Hispanic Heritage Month

Hispanic Heritage Month, whose roots go back to 1968, begins each year on September 15th, the anniversary of independence for five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Whatever the current political climate and the desire to build huge walls, immigration has always played an important role in the history of the United States. And Latinos in particular are not becoming Americans like the immigrants who came before them... They have always been neighbours and share a long history with the U.S.

Until recently, Hispanic Americans were the fastest growing minority group in the United States, accounting for over half (54%) of the overall population growth in the US since 2000.  By 2035, Latinos will represent 35% of the U.S. population. 

It is Meet the Team Monday!  Today, we continue our blog series with an interview with our National Database/IT Manager - Max Dunitz.

About Max:

Max Dunitz is the National Database / IT Manager for Democrats Abroad France (DAF), where he synthesizes voter engagement efforts and IT support.

After arriving in Paris to pursue graduate studies in applied math at ENS Paris-Saclay, Max joined the DAF Youth Caucus and helped create a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) infrastructure for our phone banking campaigns.

“The week before moving to France, I was asked to sign up for next week's shift after canvassing and panicked, so I reached out to DA France leaders to see how I could help boost midterm turnout from France,” explained Max. “I found it very easy to get involved; DA France is very active, and the leadership was able to help me find ways to harness my election jitters into a productive force for boosting turnout.” 

Prior to joining DAF, Max wrote software to help local activist groups text volunteers and make their phone banking events more accessible, and he created a web database to help volunteers turnout Democrats living in Hong Kong. 

As an avid volunteer, Max has “performed just about every task at a Democratic field office.” He has held leadership positions in progressive activist groups such as Fossil Free MIT, Sunrise Boston, and Cambridge Area Stronger Together.

“Although I prefer campaigning to sitting in front of a computer, I am always happy to put my computer science degrees to use for a good cause!” 

Now, on to Max’s fun facts:

• He votes in Michigan.
• His top 3 issue areas are climate change action, progressive foreign policy, and criminal justice reform.
• His first political memory was “being less interested in the viral Jib-Jab videos than the policy stakes of the 2004 election.”
• If he were President for a day, he would pack the courts and give D.C. statehood. 

And when asked who his favorite political icon was, Max responded: 

“Not to be all Time-in-2006, but YOU! The practice of politics involves not personalities but...practice. Call your reps, attend meetings, talk to your neighbors, canvass, phonebank, text, write postcards, bake delicious snacks for volunteers, clean the field office, work spreadsheets, demonstrate, and RUN FOR OFFICE. As José Mujica, a politician who is quite the icon, said, power comes not from above but from the hearts of the masses.

Ashley Bennett, a county legislator in New Jersey, was not a politician until she saw a sexist Facebook post from the incumbent and decided to show that her rep did not reflect her community's values by winning his seat. Few of us can make the time to run for office. The volunteers who powered Ashley's victory are as much of a politician as she is, and their stories are every bit as inspiring.

Trump is a danger to the republic, and ordinary people--particularly, middle-aged women--are responding to this assault on our institutions, conscience, and sanity by getting involved in ways big and small, and that's far more inspiring than any great orator can ever be.”