Upcoming Event – Voto Latinx: Our Voices in the 2020 Election

This year’s election is like no other and the Latinx community is set to become the largest racial and ethnic minority in the electorate. Join members of the Brown University Latino Alumni Council to discuss how Latinx voices are shaping the 2020 election, the issues most important to the Latinx community, and how we can continue that momentum post-election. Our panelists include: 

• Jonathon Acosta ’11, AM ’16, AM ’16, PhD ’23 – Candidate for RI State Senate
• Dr. Tony Affigne ’76, AM ’91, PhD ’92 – Professor of Political Science, Black Studies, and Latinx Studies at Providence College
• Michelle D. Hernandez ’15 – Field Representative and Caseworker for U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez 
• Dr. Angela X. Ocampo ’10 – Assistant Professor of Political Science and Faculty Associate in the Center for Political Studies at the University of Michigan

This event will be held virtually and information on how to access the panel discussion will be shared the day of with registrants.

Register for the event here.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this forum are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the network or institution.

Jonathon Acosta 

Jonathon Acosta is a father, educator, Eagle Scout, youth wrestling coach, and doctoral student in Sociology at Brown University. He was a middle school math teacher in Miami-Dade County and Central Falls before becoming a school administrator. During this time, he earned an MA in Urban Education Policy at Brown and implemented a district-wide teacher evaluation program in cultural competence. Jonathon is a member of the Juvenile Hearing Board and a City Councilman representing Ward 1 in Central Falls, where he has been a strong voice for responsible green city planning, transparency in governance, and affordable housing. His academic work is in political sociology, social stratification, segregation, race, class, and ethnicity. Mr. Acosta is currently a candidate for District 16 of the Rhode Island State Senate. 

Dr. Tony Affigne

Prof. Tony Affigne teaches in Providence College’s political science, Black studies, and Latin American and Latina/o studies programs, and from 2007-2013 was visiting professor of ethnic studies at Brown. Twenty-five years ago, Dr. Affigne was principal founder of the political science subfield on Race, Ethnicity, and Politics, and more recently was lead editor for Latino Politics en Ciencia Política: The Search for Latino Identity and Racial Consciousness, published in 2014 by NYU Press. Affigne is a frequent guest and election night commentator, analyzing state and national politics for southern New England’s NBC, ABC, and PBS television news and public radio. In Rhode Island politics Dr. Affigne is also something of a historic figure: His 1982 independent campaign for Providence City Council, and 1986 campaign for governor, made him the state’s first-ever Latino candidate for elective office.

Michelle Hernandez 

Michelle works for Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, serving her home congressional district as a community liaison and constituent advocate. She was first introduced to the world of politics in 2013 when she interned for New York Senator Charles E Schumer through a program with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. Since then she has spent most of her professional life in and around government, including interning for the National Science Foundation and working for a government-relations firm called theGROUP. 

Dr. Angela X. Ocampo

Angela X. Ocampo is Assistant Professor of Political Science and Faculty Associate in the Center for Political Studies at the University of Michigan. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She is originally from Bogotá, Colombia and was raised in White Plains, NY. 

Dr. Ocampo specializes in American politics with a focus on race, ethnicity and politics. Her current book project examines the notion of perceived belonging to U.S. society and its influence on political interest and political engagement among Latinos. Dr. Ocampo’s research agenda examines the political incorporation of racial, ethnic and religious minorities both as every-day participants and as political elites within American institutions. Specifically, she investigates the factors that mobilize Latinos and other minorities to engage politically at different levels. Her research also explores how political parties and institutional forces shape the path of minorities into elected office.

Her research has been supported by the University of California Institute for Mexico and the U.S. (UC MEXUS), the Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, UCLA’s Political Psychology Fellowship, APSA’s Fund for Latino Scholarship and APSA’s Warren E. Miller Fund in Electoral Politics. Dr. Ocampo’s research has been published in Political Research Quarterly, Social Science Research, Politics, Groups and Identities and Latino Studies.