BY ERICKA CONANT AND GABRIELA WATSON-BURKETT ON MAY 9, 2023

Julia Rivera, Chief External Affairs Officer speaks during the event “Tu Voz, Tu Voto“.. (¡Presente! Media)

With Philadelphia’s primary election just days away, groups like Congreso de Latinos Unidos (Congreso) are strengthening efforts to grow their community’s awareness, involvement, and to gauge what issues community members want candidates to pay attention to.

Congreso recently held a community conversation on the upcoming election, community issues, and delivered results from its first community survey and civic engagement. While Congreso’s survey and community event had participants of diverse ages, ¡Presente! Media was there to document community voices and talked specifically with Millenial and Gen Z Latines about their thoughts on the remaining candidates. Here is what they said.

We need safety for the youth

The issue at the forefront of the conversations that ¡Presente! Media held with community members was about gun violence.

“I think it’s very important to have common sense gun laws for our community, said Karen Machin, a community member born and raised in North Philadelphia. “I think it’s important to have recreational activities that get our kids off of the streets and the guns out of their hands.”

Machin, who told ¡Presente! She is still undecided on who she will vote for, also urged for comprehensive and accessible information to be available on the mayoral candidates.

Nicole Guerrero, a community ambassador with Congreso, joined the group because she wanted to find a way to advocate for her community. She voiced similar sentiments to Machin’s.

“Right now, the violence in our city is very important and it needs to be addressed. I also think it’s important for our elected officials to invest in our communities. Recreation centers, the libraries, places where our children can go and enjoy the services and different resources that the city has to offer. Investing in those things is important.”

Check out ¡Presente! Media's video coverage of the event

Community members and Congreso staff members hold a painting done at the meeting.

2. Get to know us

“Take the time to come to our neighborhoods and see all of the restaurants that we have, all of the small businesses, and understand that you need to invest in our businesses because this is our livelihood,” said Guerrero, who voiced surprise at one of the survey results, that the community felt that the candidates are hearing them.

It’s a promising sentiment, but it also needs to be upheld by candidates so that the community isn’t proven wrong.

There was, however, an alarming result from the survey indicating that about 22% of respondents were not aware of the upcoming election.

Jay Coreano, a local artist, admitted to ¡Presente! that he was one such community member that wasn’t aware of the upcoming election.

“I’m part of that 22% that had no idea that elections were here,” said Coreano. “It’s not due to negligence. Honestly, with life, there are so many things going on that you get distracted.”

Despite being unaware of the election at the beginning of Congreso’s event, Coreano was still engaged in his community’s issues, and felt strongly about the lack of outlets for the city’s youth. He had a message for the candidates:

“I would say, definitely be more mindful of the youth in the city and the community. They really have nothing to do after school, no public safe space where they can hang out. What are they doing for the youth? Instead of making it seem inconvenient for the youth to be here or ‘no students allowed there,’ how can we step forward and actually be there for the students and provide safe areas where they can socialize and engage with other students?”

3. “We’re here and we hear you”

There was one message that all of the community members demonstrated to ¡Presente!, which was that there is self-empowerment in making their voices heard, and to hold the future mayor accountable.

“My community is loud, they’re colorful, they have big voices when they can be heard. If you try to fight our community they will come back even harder,” said Machin. “It’s important to hear all of us. Ignite us, motivate us, and give us the resources that we need.”

“We have the power to elect good people,” she said.

Julia Rivera, Chief External Affairs Officer at Congreso said that the future mayor needs to understand that the community has lived in North Philadelphia for years, and has not always been treated and invested in the way that it should be.

“I would say there’s so many good things happening in the community that are sometimes overlooked by some of the other challenges we are facing,” Rivera said. “With that I think there are so many positive things with so many cultural roots and backgrounds,” she continued, referencing El Centro Musical, Taller Puertorriqueno, and cultural events and opportunities that express the community’s diversity.

Perhaps Coreano said it best.

“A lot of these neighborhoods are overlooked. When you think of Philadelphia, the first thing [you think of] is probably Center City. But there are community members that deserve a cleaner environment and more attention to local schools and local parks,” Coreano said.

“What are you going to do for inner-city students and the inner-city future? Not just people in Center City. We’re here and we hear you.”

*¡Presente! Media uses the word Latinx (a gender-neutral term, instead of Latino) but respects the author’s choice to use the word Latine.

This article is a part of Every Voice, Every Vote, a collaborative project managed by The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Lead support is provided by the William Penn Foundation with additional funding from The Lenfest Institute, Peter and Judy Leone, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Harriet and Larry Weiss, and the Wyncote Foundation, among others. To learn more about the project and view a full list of supporters, visit www.everyvoice-everyvote.org. Editorial content is created independently of the project’s donors.

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