|
How far we’ve come...
how far we have yet to go
The Past Ten
Years
When the National
Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA) released its
“Policy Agenda 2004-2008” just before the recent
election, the question I was asked most frequently
by the Hispanic press and by many of our community
leaders was: “Haven’t we been discussing these very
same issues for decades: the alarming school
drop-out rate; the lack of adequate health care,
decent housing, and access to capital to start and
grow our businesses; the protection of our civil
rights; and our participation in Corporate America?”
In recent months, though, I have been sensing some
frustration among many in our community over the
fact that, in spite of asking these questions, we
have been unable to translate the fact that we are
the largest minority in the country, with a
purchasing power of over $600 billion, into the
political and the economic power and wealth we
should have.
|
|
|
Both points, as general propositions, are true. To
many of us, and I suspect more so among advocates
and community leaders, it is often quite frustrating
to be fighting what seem to be the same political
and economic battles for years, and seeing what we
at times feel is little progress. But I also believe
that these propositions do not accurately reflect
where Hispanics are today, nor are they very helpful
in directing our efforts. To a large extent, our own
successes are fueling our expectations, which are
rising faster than the progress we have made or
believe we should have achieved. Hence, the
frustration.
Of course, in general terms, we are still fighting
the same battles and will be fighting them for a
long time. Our challenges in education, economic
empowerment, civil rights, housing and building
wealth all require major social change at many
levels that will take a lot of sustained effort and
long time to produce. However, looking back at the
past 10 years since Anna Maria Arias founded LATINA
Style, we have made important progress. In
fact, I believe that we have reached a point in our
development as a community where we can make some
major breakthroughs in the years to come.
Let me give a few examples. The very fact that
LATINA Style was founded to target Latinas in
business — what would seem to be a very small group
10 years ago — and that is has thrived, is
indicative of the strides made by Latinas in
business. The release of the NHLA “Policy Agenda,”
in which over 30 national Hispanic organizations
reached a consensus on a broad range of social, and
at times politically charged, issues is a credit to
the growing maturity of our organizations and to
their leadership, and is a powerful sign of unity.
In HACR, we have a growingly effective coalition of
organizations dedicated exclusively to inclusion in
Corporate America. In this election, Hispanics were
courted by candidates more than ever before, though
they have not always addressed our issues.
Regardless of our politics, we do have two Hispanic
senators — almost unthinkable 10 years ago — as well
as a host of newly elected Hispanic officials from
local governments to Congress. There is a Hispanic
being appointed as Attorney General, we have had two
Surgeon Generals — one a Latina — and several
Cabinet members, along with the Governor of New
Mexico. While we remain woefully underrepresented in
the higher ranks of Corporate America, we have made
some progress in representation on corporate boards
and leadership, and many new board members are
Latinas. We have a fast-growing number of
Latino-owned businesses, and we are generating
significant wealth in our communities.
Regarding the progress of Latinas, we have been
saying for some time that the fastest growing
segment in small business are Latina-owned
businesses. Although gains in education are still
far from what we would want, last year almost 12
percent of Latinas between the ages of 25 to 64 held
a bachelor’s degree, up from eight percent in 1994.
The mean income of Latinas between 25 and 34 years
of age, increased to over $30,000 from $22,000 in
1994. We have more Latina elected officials than we
thought possible a decade ago, and we can proudly
say that many of our national organizations are
headed by Latinas.
We all recognize that we still have a long way to
go. But we do have growing political power,
organizational strength and cohesion, and economic
power in our businesses and in major corporations.
We also have a growing cadre of highly educated
Hispanics in all sectors of society, especially
Latinas, who are poised to assume leadership in our
communities and in business. So, as I look back at
the last ten years and where we are today, my sense
of frustration seems to diminish a bit. To attain
the power that our numbers and pocketbooks warrant
will, of course, be no small task. But our work over
the last 10 years has placed us in what I feel is a
position to make very important gains in the decade
ahead.
Ronald Blackburn-Moreno, the president and CEO of
ASPIRA Association, Inc., is the chair of the board
of directors of the National Hispanic Leadership
Agenda.
|
