By Gabriella Landeros
During a press conference on Capitol Hill, Actress America Ferrera and Co-Founder and President of Voto Latino Maria Teresa Kumar introduced the “America4America” campaign, an online and offline effort to promote the importance of the American Latino vote across the U.S. through media and civic engagement.
“I’ve been on the ground in Alabama and in Arizona, where laws are pushing our communities into the shadows. Campaigns are marginalizing us, leading many Americans feeling demoralized and defeated, and ‘America4America’ is a campaign to empower every single American voter, with a truth about their own goal in our democracy,” Ferrera said. “That’s a role that is a right, that is invaluable, and it is a right that I’m fighting to protect and to promote, and to make absolutely clear that it belongs to each and every one of us.”
When asked what specific issues she has seen in her hometown that is affecting the Latino community, Ferrera stated, “What’s really striking, is what’s happening in the public school system. I think that the Latino community has a lot to lose when the school systems in California not being properly funded and very important programs in early education and adults continuing education is not made a priority, our community has a lot to lose from that.”
