It’s that time of the year when we think about our New Year’s resolutions. Most of us will have common resolutions that include a certain amount of weight loss, maybe kicking that cigarette habit, and/or paying down major credit card bills. I would like to propose the following five 2008 New Year’s resolutions for my fellow New Jersey Latinos with the goal of achieving these five resolutions by the end of the year.

1. Register at least 5 family and friends to vote. This year is going to be one of the most important years as we get to pick the next President of the United States as well as one third of the U.S. Senate and all members of the House of Representatives. Whether you are a Democrat, Republican, or an undeclared, our vote is going to play a significant difference in the elections process and will be used to gauge the level of priority given to immigration, education, economic empowerment, etc. The deadline to register for the New Jersey Presidential Primaries is January 15, 2008 and the deadline to register for the November General Elections is October 14, 2008. CLICK HERE http://www.nj.gov/oag/elections/form_pdf%27s/Voter-reg-app(web)10.18.07.pdf to download NJ Voter Registration Form In English or PRECIONE AQUI http://www.nj.gov/oag/elections/form_pdf%27s/Voter-reg-app-esp(web)-10.18.07.pdf para hacer un download del NJ Solicitud de Inscripción de Votantes En Español.

2. Make a donation to your favorite New Jersey charity. I am not going to name all the great charities and organizations in New Jersey, but there are many to chose from where you can send a donation. Even if you only send a small donation, the organization will appreciate that you took time to make the contribution. Running a non-profit is very hard and this time of year is when their services are often in the greatest demand. Remember that your success is the community’s success. Share your success by making a charitable donation to a New Jersey charity or non-profit organization.

3. Read a book or buy a DVD documentary about the history of a Latino sub-group that is NOT your own. As a Dominican American, I know the history of the Dominican Republic well including the history of the Dominican migration to the U.S. While I have a pretty good knowledge of the general history of Latinos, I made it a point to learn in detail about a select few Latino sub-groups in 2007. I purchased and viewed the documentary “Mi Puerto Rico,” which is a fascinating documentary about the Puerto Rican history and culture. I also read the book, “The Cuban American Experience: Issues, Perceptions, and Realities” by Guarione Diaz, which is available on Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. It gave me a whole new appreciation of the Cuban American experience. My resolution for 2008 is to better learn Colombian, Peruvian, and Mexican history. If any of you are interested in Dominican American history, may I recommend the books “The Dominican Americans” by Silvio Torres-Saillant, or “Dominican-Americans and the Politics of Empowerment” by Ana Aparicio. I think that if we as community get to know, in more details, the commonalities and differences among one another’s sub-groups, it will allow us to better communicate and collaborate with each other. If you don’t have time to reach a book or get a DVD, go to a Save Latin America event in Hudson County and listen to Israel Romero give a speech about the independence of each of the Latin American countries. It’s very educational and he’s a very inspiring and passionate speaker.

4. Speak To At Least One Classroom Of Children in New Jersey. If you have no connection to the education system in New Jersey, this should be a resolution that will inspire you while motivating our children to aim high in their studies and goals. There are thousands of children who are yearning to have a role model like you come and speak to their classrooms. There are many programs that promote such partnerships. If you speak to one classroom, I promise you that you will want to do more because the reaction that you get from the students and teachers will be generally positive and inspiring. If you are already involved in the education system in one way or another, this year could be your year to enhance or increase your involvement. There is a huge shortage of Latino role models. If you are reading this blog, you are already a role model even if you don’t know it. Somewhere in New Jersey, there is a student whose dream is to be JUST LIKE YOU. If you share your life experience with them in a classroom environment, it could be the key difference between graduation and no graduation. If we are going to increase the percentage of students who graduate, we must first start with ourselves and what we are prepared to do. Taking time to talk to a classroom is certainly a tool to inspire our students.

5. Live 2008 With An Attitude of Gratitude. While we have many challenges in our community, we also have much for which to be thankful. We need to be thankful to our legacy — Latinos and African Americans whose successes in the civil rights movement paved the way for the next generation of New Jerseyans to succeed and flourish without fear of legalized discrimination. We need to be thankful to our immigration champions who fought hard and continue to fight on behalf of our immigrant community. We need to be thankful to have a U.S. Senator like Robert Menendez who is so highly regarded around the nation by Latinos and we can proudly say “he is our Senator”. Thank you Bob! We need to be thankful to people like Ivette Mendez who had the vision of creating LatinosNJ.com for our community. We need to be thankful to the many people who have been helpful to our lives, be it family, friends, or colleagues. Most importantly, we need to be thankful for our health and safety because without those in 2008, nothing else matters!

If we as a community complete these five simple resolutions by the end of 2008, New Jersey will see an unprecedented level of Latino empowerment.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 1st, 2008 at 10:49 am and is filed under Politics, General, Education, New Jersey, Blogroll, Immigration. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.