Scoop: New Latino group wants to flex "purchasing power"
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Sindy M. Benavides in 2024 in Philadelphia. Photo: Lisa Lake/Getty Images for Hispanic Federation
A new Latino group is using its first appearance on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to put the Trump administration and the media on notice it plans to use "purchasing power" to improve how Latinos are represented and depicted.
Why it matters: The group, Aquí: The Accountability Movement, wants to counter the notion that "Latino equals immigrant, which equals criminal," Sindy Benavides, the group's executive director, told Axios.
- "That's not a fair portrayal of the Latino community," she said.
- The group wants Hispanics to use "our hard-earned dollars to wield influence so that Latinos are heard, seen and valued in America," she said in an interview.
Between the lines: That's not a direct call for boycotts. But it does raise the possibility the organization is contemplating them.
- "We are calling out bad actors who are mistreating our community," she said.
- Economic output for U.S. Latinos reached $3.6 trillion in 2022, growing at a faster rate than most wealthy global economies, a report last year found.
Driving the news: Aquí will join a group of Latino advocacy groups and lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to protest the Trump administration's actions in its opening weeks.
- It is also announcing a leadership team that has close ties to Capitol Hill and the civil rights community.
- Benavides is a former president of the Latino Victory Project.
Zoom out: Most existing Latino groups are focused on electing Hispanics to state and federal positions or increasing Latino political participation.
- This new group will be centered on the media, with plans to work to combat negative stereotypes about Hispanics.
Zoom in: Aquí will focus on three efforts.
- Benavides will lead an "Accountability Against Hate" campaign to challenge and call out anti-Latino rhetoric.
- There will also be an "Accountability In Representation" project to demand "fair and accurate portrayals" of Latinos in the media, according to the group.
- Finally, the "Accountability In Media" program will push for more Latino representation in the media.
The bottom line: "We are really focused on the issue of representation and narrative building," Benavides said.
