A crowd of Brazilian, Portuguese and Cape Verdean community leaders from across Massachusetts joined state legislators, state officials and Census representatives November 5 on Beacon Hill to launch a statewide advocacy campaign urging all Portuguese speakers to complete the 2010 US Census. Secretary of State William F. Galvin and Kathleen Ludgate, Boston Regional Census Center Director, headed the speaker list for a State House press conference supporting the Portuguese-Speaking Complete Count Committee (PSCCC) and its goal—achieving a 100% count in the Census next spring.
November 5th Press Conference for the PSCCC
“It’s a key part of our strategy in getting a complete count, to count the immigrant populations,” said Galvin. “Portuguese speakers are a key piece of that puzzle.”
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Galvin and other speakers stressed the importance of a complete count to insure that immigrants and other residents of the state get their fare share of services such as public education for their children, public transportation to get to work and school, and vital health services.
“This snapshot of America takes place every 10 years,” said Ludgate, urging the more than 60 people in the hearing room to take back the message to their communities to fill out the Census form next spring. “We are committed to getting the best count possible and we know the best work gets done community to community, neighbor to neighbor,” she said.
Paulo Pinto, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers and a founding member of the PSCCC, said that Portuguese speakers—the state’s largest linguistic minority—must unite for a full and complete count.
“It’s absolutely critical that all of us are counted in the 2010 Census so that we can be recognized for our true size and contributions to the state, as well as helping Massachusetts receive its fair share of federal funds for many years to come,” he said. “We also want to make sure that the state retains its full representation in Congress.”
State Rep. Antonio FD Cabral, D-New Bedford, agreed.
“Money follows numbers, and also political representation follows numbers,” he said, pointing out that Portuguese speakers have traditionally been underrepresented among the state’s elected and appointed officials. Cabral said that, though the Secretary of State’s Office has been very helpful in reaching out to immigrant communities, he’s often faced roadblocks trying to get important informational materials from other state departments distributed in Portuguese. He and state Rep. Tim Toomey, D-Cambridge, pledged their support for the PSCCC and a complete count of immigrant populations.
“It’s the state of Massachusetts and the entire country that benefits from all the contributions of immigrants,” said Toomey, citing the importance of the count for services such as the state’s Citizenship Assistance Program providing ESOL and citizenship training to immigrants. In the state’s current fiscal crisis, he said, “Every penny, every nickel and dime counts, especially from the federal government.”
Many Portuguese speakers have not filled out the Census forms in the past due to language and cultural barriers and other reasons, according to the PSCCC. Those who have completed the Census are absorbed into many racial and ethnic categories that don’t reveal their Portuguese-speaking heritage. Speakers from the Brazilian, Cape Verdean and Portuguese communities sought to assure their constituents through the press conference that they should not fear answering the Census—regardless of their immigration status—and to ask them to do it in a way that truly reveals the state’s Portuguese- and Cape Verdean Creole-speaking presence.
“We need to tell the undocumented, don’t be afraid to fill out the Census,” said Adalberto Teixeira, a representative of Boston Mayor Thomas Menino’s office who also has joined the PSCCC.
In order to get a better picture of our communities, the PSCCC is asking Portuguese speakers to answer the race and ethnicity questions as follows:
- Question 8 (or Question 5 for persons 2 and beyond in the household): Check “No-not of Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin.”
- Question 9 (or Question 6 for persons 2 and beyond in the household): Check ONLY “Some Other Race” and write in your ethnic/ancestral background, such as Brazilian, Cape Verdean, Portuguese, etc. in the boxes below.
Heloisa Galvão, President and Co-Founder of the Brazilian Women’s Group and a PSCCC member, urged Brazilians in particular to fill out the Census. “For 10 years now, we have tried to be counted as Brazilians by the Census Bureau,” she said. “We’re not there yet but we recognize the Census as the only and most accurate tool to count people, Brazilians included.”
Representing the Portuguese-speaking religious communities at the press conference were two well-known individuals: Pe. Jose Eduardo Marques, Coordinator of the Brazilian Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Boston; and Pr. Marcos Aurelio Nogueira, of the International Christian Fellowship of Boston. Both expressed strong support for the US Census.
“We support everything that is good for the community,” said Pe. Marques. “I do truly believe it is very important for all to be counted.”
Pastor Nogueira urged the communities to unite in support of the Census, adding that he has opened his church for Census trainings and that many other Brazilian pastors have joined in signing a public manifesto in favor of the Census.
Other key people attending State House event included many media representatives and community members, including representatives from the Cape Verdean and Portuguese Consulates; and the Brazilian Consulate sent a message of support.
At the press conference, the PSCCC unveiled three colorful new posters and a banner in Portuguese highlighting the committee’s Census messages. Pinto said more posters will be developed shortly representing all the main segments of the Portuguese-speaking community.
The PSCCC is also distributing a variety of other Census materials in Portuguese, including informational cards and T-shirts to help spread the word throughout the state. Copies of the materials can be obtained by contacting MAPS at (617) 864-7600 or visiting any MAPS office throughout greater Boston, Lowell or Framingham. For more information about the PSCCC, please visit our Web page at www.maps-inc.org/census2010/.
