Este Poder encourages rural East Texans of color to feel empowered through civic engagement

Published 5:40 am Tuesday, April 30, 2024

1. GUÍA DE VOTANTES 2024
2. Este Poder Voter Guide 2024

A nonprofit organization founded by three UT Tyler graduates is working to educate and empower communities of color in East Texas. Este Poder believes rural East Texan communities of color should “understand the power they hold” such as through voting “and use that power to improve their quality of life.”

Emily Pinal, co-founder and co-executive director of Este Poder, said the group is “doing what we wish to see in the world.”

Serving five East Texas counties including Smith, Gregg, Cherokee, Wood and Nacogdoches, the organization focuses helping this population get involved and help make a difference in local elections and other causes.

Este Poder was founded in 2020. Co-founders Lina Ortega, from Mineola, Pinal, from Tyler, and Belen Iniguez, raised in Waskom, met at UT Tyler as students and became friends. They were all majoring in political science and had a passion for their communities.

“We had a passion for really listening and cultivating that relationship with them,” Pinal said. “So we were like, after we graduate, let’s do a nonprofit.”

In 2020, the group started knocking on doors and heard from people who were surprised to see them.

“Just seeing how many people we would knock on their doors and they’ll be like ‘wow, no one has ever knocked on my door,’” Pinal said. “That was a little bit of our ignition … People need to get out, you need to be reached out to and it’s not by just posting (on social media) or just by talking. It’s by literally knocking on doors, talking, showing up to the community events. Meeting the community where you’re at. It’s gonna take us first to actually see change that reflects the communities we serve.”

One of the group’s efforts to connect with communities is by going to local events and festivals. For example, this June, they plan to go to the Tomato Fest in Jacksonville.

Education

During a Civics 101 class, East Texas nonprofit Este Poder taught students about voting and how issues impact them.

Students drew people and were challenged to think about how experiences shape that person. One drew a farmer, for example. At the time of the class, a constitutional amendment election — was coming up. One of the propositions, Proposition 1, was to protect the right to engage in farming, ranching, timber production, horticulture and wildlife management.

Pinal said students were shocked to learn about the various issues they have a right to vote on, such as those protected in Prop 1.

“We make that connection so if that kid brought up the farmers we’re like look, ‘the No. 1 [constitutional amendment] is asking you: are you for certain farming policy or you against it,’” Pinal said. “And making that connection blows their mind. (They say) ‘oh, I didn’t know that we could vote over these.’”

Texas permits a person who is 17 years and 10 months of age to register. In the state, high schools have long been required to distribute voter registration forms to older teens twice a year. According to the Texas Tribune, the 1983 law requiring high schools to distribute voter registration forms to students who are 17 years and 10 months old or older was intended to boost turnout among young voters. But the secretary of state’s office doesn’t track compliance, and schools that fail to distribute registration forms to eligible students aren’t penalized. Pinal believes this is not well enforced in many East Texas high schools.

“Why are we not doing it at the public school?” Pinal said. “It’s over a 35-year-old law. I didn’t get registered in high school. I didn’t even have the opportunity. It wasn’t until after high school.”

Getting high school seniors registered to vote is important because that is when they start building their relationship of civic duty, Pinal said.

Barriers

In East Texas, polling places can be 20 minutes away for those in rural areas. It can be difficult to get candidate information for rural counties. Candidates for rural areas take three times longer to get back to them. Many do not have a website. It’s like these counties don’t want people to vote, Pinal said.

“You will be a public servant for our community,” Pinal said. “Your information should be available, especially if you want to earn your vote. You have to earn the vote. … it seems like they don’t have to earn nothing.”

Pinal wishes information was more accessible and all counties updated their websites. She has noticed Smith County and Gregg County keep their election information up to date. However, some of the more rural counties don’t update their websites in a timely enough manner or list key information, Pinal said.

“It makes me very upset to see that even as a nonprofit organization trying to make this our core, making sure that our communities feel empowered, walking into the polling locations, knowing how much we have to be on the phone, texts where we would rather be in person just having to do outreach,” Pinal said. “It’s very frustrating, but this is the reality of rural East Texas.”

Pinal believes having more polling locations, making information accessible, especially in Spanish, would help make voting easier for all. Este Poder put together a voting guide ahead of the May 4 elections in Spanish and English.

Growth

For Este Poder, 2023 was a year of growth. They were able to get paid for the work they have been doing as organizers, plus their fellows are paid. They hired a rural manager and a communications associate. They received their first grant.

“We believe in the work that we’re doing,” Pinal said. “We’re gonna have to work harder for funding. We’re gonna keep working and advocating for us as well. We’re doing what we wish to see in the world.”

The nonprofit’s student fellows go out into the community to answer questions and register people to vote. Currently they have two at Stephen F. Austin State University and three fellows at University of Texas at Tyler.

Through its Young Texas Civic Engagement Program, the nonprofit also has seven partnerships with local districts, including most recently Longview ISD.

The group’s efforts are garnering attention. Texas Tribune reached out to the nonprofit about an event in Tyler as part of its ‘We the Texans’ talk and invited them.

Additionally, people seem interested in getting involved. When Este Poder opened applications for a rural organizing manager position, the group received many applications. After hiring former student fellow Kassandra Ramirez, Este Poder opened applications to find a new student fellow and received 10 applications in the week it left them open. Next semester, Este Poder will accept 12 fellows from Tyler Junior College, UT Tyler and Stephen F. Austin.

Another effort Este Poder is working on is building out its advocacy program. Pinal said they want to listen and better understand the issue their communities care about. Some of the concerns they hear from people are about immigration and school safety.

“Our community’s what we care about,” Pinal said. “Empowering them really to go vote or to advocate for themselves, and that we’re here. We’re here for the long term. We believe in future generations taking over this.”

If you have election questions, call the Este Poder’s line at 903-202-0816. To learn more, get involved, donate, or find resources, visit https://estepoder.org.