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Round Table Discussion

Latino and Political Participation
Ya Marchamos y... ¿Votamos Mañana?
Friday, July 16, 2010

Fresno City Hall
2600 Fresno Street
Fresno California

1:00 to 6:30 p.m.

Tentative Agenda

  • 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Session 1 Context Matters: Latino Immigrant Civic Engagement
    1. A glance at the history of the organizing efforts for promoting Latino immigrants political engagement in Fresno and Madera since the 1970s to the marches of 2006, 2007 and 2010
    2. Present a summary of the findings of the new report: “Context Matters: Latino Immigrant Civic Engagement in Nine US Cities.”
    Moderator: Estela Galvan, Program Associate, Pan Valley Institute American Friends Service Committee
    • Eduardo Stanley, Journalist & Editor, El Sol del Valle
    • Myrna Martinez N, Program Director, AFSC Human Migration and Mobility Central Valley Programs
    • Jonathan Fox, Professor, Latin American and Latino Studies Department, University of California, Santa Cruz
  • 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. Session 2 Latino Immigrant Naturalization and Voter Turnout Trends in the Central Valley
    1. Identify Latino immigrant naturalization and voter turnout trends, gaps, obstacles, and possible strategies to balance political representation in the Central Valley
    Moderator: Joel Murillo, La Raza Lawyers
    • Melissa Michelson, Professor, Department of Political Science, CSU East Bay
    • Rosemary Moreno, Director, Immigration Assistance
    • Roberto de la Rosa, Executive Director, O.L.A. Raza
  • 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. Session 3 CV New Citizens&rsquo Civic and Political Participation: Challenges and Opportunities
    1. Reflect on the accomplishments and limitations of Latino immigrant civic participation in the region.
    2. How do non-citizen immigrants perceive the process of civic and political engagement?
    3. What are the invisible challenges for US-born children of immigrants to become involved in public life?
    Moderador: Luis Magaña, Program Coordinator, Proyecto Voz, American Friends Service Committee
    • Filemón López, Host of “La Hora Mixteca,” Radio Bilingüe, Fresno
    • Antonio Cortez, Santa María Tindú, Madera
    • Jesús Quevedo, Community Organizer, Tulare
  • 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Session 4 Promoting Active Citizenship among Immigrant Youth
    1. Analyze civic participation and voter turnout trends among Latino immigrant youth, a constituency largely ignored by politicians and overlooked by civic and political engagement campaigns.
    2. Identify messages that can resonate with and motivate youth political engagement
    Moderator: Juan Santiago, Presidente del Comité Popular del Pueblo Coatecas Altas (COPPCA)
    • Participants TBI
  • 5:00 – 6: 00 p.m. Session 5 Identifying Strategies for Designing Effective and Creative Initiatives for Promoting CV Immigrant Civic and Political Participation
    1. Open discussion of the information and issues that emerged in the forum
    2. Identify promising strategies to continue to promote and strengthen immigrant civic and political engagement in the Central Valley
    Moderator: Jesus Martinez Saldaña