Puerto Rican Agenda Hosts Historic Convening to Influence 2016 Presidential Election

by The Puerto Rican Agenda

Charla/Forum

Friday, March 4, 2016

ASPIRA Finance and Business High School

2989 N. Milwaukee Ave

Chicago, IL 60647

The Puerto Rican Agenda and ASPIRA will host a forum with Puerto Rican elected officials on Puerto Rico's current fiscal and humanitarian crisis. The forum, to be held at ASPIRA Finance and Business High School (2989 N. Milwaukee Ave.), will be headlined by Congressman Luis V. Gutiérrez.

This event represents the first time Puerto Rican elected leadership-along with leaders of the local Puerto Rican community-will publicly come together to discuss the following issues in the context of the 2016 presidential election.

Forum issues to be addressed include:

Coordinating efforts to address the fiscal crisis in Puerto Rico by holding the United States government accountable;
Intensifying the offensive campaign to free Oscar López Rivera;
Promoting and unifying efforts for an aggressive campaign to increase registration and improve education targeting Puerto Rican voters; and
Discussing coordination of inside/outside efforts during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, July 25-28, 2016.

In addition, the forum will feature a brief presentation from Dr. Edwin Melendez, Director of Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College in New York City.

This community forum builds upon a series of events organized to establish a national Puerto Rican agenda. Previous events were held in Orlando, Florida, and Washington, D.C. during the last quarter of 2015. The Chicago forum, and similar events to be organized throughout the country, will culminate in a National Puerto Rican Diaspora Summit coinciding with the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

The more than five million Puerto Ricans living on the United States mainland can play a pivotal role in the 2016 presidential election. Puerto Ricans now constitute a significant proportion of the electorate in three swing states: Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Furthermore, Puerto Rican voters in Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois could contribute to Democrats regaining control of the Senate.

Your presence and participation in this dialogue is crucial for advancing the next steps related to the topics above. Please confirm your attendance through submitting your registration here.

Further information

Cristina Pacione-Zayas pacionezayas@gmail.com

Jessie Fuentes jlfuentes2@cps.edu

Co-Chairs

Puerto Rican Agenda