Census is the Cornerstone of our Democracy

“The Census is the cornerstone of our democracy. It is about Power and Money. A tool to ensure fair and equitable representation in power and funding.” Jacqueline Martinez Garcel, CEO of Latino Community Foundation.

In the face of unprecedented challenges facing the 2020 Census count, including the addition of a citizenship question, the Latino community will not back down to claim their existence in this country. Over 15 million Latinos live in California – we should and must be counted to assume our right to representation and public resources.

It is in that context that the Latino Community Foundation (LCF) and the NALEO Educational Fund united California Latino leaders last Tuesday at Los Angeles City Hall. Our goal? To provide a roadmap for a fair and accurate count of California’s Latino community in the 2020 Census. Census data is critical for decisions that affect you and every single person in this country. Schools, philanthropy, the business sector, and all level of governments have a vital role to play.

That is why LCF and the NALEO Educational Fund joined forces to release A Roadmap for Census 2020: Securing a Fair and Accurate Count of Latinos in California. Click here to download report.

During our Community Conversacion, LCF CEO, Jacqueline Martinez Garcel, declared our commitment to fight for this country, reminding us that “democracy is fragile if it is not safeguarded by the people. We need to hold true to the mandates that make democracy work, and the responsibility to take action is in all of us.”

“Our community matters because we are the future of this country. We must turn our fear into power.” Arturo Vargas, Executive Director of the NALEO Educational Fund.

Those powerful thoughts transitioned to an esteemed cross-sector panel that focused on solutions to ensure an accurate count of Latinos in the 2020 Census.

• Rosalind Gold from the NALEO Educational Fund, shared that we must start the planning early and invest robustly through the state budget and philanthropy. When we don’t, we will see an undercount, similar to 2010 when 113,000 Latino children went undercounted.

• Maria de la Luz Garcia from Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office, encouraged out of the box thinking, mentioning the use of Census Action Kiosks to count the population.

• Maria Brenes from Inner City Struggle, discussed the importance of an intergenerational effort, leveraging our youth to complete the count. Over $3 billion in federal funding went to schools in California because of the 2010 Census count.

• Stacie de Armas from Nielsen, suggested leveraging content creators to disseminate important messages.

“The Census can be a powerful tool to empower communities.” Congressman Jimmy Gomez, Member of Congress, U.S. House of Representatives

The 2020 Census is our nation’s most important act of civic engagement. Everyone, no matter who they are or where they were born, has a constitutional right to be counted. Now, let’s go get this done!