The democratic process begins with the census.
When we respond the census, we are informing the government who we are, where we are and how many of us there are.
Without a correct number (or close to the real number), of people living in the United States, true representation of the population is lost.
Census data is used to determine the number of seats that will be designated to congress, our political representation in government, our voice.
In turn, knowing how many people live in a community is important for drawing constituencies and determining electoral district limits.
Census data also serves to distribute federal, state, and local funds for essential programs such as education, health, transportation, and more.
Low-income, minority, and Latino communities are at risk of losing the few resources they are given if they do not answer the census. The most affected would be children and the elderly.
Message
This is why it is imperative to act NOW and effectively in what is a race against the clock, since the deadline for delivering the census responses is September 30.
A group of activists and organizations joined forces to come up with a creative way to bring the message of census importance to the Northeast Ohio latino community.
Between music, typical Puerto Rican dances, puppets and short stories, this group created a message about the importance of being counted.
Video
Recorded at BOP STOP studios in the city of Cleveland, the group created a PSA video on the song “Censo Plena”, performed by the acclaimed Puerto Rican artist and composer, William Cepeda along with singers Darleen Alvarado and Charlie Sanchez, both from the city of Lorain.
The video shows how all voices count, all artistic expressions count, all cultures count, through different scenes of the city, flooded with colors from the Latin community of Cleveland.
Raquel Ortiz, who is an anthropologist and writer of children’s stories inspired by Puerto Rican cultural expressions, created together with Melanie Guzman-McCarter a puppet show based on the short storybook “Sofie and the Magical Musical Mural”, which appears in the video as a way to highlight that all the art forms matter.
Launching
September 16th the PSA video “Censo Plena”, will be launched during a public virtual forum on Facebook from 07:00 p.m. to 09:15 p.m. here.
Where to answer the census?
It is important for the community to understand that if we do not participate in all democratic processes such as the census, we cannot be part of the change we seek for our families and our community.
You are still on time to fill out the census until September 30, entering the following this link.
You can also respond to census workers who have already started visiting homes that have not answered the census on their own.
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Claudia Longo
