[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLzt4YV8ePA]
The Documentary titled, “Engage Her: Getting Minority Women to Lead and Vote,” features Latina trailblazer, Dolores Huerta and other prominent Latinas such as Maria Theresa Petersen, Executive Director of Voto Latino.The documentary was released by a new organization called Engage Her,it points to the fact that campaigns do not generally target females who belong to minority groups. This has lead to dismal voter turnout among Latino, African-American and Asian women. As a result of this neglect many women choose not to participate because they feel as if their votes do not really count or make a difference. Their lack of participation then results in less policy initiatives that favor minority women and their children, thus perpetuating a vicious cycle that places Latinas at a disadvantage.
Maria Theresa Petersen explained that it is urgent to get women to vote to improve social and health conditions for minority women, ” we are suffering greatly from lack of health access and lack of sex education, Latinas still have the highest rates of teen pregnancy of any ethnic group in the country.”
According to the documentary, “70 percent of Asian Americans, 69 percent of Latinas and 40 percent of African American registered women voters FAILED to vote in the 2004 elections.”
Dolores Huerta, Founder of the United Farmworkers explains that women are very powerful forces in the family. According to her, “women set the standards and philosophies of the home, and they are very influential in determining the voting patterns of the members of their family.”
The message of this documentary is that women of color have the power, they just have to learn to use it. That is a very powerful messages that Latinas everywhere need to hear. Congresswoman Barbara Lee(D-TX) believes that “we need to teach women to think globally and act locally.”
Engage Her.org is an online organization focused on educating and activating minorities, women and communities to mobilize around issues which impact their lives and communities.
Editors Note: On 10/28/08 our newsletter erroneously mentions that Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee said that “women need to think globally and act locally.” This phrase was actually said by Congresswoman Barbara Lee.
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