By Frankie Miranda, President, Hispanic Federation
As we mark this Pride Month, we must reflect on the great advances on LGBTQ+ rights in the U.S., but also the road we have ahead to achieve equality. My own life, as the first openly gay president of Hispanic Federation, is an example of the ways in which we have progressed but must work to end discrimination once and for all. Congress now has a chance to make federal changes to help this mission, and we must all pay attention.
As a Puerto Rican, I was penalized by my own country simply for…
With 5 million registered voters, New York City’s municipal election is one of the largest in the country. Here are 5 things to know now about the upcoming elections.
1. In 2021 New York City residents will be voting for Mayor, Comptroller, Public Advocate, Borough Presidents, and City Council. There will be primaries in June and a primary election in November. There will also be special elections for open City Council seats in Queens District 31 on February 23rd and in the Bronx District 11 and 15 on March 23rd.
2. Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) will be used during the…
By Frankie Miranda, President, Hispanic Federation
Long before many of my generation were born, on March 7, 1965, a young John Lewis courageously shed blood for his beliefs that would never waiver; that our democracy would survive assaults against fundamental human and civil rights.
On that Sunday 55 years ago, with his shoulders bearing the weight of a backpack, the future congressman stuffed his hands in his tan overcoat and led 600 peaceful demonstrators across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, AL. The march for voting rights was supposed to end three days later and 54 miles away in Montgomery…
This year marks the 50th Anniversary of César Chávez’s nearly month-long fast to protest the use of dangerous pesticides in the farmworker communities near Delano, Calif. Chavez’s “fast for life” was one of the most courageous acts of solidarity and non-violence in a decade buffeted by war, conflict, and brutality. The power of Chávez’s fast rested in its simplicity: he chose to suffer to shed light on the suffering of others.
This year, at the request of United Farmworkers union co-founder Dolores Huerta and in honor of César Chávez’s example of solidarity in 1968, Hispanic Federation staff will take part…
By José Calderón, President, Hispanic Federation
It is difficult to find new ways to describe the damage the Trump Administration has done to America through its relentless attacks on non-white immigrants, refugees fleeing oppression, and dreamers who long ago made our nation home. Yet, despite these outrages, we struggle to convey the sheer inhumanity of forcibly separating children from their parents at the border. It is one thing to intercept undocumented immigrants, process them in accordance with international norms, and return them to their country of origin; it is entirely another to criminally prosecute these immigrants, imprison them, and seize…
By Jose Calderon, President, Hispanic Federation
Rage.
That was one of the many emotions I felt earlier this week after I finished reading a report on Hurricane Maria-caused mortality in Puerto Rico produced by the T.H. Chan School for Public Health at Harvard University and published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The findings of the study, based on data drawn from surveys conducted on the island after the storm, indicate that nearly 5,000 Puerto Ricans died as a result of the storm. …
Hispanic Federation (HF), the nation’s premier Latino nonprofit membership organization, celebrated its Annual Spring Gala, “Rising Stronger,” at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The Federation’s all-star event raised $2.3 million, smashing previous gala records, while paying tribute to a vast array of amazing individuals and institutions.
Gala Chair Lin-Manuel Miranda presented this year’s Humanitarian Award to Ricky Martinin recognition of his work to end human trafficking and rebuild Puerto Rico post-Hurricane Maria. Actor and salsa legend Ruben Blades, Ana Villafañe (star of the Gloria Estefan musical On Your Feet!), and Anthony Ramos (Will and Grace and…
The Hispanic Federation today announced a $500,000 gift from The Bittel Family Philanthropic Fund towards engaging and registering Latino voters in Florida from now through 2020. The Federation, the nation’s premier Latino nonprofit membership organization, supports an array of services, advocates for policies that advance Hispanic communities, and reaches both longtime and emerging voters through grassroots engagement and mass scale public education efforts.
“The Hispanic Federation is committed to ensuring that our people are aware of how to vote and exercise that right,” said José Calderón, president of the Hispanic Federation. “At a time when some leaders are doing their…
