Redistrict
Your Future

During the 2020 Census count, Hispanic Federation was one of many organizations hard at work encouraging Latinos to get counted. One of our key messages was that the Census count would determine the political representation of our communities for the next ten years. Since then – as attacks on our democracy have become more frequent – the importance of the redistricting process and its consequences has become even more evident. 

 

The 2020 Census count showed that black and brown communities drove most of the population growth in the United States – it also showed the startling gap that must be bridged to achieve equal representation. Unfortunately, part of that gap is created by people acting in bad faith and using the redistricting process to lock communities of color out of power. 

 

As our team worked to explain the redistricting process, we kept running into a familiar obstacle: a lack of redistricting resources tailored for the Latino community that could serve as a guide. Just trying to find a widely accepted Spanish translation for “redistricting” and “reapportionment” was a chore. That’s when we knew: creating the Redistricting Academy was a way for us to help in the larger fight to have fair redistricting processes across the United States. 

 

We found amazing partners in the Southern Coalition for Social Justice who worked with us to launch a pilot bilingual Redistricting Academy in North Carolina. The live sessions were a success! They showed us that our community wanted to learn more about the process – we just needed to add some sazón to it. And that’s what we aimed to do with our academy.

 

Here you will find video presentations in English and Spanish explaining the Congressional redistricting process and how redistricting works in different states. Most importantly, you will learn how you can get involved in the process! We have resources that discuss how you can advocate for fair districts, create coalitions, and use the power of digital tools to show stakeholders how fair representation looks like. 

 

The Redistricting Academy will regularly add content and share resources created by partners and allies; make sure to come back and check the updates. We hope you enjoy your time in the academy and look forward to handing you a graduation certificate.