CREATING THE FUTURE – A TO-DO LIST FOR LATINOS.
Okay, big deal, Latino voters were super important in this year’s election — now what? The important thing to think about when we talk about “Latino voters” is not what they have done, but what they will do; in other words, when I vote I’m thinking about what the world will be like for my children, and their children, and so should you.
Turns out, coming out once every four years isn’t the pinnacle of power in this country. What Latino voters in this country need to do in the next four years is get involved. How do you get “involved”? That’s a good question, luckily, there are many answers. The saying that “all politics is local” turns out to be a truism when we take a closer look at how “the Latino vote” played out in this election. It wasn’t that Latino voters put President Barack Obama over the top in the general election, but rather, that in individual states Latino voters gave the president just enough of an edge to beat Mitt Romney.
Think about that.
It means that Latino voters, even at 10% of the electorate, have enough power to deliver Florida to Obama in the 2012 election. So if Latino voters are that powerful on a national level, how powerful do you think they could be at the local level? Elections are great, an exciting incarnation of the society in which we live, but there’s so much more to being “involved” than voting.
Have you been to your child’s school, or talked to their teacher, or been to a city council or school board meeting? What about the local non-profit you keep hearing about? You could even just learn about how you can register people to vote in your area! There’s a million things you can do in your own neighborhood to make an impact on your community, and as we saw in this election, all of them will count in some way or another.
Think of it this way: this election will affect your younger siblings, children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews more than it will you. You are choosing the type of world they will come into by casting your vote for president, so if you are willing to look that far into the future, why not be concerned about next week or next year by becoming involved at a more local level?
If you still can’t figure out a way to get involved, send me a tweet, I’d be more than happy to help you figure it out.
Copyright 21021 by Sara Inés Calderón.
Sara Inés Calderón
sarainescalderon.com
@SaraChicaD
Skype: SaraChicaD