Thaís Carrero is Pennsylvania Director of CASA in Action and is co-chair of the Biden-Harris Pennsylvania Latino Leadership Council. CASA in Action mobilized 1.4 mainly Black and Latino voters with a fierce call, texts, and canvassing campaign in Pennsylvania and Virginia.
“My name is Thaís Carrero, and I am the Pennsylvania Director of CASA in Action, an electoral powerhouse mobilizing communities of color and immigrant voters. A group created to make sure immigrants and working class people are in the drivers seat choosing the leaders who will fight for our families.
“Leaders who protect people that look like me and other Black and brown folks who are just tired of the power and oppression that endangers our lives and livelihoods.
“Yo soy BORICUA, and I have grown roots over the last five years in Pennsylvania, where my mom was born.
“Soy orgullosamente LATINA, and I, along with tens of thousands of fellow Puerto Ricans and fellow Latino and Black voters in Pennsylvania have taken back our country.
“And as a woman orgullosamente Latina, I am so very excited to welcome the woman, hija de inmigrantes, who will be our first woman, first Black, first Asian-American vice-president in history.
“I am here on Harrisburg’s Capitol steps because from Lackawanna to York, from Pittsburgh to Philly, Bethlehem, Allentown, the Lehigh Valley, the 222 corridor… we as voters of color made victory happen.
“Somos nosotros, la gente, quienes tienen el poder de cambiar el futuro de este país. Porque ya basta de injusticias, porque hay demasiado en juego. No solo para nosotros aquí en el estado de Pennsylvania, sino para nuestras familias a través de todo el país y hasta en nuestros países de origen.
“I am here today because there was just too much at stake. This was THE most important election of our lifetime, and because of that, our more than 100,000 CASA in Action members decided to endorse a presidential candidate for the first time in history. Because we must elect leaders who will create a country that is welcoming to people from every part of the world.
“Leaders who will fight for immigration reform, advocate for justice for Puerto Rico, demand and create jobs with living wages, find solutions for climate change, and once and for all eradicate the coronavirus pandemic, so we can build back better.
“Necesitamos líderes que luchen por una reforma migratoria, que sean defensores de la justicia para Puerto Rico,
Que creen trabajos con salarios dignos,
Que encuentren soluciones para el cambio climático y que erradiquen de una vez y por todas la pandemia del coronavirus, para que podamos reconstruir un país mejor.
“In voting, Black and Latino and Asian American voters made a statement: we vote now, we mobilize now, and we win now!
“2020 has been filled with challenges, but there is hope… There is hope in every phone call we make,
In every door we knock on,
In every conversation we have.
“By the end of tomorrow, my fierce organization, CASA in Action, has made over 660,000 calls, sent more than 525,000 texts, and knocked on over 52,000 doors. And this is only the beginning of a stronger movement that will only continue to grow to fight for us working people.
“El tiempo de quedarnos callados y complacientes se acabó! The time of remaining silent is over!
“The numbers don’t lie. Last election was decided by a little over 40,000 votes and in Pennsylvania, Latinos were approximately 300,000 of the voters who cast their ballots. Black and Latino voters tipped the scales to justice.
“We have the power! Our vote, our mobilization, our unity shows the world the tremendous power that we have.
“Now, let’s dance. Let’s sing. We are here to celebrate the work that we have done!
“Together we Can!
“Thank you!”
#SiSePuede