Census Day
A free "Rock the Census" concert will be held at MacArthur Park Thursday at 4 p.m. to make the young Latino community in the Pico Union/Westlake area aware of the census. The area is described as a historically "hard to count" by census officials and, as of right now, the Census Bureau reports only 22 percent of the McCarthur Park area has returned its census mailers.
Performers include La Santa Cecilia, Jae-P, The Fresas, Los Hollywood and the Meleco Collective will be there. Assemblyman Kevin de Leon and L.A. City Councilman Ed Reyes will join leaders of several immigrant community groups at the event.This is just one of many events community leaders are participating in to encourage people to fill out the 2010 Census.
Earlier today, City Councilman Jose Huizar and White Memorial Medical Center recognized the "Census babies" born between midnight and 11:59 p.m. Thursday. They are the last babies to be counted in the 2010 Census. Children born on April 2nd will be counted in the 2020 Census.
The publicity seems to be paying off. Close to 9 in 10 Hispanics say they will participate in the 2010 Census, according to a new Pew Hispanic Center survey released today. Hispanics make up roughly 15 percent of the nation's population. Leading up to April 1 "Census Day," 52 percent of U.S. households have sent in their 10-question Census forms.
