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August 25th, 2010
IMMIGRANT WOMEN MOBILIZE ON 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF WOMEN’S RIGHT TO VOTE
Today marks the 90th anniversary of the women’s suffrage movement, but in Chicago, particularly in Latino communities, numerous women are still not registered to vote.
However, the women of Mujeres Latinas en Acción (Latina Women in Action) are set to change that. A team of motivated women from Mujeres’ Latina Leadership program, mobilized within their communities, walking street by street, and knocking door-to-door, in an effort to register as many women as they can to vote.
Mujeres Latinas en Acción is a member of the New Americans Democracy Project, sponsored by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), an initiative to register and mobilize new citizen voters to the polls.
“Women form the center of families in our community,” remarked Maria S. Pesqueira, President and CEO of Mujeres Latinas en Acción. “If we want to move our community to vote, we need to celebrate women’s roles in being catalysts for change.”
At Mujeres, this important project has taken a unique spin, as the organization turned their involvement in the New Amercan’s Democracy Project into an educational initiative that spans generations. Mujeres engaged young girls, ages 13-17 from the Proyecto Juventud (Project Youth) Program, along with volunteers from the Latina Leadership Program to work together.
“On such a historical occasion, we saw it as a great opportunity to bring the two groups together, to join forces in for a common goal, and learn from each other on the way,” reflected Latina Leadership Program Coordinator Estela Melgoza.
The result was intergenerational bonding and learning. The women in Latina Leadership put their leadership and organizational skills that were fine tuned at Mujeres to use to mobilize and make the greatest impact in their community, and the girls of Proyecto Juvented served as the support “street” team, along the way learning about the history of women’s struggle for the right to vote, the voting process and the judicial and electoral system, and how they will be able to make a difference in their communities when they are of voting age.
“I really didn’t understand how a vote could make such a difference,” commented Proyecto Juventud program participant Mayra Hernandez. “Seeing the struggle women went through, and working to register people makes me see if very differently now. I can’t wait until I can vote!”
About Mujeres Latinas en Acción
Founded in 1973, Mujeres is one of the longest standing Latina incorporated organizations in the United States primarily administered by, and working on behalf of, Latina women. Mujeres Latinas en Acción is a bilingual/bicultural agency that empowers Latinas through providing services, which reflect their values and culture and being an advocate on the issues that make a difference in their lives.
June 21st, 2010
“Buscando a Leti”
“Buscando a Leti” is a movie based on real stories that shows how family is left behind in Mexico and gives an insight on family relations, prejudices, marriage, machismo, and religion.
During her visit to Mujeres, Dalia Tapia encouraged the children and the teens that were present to continue their education and to never give up. She told them that it took her five years to complete the movie and that she encounter many people who believed she would not accomplish her goal of finishing the movie; however, she never gave up and finished it. She also had the children and teens repeat after her; “I will never, never give up!” This encouraged everybody to continue following their dreams. She also addressed the under-representation of Latinos in the media and told her audience that their stories are important thus they should be told and shown.
As well as Dalia, Tatiana Tapia inspired the children and teens to continue their education and continue pursuing their dreams. She talked about her experience in being part of the movie and showed them techniques on acting. She invited the children and teens to go up front and do role play with her.
Towards the end of their visit, Dalia and Tatiana handed out autographed copies of the movie to those who answered questions about the movie.
June 15th, 2010
What Will They Say?:
Inside Chicago Latinas' Mental HealthPresented by:
Dr. Bernadette Sanchez, Associate Professor, DePaul University, Department of Psychology
Dr. Richard Renfro, Psychologist, DePaul Community Mental Health Adjunct Professor, DePaul University and the Chicago University of Professional Psychology
Friday, June 25, 2010, 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Mujeres Latinas en Acción
2124 W. 21st Place
Chicago, Illinois 60608How do socioeconomic circumstances affect Chicago area Latinas' mental health? How do Latinas confront their mental health conditions when faced with the social taboos surrounding mental health?
In this second session of our health series, Mujeres Latinas en Acción will address these questions and more with the release of the mental health study from our comprehensive Latina Portrait 2010. Latina Portrait gauges the needs of local Latinas and their families, offering recommendations and raising social consciousness in order to help develop solutions. Future sessions in our Health series will include Latinas and Reproductive Health and What Health Care Reform Will Mean for Latinas.
RSVP: Contact Claudia Perez at Mujeres Latinas en Acción at claudia@mujereslat.org or (773) 890-7660. RSVP required.
The Mental Health session of Latina Portrait is generously sponsored in part by the:
***Chicago Foundation for Women***
June 15th, 2010
MUJERES WINS AFFILIATE OF THE YEAR!
National Council of La Raza, NCLR, selected Mujeres en Acción with a prestigious recognition as the 2010 National Council of La Raza Affiliate of the Year.
NCLR is a national, well-known, non-profit organization whose mission is to improve the lives of Latinos by working to improve the opportunities available to the Latino community. One way NCLR accomplishes this is by serving its affiliates which consists of a network of 300 organizations; Mujeres Latinas en Acción is one of these affiliates.
Each year, NCLR selects an organization that has done an outstanding job in carrying out its mission, receiving awards and media coverage, having strong leadership and continuing to grow as an organization to be honored as the National Council of La Raza Affiliate of the Year. Mujeres met all this criteria and was presented with this distinguishable recognition.
With the 2010 National Council of La Raza Affiliate of the Year Mujeres will:
-Receive $25,000 to continue empowering Mujeres Latinas and their families.
-Be honored at the NCLR Annual Conference on July 13, 2010.
“It is an Honor to be considered the Affiliate of the Year amongst 300 other amazing affiliated community based organizations that on a day-to-day strengthen our nation by empowering our communities.” Maria Pesqueira, President and CEO.
