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Latinos mobilize voters at faith-based session, April 21
For the first time ever, a large number of Faith Based leaders from over 60 Hispanic Evangelical churches throughout Greater Cleveland are expected to attend a Faith Based Rally where they will worship, reflect, network, and become educated on how to become agents of change in order to address social and economic issues affecting the Latino community.
The faith based rally, entitled: “Tu Decides,” which in English means “You Decide,” will take place on Saturday, April 21, 2012 from 5-8PM, at the Saigon Plaza, 5400 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland.
A group of active Latino community members have come together to plan and coordinate a religious-based rally that promises to motivate, organize and mobilize members of the faith based community, specifically the Evangelical churches, to come together around the importance of civic and community involvement, voter registration and voter turn-out.
With over 60,000 Latinos reportedly living in Cuyahoga County, and over 28,000 registered to vote, less than half turned out to vote in last general election in 2008.
At the, Tu Decides event, not a single candidate will speak, as the event is about improving the voting process by providing voter education, voter registration and assistance, and organizing a grass roots campaign to help narrow the gap in voter participation among Latinos in Northeast Ohio.
Based on national research, this is due to income, educational attainment, length of residency, age, and is further associated with a limited understanding of the voting process, insufficient voter campaign outreach, limited transportation, and low accessibility to voter registration.
The Tu Decides faith-based rally is open to the general public, will be pastor led and driven, and will include free food, free parking, and musical performances by local Latino Evangelical church bands throughout Greater Cleveland.
Special guests includes: Reverend Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition (NLEC), who will address the audience from a national perspective.
“This is the first time we have had the opportunity to organize the Faith Based Community around voting and civic involvement, which traditionally is not encouraged within the church,” says Pastor Jesús Laboy, of La Iglesia Elim, located in Cleveland’s West side.
The Tu Decides event will include voter registration and a volunteer sign-up for church members to participate in an ongoing faith-based organizing effort, including a training which will take place within weeks of the event.
For more information call (216) 235-1578.
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