Jackson, MS – “An accurate census count in 2010 is essential to proper allocation of federal grant dollars to local communities and is critical to the creation of fair political districts to ensure people of color have accountable representation at all levels of government,” notes Echo Director Leroy Johnson as he explains Echo’s 5-year census and redistricting program of work.
In the Spring 2009 Southern Echo:
- Became a census partner with the national Census Bureau and Mississippi state level bureau to ensure effective access to information;
- Created state maps to show where hard-to-count census tracts are and the amount of federal grant dollars allocated to each county;
- Held census training sessions with its partner organizations in the MS Delta Catalyst Roundtable;
- Began outreach to grassroots buy xanax online pharmacy no prescription community organizations across Mississippi to establish local Complete Count Committees to ensure the census bureau has accurate address data for every home before the census count is taken, to press for employment of local persons to do the census count who are familiar with community and are trusted by the residents, to monitor the accuracy of the count and file objections where necessary; and
- Will present 2 workshops on census and redistricting at the Pushback Network Convening in Las Vegas at the end of June.
The organizational work to build an effective 2010 census process will lay the foundation for the organizational framework needed to ensure the creation of fair political districts when the census data is released in 2011.
