Latino organizers build culture of civic engagement in Atlanta

September 19th, 2024

A group of people stand behind a large red ribbon as someone cuts it. — Adelina Nichols helps cut a red ribbon to mark the grand opening of the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights' new headquarters. (Matt Pearson/WABE)

Latino organizers in Georgia are focusing on establishing a culture of civic engagement in communities across metro Atlanta. In this presidential election year, the end goal is more than just getting out the vote.

“Remember, it’s important to know what we want, know where we’re going,” said Adelina Nichols, executive director of the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights. “If not, others will come to tell us what we have to do and where we have to go.”

Over the weekend, nearly 200 people gathered to celebrate GLAHR’s new headquarters in Chamblee. The new building marks 25 years of advocacy in the state to protect Latino communities. Nichols said that has included efforts against deportation, illegal arrests and racial profiling.

A woman stands in front of a turquoise and yellow balloon banner and speaks into a microphone. — Adelina Nichols gives a speech at the grand opening of the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights’ new headquarters. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)

“This is an invitation that those that can vote, do so. It’s needed,” she said. “We also need the motivation of those that can’t vote so that this can generate a movement of culture and resistance.”

The grand opening was also a stop on the national Latino advocacy group Mijente’s El Chisme Tour 2024, an effort to travel to Latino communities around the country and learn about key issues for each group.

“The tour is a lot about culture,” said Marisa Franco, the executive director of Mijente. “We have to be able to laugh, we have to be able to dance and let loose. I don’t think people are going to be shamed into organizing. I don’t think that works, so what is worth fighting for? It’s us. You’re worth fighting for. I’m worth fighting for.”

Franco said the tour stopped in Georgia because it is a swing state, but the tour isn’t focused on only voters. She said it’s important to listen to the concerns of all community members so organizations can help people in their day-to-day issues that aren’t always solved by elected officials.

Two people dance in front of a bus with red and orange letters saying El Chisme Tour 2024 — Two people dance in front of the El Chisme Tour 2024 bus at the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights’ new headquarters in Chamblee. The national Latino advocacy group Mijente is traveling around the U.S. to hear community issues. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)

“It’s the idea that at the end of the day, can we go from people that things happen to, to people that make things happen?” she said. “Can regular people be protagonists in their own lives, in their own community, and on their own time?”

Still, the organizations are working to empower Latino voters. Mijente and GLAHR’s action network worked together in the 2021 Senate runoff election to contact every registered Latino voter in Georgia to teach them about the election — the first time that’s been accomplished.

This year, they have the same goal.

“It’s very important to realize that the Latino community is a new voting community,” said Geovani Serrano, a community organizer with GLAHR.

He said this generation of Latino voters in Atlanta often hail from parents who moved to the metro to work during the 1996 Olympics.

“Many of us, we didn’t see our parents going out to vote,” he said. “Compared to white voters, they saw their parents going out to vote so they knew the importance of that and knew it was something they were supposed to do.”

Serrano said that looks like teaching first-time voters that elections cover not just the president, but things like who controls the prices of utilities, who are the judges in their communities, and even who is making decisions about education.