OP-ED: Political and community leaders must put pressure on the state to ax its unconstitutional immigration law

By LUIS VASQUEZ-AJMAC
Monday, May 31, 2010

While pledging my allegiance to the American flag at a recent chamber meeting, it dawned on me that in Arizona “justice and liberty” excludes my children and me.

Arizona’s leaders seek to placate its citizens by beating out current economic and security concerns with a piñata filled with Latin Americans. This solution to illegal immigration, SB 1070, will not erase those problems. Moreover, this law turns a blind eye to one of our nation’s founding principles, which gives anyone who comes here legally the right to live freely and be treated equally. It violates the civil rights granted to each citizen by the U.S. Constitution.

Gov. Jan Brewer, Sen. John McCain, Sheriff Joe Arpaio and other elected officials contend that the new law helps reduce illegal immigration by allowing police to stop and question suspect individuals about their immigration status. But what information will a police officer be gathering to ascertain a person’s right to be in the United States?

Do you believe police will be approaching white, English-speaking immigrants from Canada or the United Kingdom to check their visa or green card status? No, this law targets Spanish-speaking residents with mestizo and Native American features. Many of Arizona’s longtime citizens fit that description. In executing this law, police will violate those Americans’ constitutionally guaranteed rights.

The territories in the American Southwest were annexed to the United States in 1848, at the end of the Mexican-American War. Before the war, the region was a Mexican territory, governed and settled by Mexicans.

No evidence

Arizona’s elected officials also claimed that illegal immigrants are responsible for the increase in heinous crimes that are plaguing the state. Yet, there is no evidence to support these claims. Data gathered at the Disaster Center and the Bureau of Justice Statistics show that crime and violent crime rates in Arizona, and other border states, have been steadily declining since 1995.

These politicians are using racial tensions to bolster support and push agendas that will hurt more than the Latinos living in Arizona. That state’s answer to illegal immigration is discriminatory, ill-conceived and paves the way for greater civil rights abuses in the future.

Yet this law has also brought Americans together. People across the nation are speaking out against the recent actions in Arizona. In California, Rep. Joe Baca (D) is boycotting Arizona. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Shakira and Vanessa Laine (Kobe Bryant’s spouse) have joined with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, MALDEF, Latino activists and other Americans to test and kill this uncivil law.

If this law is upheld, it will become a cancer that can target other people of color and that threatens to erase decades of civil rights gains in this country.

As a business owner in Los Angeles and Washington DC, I salute the business boycott of Arizona issued by our City Council members. Recently awarded Arizona contacts should be rebid and awarded to local businesses. The economic incentive and moral position would be beneficial in unifying local communities. It would also demonstrate the strength of our diversity, if greater Metropolitan Area the governments agencies would also boycott Arizona.

I urge all USA businesses to stop doing business with Arizona. If Arizona wants apartheid, let it stand alone in its choice. Those Arizona companies who do not support the legislation need our help. We need to provide external pressure to change local minds.

Furthermore, the short- and long-term consequences of this law on Arizona’s Latino community are likely to be severe. Arizona political and business leaders need to be encouraged to support and rebuild pride and dignity in its Latino base.

The rest of us also need to be vigilant in our efforts to protect our civil rights and expose the shameful underpinnings of Arizona’s new law. We need to educate our communities and other peoples of color about their civil rights, celebrate our cultures and Boycott Arizona. Stay in MD/VA/DC this summer for your vacation.

Why should you care? America’s diversity is not defined by clear divides. Every American’s cultural identity is a patchwork of friends and family with different interests, beliefs and traditions. You may have served with a fellow Latino in the Army. Your best friend, spouse or mentor may have Latin American roots.

Latinos are strong, integral parts of our economy and our identity at local, state and national levels. Of the 45 million U.S. Latinos, 1 million are in MD/VA and DC. And each year, these local residents spend upwards of $22 million. According to Synovate Diversity’s 2006 U.S. Diversity Markets Report, Latinos’ significant buying power in this country is close to $1 trillion, and that power is growing.

Sending a message

Action is required. Send a strong message that stops other states from establishing laws similar to the one passed in Arizona. Support organizations like the ACLU that are helping those being subjected to demeaning searches file state and federal lawsuits. Drive national awareness so that President Obama and other government officials have the support to respond more aggressively. This is more imperative in light of Arizona’s threat to cut off water to California and electricity. Rather to reflect on its injustice, Arizona is driving itself into isolation.

The state of Arizona cannot be allowed to target one group as a means of placating another. We cannot afford to wipe our hands of the affair. If we let this civil rights abuse go unnoticed, more rights will fall away and real solutions will not be found to keep this country strong and proud.

Luis Vasquez-Ajmac is the president of MAYA Advertising, a Washington D.C. and Los Angles agency that specializes in multicultural social marketing. He also is a board member of Entrepreneurs Organization of Los Angeles and the Maru Montero Dance Company of Washington DC.

As Online Social Media blogger, Tina Chubb rightly pointed out, during the last World Cup, social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook were in their beginning stages. Four years later, however, there has been a social media explosion and this transition is particularly visible when it comes to football fans supporting their home teams. There are numerous Facebook pages for every nation participating in South Africa, unofficial World Cup twitter pages are updating their tweets constantly and football blogs are increasing in popularity daily.

Advertisers, of course, are taking advantage of the pre-World Cup buzz by offering prizes and promoting their products through viral marketing. One extremely popular ad from Nike has over 7 million hits on YouTube since its posting last week and was too impressive not to share. What do you think about Nike’s campaign? What other exciting World Cup campaigns have you seen? Here at MAYA we are counting down the days to June 11^th!! Are you ready??

AN EVENING WITH LOUIS GOSSETT. JR. AND DC’S MOST OUTSTANDING CHARTER SCHOOL GRADUATES

Actor Louis Gossett, Jr. will address an audience of DC’s Charter School Graduates, their parents and supporters and the public, at George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium, on Friday May 21, 2010, starting at 7:00pm.

Hosted by the DC Association of Chartered Public Schools and George Washington University, An Evening with Louis Gossett, Jr. and DC’s Most Outstanding Charter School Graduates will be an event to remember for the graduates and for all who attend.

Mr. Gossett will be interviewed by veteran television news broadcaster and primary anchor for ABC 7, Maureen Bunyan about his new autobiography, An Actor and A Gentleman; and he will present the Most Outstanding Charter High School and College Graduates prizes to the winning students.

To learn more about Mr. Gossett, visit the next links:

- Internet Movie Data Base
-  Wikipedia
- Louis Gossett’s official page

Louis Gosset Jr. will address an audience of DC’s Charter School Graduates

Rikki George and Raquel Garcia-Pertusa discussed Public Relations best practices at an event organized by Washington Women in Public Relations

Rikki George and Raquel Garcia-Pertusa participated as panelists in the seminar “Reaching Diverse Audiences”, organized by Washington Women in Public Relations on April 26. Highlights from the panel discussion include the following:

Best practices for reaching multicultural audiences

Steps MAYA follows and recommends:

1. Research: Get to know your audience. Listen to them. Learn what motivates them, new trends.
2. Strategy: Develop and observe your strategy based on goals, objectives and budget.
3. Audience: Segment your audience.
4. Message: Tailor your message, One size DOESN’T fit all.
5. Integrated Approach: Develop an integrated marketing approach:
   • Build Awareness: PSAs, Ads, Social Media and Media Relations
   • Extend the Reach: Partnerships
   • Direct Intervention: Community-based Materials and Outreach

Panelists during the seminar.

Current resources for getting to know your audience

1. On the Internet if you have a Website you can:
   • Use Google Analytics, a web analytics solution that gives you rich insights into your Website traffic and marketing effectiveness.
   • Do surveys/polls: ask your client/audience what they think about your website and/or your product.
2. Listen to your audience through social media tools like:
   • Digg (share and discuss content)
   • Delicious (social bookmarks)
   • GoogleBlogs (search blogs)
3. Traditional resources:
   • Focus Groups
   • Surveys: phone, online, street intercepts

Source: http://carey.jhu.edu

MAYA’s multi-talented account executive Kate Faxon-St. Georges recently visited John Hopkins University to provide future industry professionals with some insight into the world of advertising.

Kate was joined by Margaret Zollars, Account Manager for the Aquent team, Marketing Strategist, Maurisa Turner Potts and Tina Kydes, Marketing Manager at Tobii Technology. Questions posed to Ms. Faxon-St. Georges included the benefits and challenges of working in an ad agency, different types of positions within an agency as well as the differences between large ad agencies and smaller ones.

When asked to provide feedback on the experience, Kate remarked, “It was really rewarding to speak to a group of people so eager to learn about marketing. I was in their position not long ago, so it was a wonderful opportunity to impart to them my experience in the marketing and advertising industry.”

Source: Association of American Editorial Cartoonists

“For too long, Washington has closed itself off from the oversight of the American public, resulting in information that’s difficult to find, taxpayer dollars that disappear without a trace and lobbyists that wield undue influence … Now that these plans are published online, we hope the American people will play their part and collaborate with us to provide oversight and improve upon this information. Together, we won’t just build a more efficient and effective government, but a stronger democracy as well.”- President Obama

MAYA is extremely pleased, as are many Americans this week, with the progress being made in an effort to improve transparency within the government. The latest accomplishment came yesterday when U.S. departments and agencies released their Open Government plans. While only time will tell how closely these plans will be followed, the development of the plans in itself is a positive step which previous governments have failed to make and is therefore quite commendable. An open will improve democracy and in addition encourage efficiency and effectiveness, as errors can no longer be conveniently “swept under the carpet”.

As the President pointed out, the success of this initiative depends not only on the government, but the American public as well. We must make the effort to read the information carefully and critically to ensure that we are not being misinformed. We must not hesitate to highlight inaccuracies and demand further clarity when necessary. Nevertheless, we are encouraged by what we have witnessed thus far and look forward to reporting further progress in the near future. For more information on the Open Government initiative and to read the various departmental plans please click here.



Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement specialty retailer, has reassigned their Hispanic account to Richards Group. The $37 million Hispanic account had been handled by the Hispanic agency The Vidal Partnership since 2004.

This account change has generated critical reactions from Hispanic market specialists and associations. “Corporations are recognizing the potential revenue possible in targeting the nearly $1 trillion in Hispanic buying power but they are failing to recognize the superior insights, innovation and results delivered by Hispanic-owned and Hispanic-specialized businesses”, affirms the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies, which is trying to fight against the trend to undercut Hispanic-specialized advertising.

Specialization is the key for success.

At MAYA, we want to support our colleagues in The Vidal Partnership and claim the specialization as key for excellence and success. Below, we provide you with proven rationales for trusting Hispanic-specialized agencies:

• Hispanic agencies have established and strengthened solid partnerships with Hispanic Associations, media and other stakeholders for years. These relationships are fundamental to achieve and exceed the results expected by our clients.
• We have a deep knowledge about the Hispanic population, which is a large and heterogeneous group, from different nationalities and backgrounds.
• Our employees are culturally linked to the Hispanic target. We are fully bilingual and have insight on Hispanic needs.
• We have experience working with diverse audiences. With our expertise and know-how, we find innovative solutions to address segmented audiences effectively.
• The relationship with our client is always personal, fluid and direct in all phases of the project: planning, development, execution and evaluation.

We were impressed with the launch of the iPad, the new Apple tablet that promises to revolutionize the user experience on the Web. While we wait to see it in stores on April 3, we have asked ourselves: how will this and other technologically advanced devices change the way we work?

We have found a great video on Pablo Herreros’s blog about the possibilities to communicate on print media with these new products. The ads would be more engaging and dynamic, and we could display a wide range of textual and visual resources to strengthen the relationship between the brand and our audience.

In times of economic uncertainty, creativity is our ally. The revival of advertising is here!

During the first event at Journalism Week, Luis Vasquez-Ajmac spoke about branding and marketing. He also gave an interview ahead of time about green marketing.