DREAMING Of Change
by digby
What with all the sturm and drang about depressed Democratic turnout, it’s possible to overlook some of the important, under the radar work that’s being done to change the dynamic. One of the places this is happening with great energy is in the Hispanic community which, aside from all the other reasons Americans are feeling under siege, are also experiencing a nativist assault.
Aside from the incredibly courageous young people who are putting their lives and futures on the line to advocate for the DREAM act, groups all over the various communities are putting their money and time where their mouths are to get out the vote and keep these crazed tea partiers from power.
Here’s one initiative,United We Win, from Voto Latino, which is devoting resources to important work like voter registration and get out the vote.
I particularly like this one because it’s so outside the normal social networking beat:
Everyone loves grandmas. But grandmas adept at new technologies? We love them even more.
Our friends at Cuéntame organized an online voter registration drive outside of Our Lady of Los Angeles Church in Downtown Los Angeles last weekend as part of their “Tan facil que hasta tu abuela lo puede hacer!” (So easy your grandma can do it) campaign. These abuelas were out there registering despite of the heat because, as one of them put it, “our youth are the future and we must protect them!”
Our Los Angeles Field Organizer Jesus Malverde got to spend some time with them. High-tech grandmas? Que envidia.
Cuéntame, mentioned above,(working in concert with our friends at Brave New Films is another great organization working out of the social networking world to connect with the Hispanic community.
There’s a whole lot of this work going on, under the radar, which will hopefully offset some of the lethargy that’s overtaken the Democratic coalition. These folks are on the front lines of the Tea Bag power grab and the ramifications of allowing them to seize power hit all too close to home.
America’s Voice is a sort of central clearing house for a number of these initiatives if you’re inclined to take a look and see if there’s something you can do. It’s quite inspiring at a time when inspiration is hard to find.
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