Dominicans to Washington, D.C.
This past week has been exasperating for me. I listened to some radio programs in order to be aware of the misinformation being passed around to our community. I usually don’t listen to them for that very reason but the invitation many people received from the White House to attend a meeting on Wednesday, February 25, forced me to pay attention. It all started when some people questioned why Mayor Dan Rivera had been chosen to represent the Dominican population of Lawrence since he never identified with them. They said that he never frequented Latino businesses or restaurants, his knowledge of the Spanish language was very limited (until he entered the mayor’s office – now it’s getting better), and Willie Lantigua was right when he offered during the mayoral campaign to walk with him and introduce him to the people.
So, it was assumed that it was only because of his position as Mayor of Lawrence when in reality he qualifies because his mother is Dominican. Yes, he notified the local press about said invitation and it was touted as if he was the only one selected to meet with government officials to be briefed on issues affecting the Dominican community in the United States. He misled the audience by reserving the fact that a big contingent was also going from Lawrence, not all of them politicians. That aroused listeners calling to complain and suggest who would be more qualified to be invited and there was even an on-air contest.
As you can see in the picture, all Dominican city councilors attended as well as our two state representatives of Dominican descent. Well, at least one of them participated because Marcos Devers took off right after that picture was taken and didn’t spend more than one-half hour at the meeting.
Statement sent by District C City Councilor Kendrys Vasquez:
The keynote speaker was U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez with remarks from US Ambassador to the Dominican Republic Wally Brewster. The briefing was divided in three forums which included panelist representatives from the Office of the President to cover topics such as immigration, more specifically details on DACA and DAPA, economic development for the Dominican community, foreign relations, including the impact of the DR-CAFTA agreement, education, discussion on the “100,000 Strong in the Americas” and the “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative, which Mayor Rivera accepted the challenge made by the President to mayors from around the country to ensure that the City of Lawrence forms part at the local level. I personally think that this briefing served as an opportunity to have a better understanding of the challenges that other communities with a large Dominican-American population and with similar demographic to the City of Lawrence are facing, and how we can implement similar ideas in our communities to ensure prosperity and success.
