With the presidential campaign behind, actress Eva Longoria, San Antonio businessman Henry Muñoz III, and attorney Andres W. Lopez are discussing innovative ways to build a political organization with the capability to help shape the future of Latinos in the United States.
These three influential Latinos were the driving force behind the Futuro Fund which helped raise over $30 million towards the Obama campaign. Futuro Fund also influenced the decision that led to Mayor Julian Castro as the keynote speaker for the 2012 Democratic National Convention.
Their goal for this new organization is for it to shape the national debate on topics such as immigration, Puerto Rico’s statehood, education, and the economy.
“We wanted to make sure the Latino community stops being a number and starts being looked at as a market,” says Longoria.
According to the Associated Press, this task might prove difficult considering that despite Latinos making up 16% of the population, only 4% of them contributed financially to the 2012 campaign. This concern was referenced in a previous article in La Plaza earlier this year.
Muñoz disagrees with the hesitation. He believes that Latinos have a desire to participate, but have not been appropriately asked. In the past few weeks, Muñoz and Lopez have been meeting in Washington D.C. gathering advice from top officials, and are even considering partnering with the Center for American Progress to create a Latino research and advocacy center.
“If we are ever going to get what we want, we have to be politically involved,” says Muñoz. “Politics has a currency. It has votes and money. Our community has been known for votes, and now it has to be known for money.”
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