¡Presente! Media seeks to ensure the presence of Philadelphia’s Latinx community in 2023 mayoral election
BY ERICKA CONANT EDITED BY GABRIELA WATSON-BURKETT ON FEBRUARY 17, 2023
Philly Boricuas during voter registration event at Ninth and Hunting Park Oct. 17, 2020. (Courtesy of Vanessa Maria)
The Latino vote in Philadelphia has the potential to be decisive and powerful. In a city where 15.4% of the population is of Latino descent, young first-time Latinx voters could fuel the impact of this demographic in the November General Election.
The 2023 mayoral and city council elections will be significant. Having reached his two terms limit, Mayor Jim Kenney will be leaving his post. Five sitting city council members, with possibly more to come, have already been resigned for a chance to join the Mayoral race. A decision that has left several city council seats open.
After nearly a decade of the same power structure, Philadelphians are ready for change. But, does the Latinx community have enough access to information to make a choice? While Latinx Millenials and Gen Z have a different outlook than previous generations, the lack of media dedicated to communities of color continues to be an issue powerful enough to impact voter turnout.
In order to prepare for this critical moment, a citywide coalition of media and community partners has emerged. Every Voice, Every Vote is a collaborative journalism and engagement effort for a better Philadelphia; organized by The Lenfest Institute for Journalism.
¡Presente! Media is joining this initiative to produce content aiming to help voters make informed decisions about the future of their city. “Hispanic voters are among the fastest growing demographic in both our city and our country,” said Jim Friedlich, Lenfest Institute Executive Director. “We are proud to have !Presente! Media as a partner in the Every Voice, Every Voice initiative.”
The coalition intends to ensure that the priorities and needs of Philadelphia’s diverse communities are central to the mayoral and council campaigns. As part of the project, the institute announced $1.5 million in grants for the 52 media and community organizations across the city, including ¡Presente! Media, Al Día, Congreso, Esperanza, and Telemundo 62.
How will Presente serve Latinx voters in the General Election?
As shown in previous elections, the Latinx vote should be taken seriously. Nevertheless, candidates often wait until the last moment to roll-out Latinx-focused initiatives. And they can feel like last-ditch attempts to boost voter turnout from our demographic.
For instance, during the 2020 election, President Joe Biden announced a plan to economically boost Latinx businesses in the city, a month shy from election day. Although Philadelphia has roughly 11,000 Latinx-owned businesses, Latinx leaders worried the outreach came too late. ¡Presente! Media will watch out for these promises, and analyze their significance, asking, “Will this make a difference?”
In previous elections cycles our reporters had dive into the role of having voting information accurately translated, and the importance of living in a Sanctuary city. In this November General elections, to ensure community voices will be presente*, we will produce a series of bilingual articles and short documentaries dedicated to finding answers, and holding candidates accountable. We will investigate what are the candidate’s proposals to the community’s most pressing needs and disparities, such as gun violence and other types of crimes, gentrification, food insecurities, unaffordable housing, access to healthcare, and any other issue threatening to keep Latinx residents away from political involvement.
Overall, ¡Presente! Media wants to help la comunidad to make their voices heard. Latinx and the communities of color can’t continue to be overlooked anymore. We unite our voices to declare, ¡Sí se puede!
*As mentioned in ¡Presente! Media’s mission statement, “Presente” literally means “I’m here” and it’s a popular rally cry used throughout Latin American movements.
This article is a part of Every Voice, Every Vote, a collaborative project managed by The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Lead support is provided by the William Penn Foundation with additional funding from The Lenfest Institute, Peter and Judy Leone, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Harriet and Larry Weiss, and the Wyncote Foundation, among others. To learn more about the project and view a full list of supporters, visit www.everyvoice-everyvote.org. Editorial content is created independently of the project’s donors.