelphia on May 13, 1985, when police dropped an incendiary device on a row house after being fired upon when attempting to serve arrest warrants on four of the occupants. The resulting fire from the device burned down 50 houses, killing six people and leaving another 200 neighborhood residents homeless.

Kucinich staffers from California, Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona are participating in the Congreso.
Kucinich for President 2008″

The newly developed Community News Publisher is being un-veiled at the 2nd Annual National Latino Congreso being held October 5th-9th at the Sheraton Downtown. CNP is also serving as an official sponsor for the event, which brings together political leaders, community leaders and activists from Hispanic communities throughout the country.

CNP provides community organizations with a free Internet program to publish your newsletters on the World Wide Web, giving you another voice in the global community. CNP provides the platform to expand audiences, gain story ownership and increase support. Being part of a strong network of community organizations who work together, share ideas and craft their own stories makes each organization stronger. CNP wants to help your organization”¦ “Tell it to the World.”

Community News Publishers (CNP), in association with the Second Annual National Latino Congreso, will be providing live webcasts of all general sessions and some workshops from the conference, October 5th to 9th, 2007. CNP will also be recording all sessions so they can be viewed after the Congreso is over.

If you or your staff members can’t attend the Congreso, this is a great way to benefit from the information being shared at the event. Look for a page on the CNP site that will take you to a menu of the sessions. The recorded sessions will be available 3 to 6 weeks after the Congreso closes.

CNP is proud to be a participant at the Second Annual National Latino Congreso. The Congreso will bring together organizational leaders, elected officials, and activists at all levels to discuss and decide on a plan of action to address issues and policies affecting Latinos today.

Bringing together community leaders is something CNP strives to do. In order to help the participants of the Congreso stay in touch throughout the year, CNP is offering sign-ups for its services. CNP will be showcasing complete newsletters and CNP capabilities October 5th-9th at the Sheraton Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles.

CNP provides community organizations with a free internet program to publish their newsletters to the world-wide-web. Allowing you to “Tell it to the World.”.

“The 2nd Annual National Latino Congreso, a national gathering of Latino leaders from throughout the country to develop a united agenda, will kick off its meetings by discussing ways in which to maximize Latino voting power, effective mobilization efforts for the 2008 national elections, and efforts to defeat anti-immigrant efforts nationwide. More than 1,500 delegates and observers from throughout the United States and Latin America are expected to gather in downtown Los Angeles on October 5-9, 2007 to attend the historic policy-development convention.

“The National Latino Congreso is a unique forum set up to address key issues through proactive dialogue sessions which we believe will lead us to be a stronger, more politically united community,” stated Antonio Gonzalez, President of Southwest Voter Registration Education Project (SVREP), one of a dozen national conveners. “The 2008 elections will provide Latinos with the opportunity to play a critical role in deciding who wins the primaries and, in some states, who ultimately wins certain battleground states outright in the general election. The 2004 elections demonstrated Latinos made a difference at the polls, are increasing in voter registration numbers, and cannot be ignored.”"

“Sporting a jovial smile, Antonio González strides across the dais to the sound of welcoming applause. As González reaches center stage, a hush overtakes the room. It is September, 2006 and the 1,200 Latino leaders gathered in Los Angeles for the Latino Congreso ”” the first comprehensive gathering of Latino leaders in 29 years ”” do not expect to hear about jobs, health care or even immigration this day. “The theme of today’s session is the environment and health ”” not usually associated with Latino issues,” González begins.”

“National Latino Congreso organizers have scheduled a press conference Wednesday to oppose what they say is Congress’ last minute attempt to pass enforcement-only immigration legislation.

One of the immigration reform proposals is building a 700-mile border fence that would cost more than $2 billion.”

You can listen here at 8pm(I think this is Mountian Time)

“Please tune in to KUNM 89.9 tonight, Monday, September 18th, at 8:00 PM for “Espejos de Aztlan,” a weekly radio program highlighting the courage, strength and beauty of the Chicano/Latino community in New Mexico. Ralph Arrellanes, of the Hispano Round Table of New Mexico (HRTNM), will be interviewed about his representation of the HRTNM as a delegate to last weekend’s National Latino Congreso in Downtown Los Angeles, an event coined as the first comprehensive gathering of Latino leaders, organizations and elected officials since 1977.”