October 27th 2008—Las Vegas, A City of Contrasts, Extremes, Disparities and HOPE
I had two great visits today.
I started out meeting with three Latina sisters at Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada www.planevada.org First I met with Cinthia, Grassroots Outreach Coordinator, who shared a bit about the background of PLAN and her own motivation for being involved. Then I met with two PLAN canvassers, who happened to be biological sisters. Sandra and Maria shared about their work on voter education and getting out the vote and the importance of civic participation in their communities that are struggling to maintain identity and culture, as well as advance and excel in the US system. Watch their videos via the PLAN playlist on the WOCU You Tube Channel.
Then I connected with an African American sister named Toshia Shaw Lacy. She had just done her civic duty and voted that morning. In her interview she talked about the plethora of issues that prevail in Las Vegas including homelessness, trafficking, and economic decline. She cited the fact that Las Vegas is approximately #5 in the top cities for foreclosure in the United States. She also lamented the lack of resource for mitigation, specifically mentioning the utter dearth of social services, the thoroughly flawed education system, and how corruption makes politicians and law enforcement turn a blind eye to the exploitation women experience in particular in sex work, both voluntary and involuntary through trafficking. Toshia’s interview is on the WOCU You Tube Channel and her blogspot can be found at http://www.compulsivewriterdisorder.blogspot.com/
Loading ...