Multimedia campaign urges Latino youth to participate in the U.S. Census

Community leaders and celebrities announced a new multimedia campaign in Los Angeles on Wednesday aimed at getting young Latinos to participate in the U.S. Census.

During the news conference at Miguel Contreras Learning Complex, speakers invited students to download an interactive mobile application, to participate in a texting campaign (text “LA” to 738674) and to spread the word to family and friends about the importance of the census.

“Your voice literally does matter,” actress Rosario Dawson told students in the campus library. “You have the right to live with dignity in your communities. This is the opportunity to fight for that.”

Dawson and actor Wilmer Valderrama joined leaders of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Voto Latino and the California Community Foundation to show public service announcements and hand out census-themed I-tunes cards to students.

Throughout the month, the community groups will visit schools in hard-to-count neighborhoods of the county to talk about the census and the multimedia campaign.

Los Angeles County stands to lose more than $11,000 per uncounted person, California Community Foundation President Antonia Hernandez said. She urged the students to use Facebook, Twitter and other social media to start a conversation about the census and how the federal funds will affect their neighborhoods.

“Your task as youth is to use your fingers and start texting your friends,” she said.

One student, Kevin Menendez, 17, who immigrated to the U.S. in 2007, said he learned about the census in his government class. Then he got the letter from the U.S. Census Bureau this week.

“I told my aunt that we had to do it,” Menendez said. “I really want my family to be counted.”  

-- Anna Gorman

Comments

[Major]

Like thats gonna make a difference, the only thing money from the federal government seems to do is line the pockets of large corporations, career politicians, and non profit organizations, what we need to focus on is getting every one of them out of office, and get some ethical, responsible people to represent us.

[Ted]

“Your voice literally does matter,” actress Rosario Dawson told students in the campus library. “You have the right to live with dignity in your communities. This is the opportunity to fight for that.”

--Kind of an odd thing for Dawson to say. Of course any legal citizens have the right to live with dignity in their communities.

...She was talking about legal citizens, right? Right?

[Tirau]

Illegal immigrants do not have any right to live in this country whatsoever. It's guaranteed that a large portion of the people targeted by this push are illegals.

[Wilton Melrose]

"One student, Kevin Menendez, 17, who immigrated to the U.S. in 2007..."

Allowing that he immigrated legally (at age 14?), just how much has he actually contributed to the tax base in three years as a teenager to be so worried about losing his "fair share" of taxpayer funds?

[Randy L.]

Don't return your census. LA gets more if illegals return the census, less if you refuse. The less there is, the less illegals will get.

When the money is not there, the politicians will start listening.

Why should illegals get representation or benefits with our tax dollars?

[Jage]

C'mon, anchor babies! Be American!

[kuruc]

plus this is racist in a diverse society.

[Shevelsheshe]

The federal government is working to introduce a new ID card that will include personal DNA on each individual. This will stop illegals from getting unauthorized employment, stop medicare/medicaid fraud, and other abuses by illegal immigrants. The government is just using these people to gain all the money they can get by appropriations. In a while, they will all be booted out of the country after they are finished being used!