New Spanish and Chinese ‘How Philly Works’ guides aim to break language barriers for voters

Under Tuesday s blazing sun Philadelphia leaders stood firm in unveiling new civic guides in Spanish and Chinese aiming to better connect non-English speakers with city leadership According to the preponderance latest U S Census over Philly residents speak a language other than English with Spanish and Chinese as the two bulk commonly spoken foreign languages here For those Spanish- and Chinese-speaking groups which represent roughly of Philadelphia s population language can present a important hurdle to understanding how city leadership works and being an informed voter Now new Spanish and Chinese versions of the How Philly Works guide can make civic life more accessible for tens of thousands of residents The Committee of Seventy is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that advocates for improvements in local and state regime Its English version of the guide has been around for years The new guides were introduced by Committee of Seventy and Welcoming Center executives along with City Council members at a sweltering outdoor press conference held outside City Hall next to the Octavius V Catto Memorial The location was symbolic if the hottest day in years made it uncomfortable On Oct Catto was killed on balloting day after working to educate and organize local groups to vote Now the Committee of Seventy hopes to continue Catto s mission with its guides which educate residents on how local administration connects to the city s inner workings Who s my Council member and how do I get in touch with them Who makes the final decision on the budget or what gets built in my neighborhood revealed Lauren Cristella president and CEO of the Committee of Seventy These are sometimes complicated questions but if you can t access the issues the answers in the language that you understand our entire system of regime becomes a locked door For those facing this locked door the Committee of Seventy s new guides act as the key featuring explanatory sections on the City Council and budget Philadelphia s school district and other elected representatives Stacks of the Committee of Seventy s new Spanish and Chinese guides were given out at the press conference and are set to be distributed through local communities in the coming months Davis Cuffe Billy Penn Aiding Cristella in unveiling these guides were Philadelphia City Councilmembers Isaiah Thomas and Seth Bluestein Anuj Gupta president and CEO of The Welcoming Center City Commissioner Chair Omar Sabir and group partner Maria del Pilar Rodriguez All gave brief speeches in patronage of the guides to the crowd of around City Council members and organizers at the press conference When I first became a commissioner three years ago I made it one of my top priorities to improve the language access for our elections in Philadelphia Bluestein announced Our democracy works better when everybody has the opportunity to participate Cristella mentioned she has already seen participation rise as a aftermath of the English versions of the guides She shared that City Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr who represents the th Council District often picks up thousands at a time to give to his constituents Similarly Cristella announced City Council Minority Leader Kendra Brooks has picked up stacks of the guides to deliver to local schools Looking forward Cristella acknowledges that the Committee of Seventy s work is far from done and plans to release a French edition of the guide as well as create informational social media graphics and videos for those who prefer not to flip through pages of information We re not going to stop until every person has access to the guide and makes as much use of it as they d like to she announced The post New Spanish and Chinese How Philly Works guides aim to break language fences for voters appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY