• Home
    • Get the Podcasts
    • About
      • Contact Latinopia.com
      • Copyright Credits
      • Production Credits
      • Research Credits
      • Terms of Use
      • Teachers Guides
  • Art
    • LATINOPIA ART
    • INTERVIEWS
  • Film/TV
    • LATINOPIA CINEMA
    • LATINOPIA SHOWCASE
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Food
    • LATINOPIA FOOD
    • COOKING
    • RESTAURANTS
  • History
    • LATINOPIA EVENT
    • LATINOPIA HERO
    • TIMELINES
    • BIOGRAPHY
    • EVENT PROFILE
    • MOMENT IN TIME
    • DOCUMENTS
    • TEACHERS GUIDES
  • Lit
    • LATINOPIA WORD
    • LATINOPIA PLÁTICA
    • LATINOPIA BOOK REVIEW
    • PIONEER AMERICAN LATINA AUTHORS
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Music
    • LATINOPIA MUSIC
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Theater
    • LATINOPIA TEATRO
    • INTERVIEWS
  • Blogs
    • Angela’s Photo of the Week
    • Arnie & Porfi
    • Bravo Road with Don Felípe
    • Burundanga Boricua
    • Chicano Music Chronicles
    • Fierce Politics by Dr. Alvaro Huerta
    • Mirándolo Bien with Eduado Díaz
    • Political Salsa y Más
    • Mis Pensamientos
    • Latinopia Guest Blogs
    • Tales of Torres
    • Word Vision Harry Gamboa Jr.
    • Julio Medina Serendipity
    • ROMO DE TEJAS
    • Sara Ines Calderon
    • Ricky Luv Video
    • Zombie Mex Diaries
    • Tia Tenopia
  • Podcasts
    • Louie Perez’s Good Morning Aztlán
    • Mark Guerrero’s ELA Music Stories
    • Mark Guerrero’s Chicano Music Chronicles
      • Yoga Talk with Julie Carmen

latinopia.com

Latino arts, history and culture

  • Home
    • Get the Podcasts
    • About
      • Contact Latinopia.com
      • Copyright Credits
      • Production Credits
      • Research Credits
      • Terms of Use
      • Teachers Guides
  • Art
    • LATINOPIA ART
    • INTERVIEWS
  • Film/TV
    • LATINOPIA CINEMA
    • LATINOPIA SHOWCASE
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Food
    • LATINOPIA FOOD
    • COOKING
    • RESTAURANTS
  • History
    • LATINOPIA EVENT
    • LATINOPIA HERO
    • TIMELINES
    • BIOGRAPHY
    • EVENT PROFILE
    • MOMENT IN TIME
    • DOCUMENTS
    • TEACHERS GUIDES
  • Lit
    • LATINOPIA WORD
    • LATINOPIA PLÁTICA
    • LATINOPIA BOOK REVIEW
    • PIONEER AMERICAN LATINA AUTHORS
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Music
    • LATINOPIA MUSIC
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Theater
    • LATINOPIA TEATRO
    • INTERVIEWS
  • Blogs
    • Angela’s Photo of the Week
    • Arnie & Porfi
    • Bravo Road with Don Felípe
    • Burundanga Boricua
    • Chicano Music Chronicles
    • Fierce Politics by Dr. Alvaro Huerta
    • Mirándolo Bien with Eduado Díaz
    • Political Salsa y Más
    • Mis Pensamientos
    • Latinopia Guest Blogs
    • Tales of Torres
    • Word Vision Harry Gamboa Jr.
    • Julio Medina Serendipity
    • ROMO DE TEJAS
    • Sara Ines Calderon
    • Ricky Luv Video
    • Zombie Mex Diaries
    • Tia Tenopia
  • Podcasts
    • Louie Perez’s Good Morning Aztlán
    • Mark Guerrero’s ELA Music Stories
    • Mark Guerrero’s Chicano Music Chronicles
      • Yoga Talk with Julie Carmen
You are here: Home / Blogs / THINKING LATINA with SARA INÉS CALERÓN 11.11.12

THINKING LATINA with SARA INÉS CALERÓN 11.11.12

November 11, 2012 by

The Latino Vote: Did the Sleeping Dragon awake?

Everywhere you turn these days people are hyperventilating to “the Latino vote” and how pivotal it was during this election. Latino voters accounted for 10% of the electorate during this election, which is no small number, but one of the downsides is the fetishizing of Latinos as a consequences — both in politics and especially in the media.

The truth is, Latino voters as a bloc helped President Barack Obama win Florida, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Virginia and several other states, according to political science professors who study Latino voters. And Latinos voted for President Barack Obama in margins upwards of 70%. So, the facts are that Latinos not only voted for the president, but they voted for Democrats and their agenda, which is to say that both the Democrats and Republicans understand now more than ever the importance of pandering to this group.

What does that mean for us, Latinos who voted and will continue to vote and advocate for our community to vote in greater numbers?

First for me, it means that the media needs to get serious about including Latino professionals and sources in substantive ways. I’ll never forget how, on election night, white men who never touch on Latinos or Latino issues suddenly became experts on how they were voting, why they were voting, and what they were thinking. What’s more, demographers and political wonks who are quoted or appear on these media are also suddenly experts in Latinos.

That needs to change.

Secondly, it means Latinos need to recognize this power and work to develop it within our own communities. Look at what happened with the DREAMers — after years of organizing, President Obama created a policy to make a place for them. What we do, when we do it together, can matter.  If we stop acting like we are powerless or don’t matter, and begin to get involved and ask for things, we can make a difference.

Finally, I think the most important indication from this election is that it’s a sign of the future to come — where Latinos will be 30% of the population by 2050. That’s less than 40 years away, I will still be alive at that time, and so will many Latino voters and so when we cast our vote for the future of this country, we are casting a vote for ourselves and our children. If that doesn’t give you a reason to vote, I don’t know what will.

Copyright 2012 by Sara Inés Calderón.

Filed Under: Blogs, Sara Ines Calderon

BURUNDANGA BORICUA 8.01.25 DAY OF THE INVASION AND OF THE CONSTITUTION

August 1, 2025 By wpengine

July 25: Day of the Invasion and of the Constitution July 25 is an important date for Puerto Ricans who pay some attention to political and ideological matters. I don’t pretend to be all of them and I even wonder if there are really so many. This coincidence gives us the extraordinary uniqueness of being […]

RICARDO ROMO’S TEJANO REPORT 8.01.25 MARGARET GARCIA PORTRAIT ARTIST AND MURALIST

August 1, 2025 By wpengine

Latina Portrait Artist and Muralist Margaret Garcia: Visual Narrator of Los Angeles History I returned to the fabulous art studio of Margaret Garcia in late July of 2025, joined by famed Chicano film producer Jesús Salvador Treviño and my Substack editor Dr. Harriett Romo, for an exclusive interview with the prominent and talented Chicana artist. […]

BURUNDANGA BORICUA 8.01.25 EL DIA DE LA INVASIÓN Y CONSTITUCIÓN

August 1, 2025 By wpengine

Burundanga de Zocotroco José M. Umpierre 25 de julio: El Dia de la Invasión y Constitución El 25 de julio es una  fecha importante para los puertorriqueños que prestan alguna atención a los asunto politicos e ideológicos, no pretendo sean todos y hasta me pregunto si somos muchos. La coincidencia nos otorga la extraordinaria singularidad […]

RICARDO ROMO’S TEJANO REPORT 7.17.25 ART “QUINCEANERA” AT THE BORDERLANDS

July 17, 2025 By wpengine

An Art “Quinceanera” in the Borderlands. An exhibition featuring large prints by a talented cohort of borderland artists opened last week  [July 12, 2025] at the Centro Cultural Aztlan in San Antonio, Texas.  The Centro press release described the exhibit as a prime example of community artists engaging “in the deeply rooted democratic art form of […]

More Posts from this Category

New On Latinopia

LATINOPIA ART SONIA ROMERO 2

By Tia Tenopia on October 20, 2013

Sonia Romero is a graphic artist,muralist and print maker. In this second profile on Sonia and her work, Latinopia explores Sonia’s public murals, in particular the “Urban Oasis” mural at the MacArthur Park Metro Station in Los Angeles, California.

Category: Art, LATINOPIA ART

LATINOPIA WORD JOSÉ MONTOYA “PACHUCO PORTFOLIO”

By Tia Tenopia on June 12, 2011

José Montoya is a renowned poet, artist and activist who has been in the forefront of the Chicano art movement. One of his most celebrated poems is titled “Pachuco Portfolio” which pays homage to the iconic and enduring character of El Pachuco, the 1940s  Mexican American youth who dressed in the stylish Zoot Suit.

Category: LATINOPIA WORD, Literature

LATINOPIA WORD XOCHITL JULISA BERMEJO “OUR LADY OF THE WATER GALLONS”

By Tia Tenopia on May 26, 2013

Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo is a poet and teacher from Asuza, California. She volunteered with No More Deaths, a humanitarian organization providing water bottles in the Arizona desert where immigrants crossing from Mexico often die of exposure. She read her poem, “Our Lady of the Water Gallons” at a Mental Cocido (Mental Stew) gathering of Latino authors […]

Category: LATINOPIA WORD, Literature

© 2025 latinopia.com · Pin It - Genesis - WordPress · Admin