U.S. Rep. Espaillat hosts ‘Dominicans for Kamala’ Breakfast at the DNC
Congressmember Adriano Espaillat hosted a ‘Dominicans for Kamala’ Breakfast during the 2024 Democratic National Convention (DNC) on Tuesday with guest speakers and Dominican electeds from all over the country.
Espaillat is the first Dominican from New York State—and the first in the country—elected to Congress. “We do this every four years, and it’s an important kickoff for us in the Dominican community—and the Latino community in general—to begin the process of electing the first female president of these United States: Kamala Harris, our VP,” Espaillat said at the breakfast.
“Last night was an electric time as women took the stage. It was about my mother, my daughter, and my granddaughter,” Espaillat continued. “It was about how women can take charge and usher in—it’s not yesterday, it’s not tomorrow, it’s now.”
Other speakers at the breakfast included Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, the first Dominican elected to that office in the city’s history; Bronx Assemblymember Karines Reyes; and Maryland House of Delegates Rep Joseline Peña-Melnyk.
“I’m a first-generation immigrant,” Reyes said. “I was born in the Dominican Republic, but I’ve made New York and the Bronx my home. What’s at stake in this election is so much more than just the White House. We need people in office who are not climate, science deniers. When we see what’s happening right now—La República Dominicana sufre (suffers), Puerto Rico sufre, Mexico sufre, South America sufre, because everything we do here impacts our countries back home, impacts our people, impacts our loved ones.”
According to the Pew Research Center, Hispanics make up about 19% of the nation’s population. As of 2022, that translated to a new high of roughly 63.7 million people, despite revised question wording on census forms and shifting categories about who identifies as Latino or Hispanic.
“It is really important because the Latino community is the fastest growing demographic, and there are a lot of us in the U.S., and we can vote,” said Peña-Melnyk, whose daughter is also a delegate. “It is important for us as Dominican Americans to come out and vote for Kamala Harris. She represents us in our values and we need to make sure that we tell our networks and that we’re active and involved and we show up at the polls.”
Reynoso emphasized the significance of potentially advancing the first Black woman and first South Asian into the White House, “but we also have to work toward winning the majority in Congress and making sure Hakeem Jeffries is the Speaker of the House.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul recently announced a $12.5 million investment into a new Dominican Center for the Arts and Culture in Washington Heights/Inwood, led by the Dominican Studies Institute (DSI) at the City College of New York. The center will feature a museum and exhibition space for Dominican and Latinx artists, a theater space or auditorium for performances and film screenings, and a children’s library that will focus on preservation of the Spanish language.
Espaillat said efforts are also underway for a national designation for Washington Heights as Little Dominican Republic.
“There has been untapped power in the Latino community for a long time,” said Hochul. “There are those across the country who are making a difference by running for office in Colorado and Maryland, Massachusetts, and people have been successful. By example, there is a path for more voices to be heard. This is a [Dominican] community of 3 million strong in the United States, 1 million of [whom] live in the great state of New York.”
Hochul touched on the fact that “there’s a sentiment that a lot Latinos are trending toward the Republican party” and said, “We can’t let that happen, not on our watch. We have to let them know that we’re the ones fighting for families, for immigrants, for migrants, and all those who come here.”
The post U.S. Rep. Espaillat hosts ‘Dominicans for Kamala’ Breakfast at the DNC appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.