For Immediate Release
Contact:
Kate Uesugi, kuesugi@americanhumanist.org, 202-238-9088 (ext. 105)
(Washington, DC, June 1, 2021) – Today, the Latinx Humanist Alliance (LHA) officially launches the 1 in 5 campaign, which strives to raise awareness of the growing nonreligious Latinx population in the US. This marks the second year of this campaign, which initially launched in 2019 upon the creation of the LHA.
“This campaign is important to the LHA as we continue to reach out to the broader Latinx community,” states Anthony Manuel Cruz Pantojas, a co-chair of the LHA “We hope to reach many nonreligious Latinx folks and show them that they are not alone. As Latinx humanists, our goal is to create thought-provoking spaces and useful resources, while engaging the complexities of a Latinx identity (U.S. and Diasporas).”
The number of nonreligious Latinxs in America has increased 67 percent within the last decade and will continue to grow. The 1 in 5 campaign originated from data that was analyzed from a number of sources, including the Public Religion Research Institute and the Pew Research Center. Although the campaign hopes to uplift these statistics, it also hopes to raise awareness among nonreligious Latinx folk that there is a community in humanism they can be a part of.
“In the media, Latinx Americans tend to be pigeonholed into a Christian narrative,” says Juhem Navarro, a researcher and former co-chair of the LHA, who championed the 1 in 5 campaign in 2019. “That just doesn’t represent the diversity of our community. We hope to help change that story.”
The LHA is an affiliate organization of the American Humanist Association (AHA) and was created to advance the interests of the Latinx humanist community. Along with their work in increasing awareness of the Latinx humanist community within the mainstream media, the LHA also facilitates advocacy campaigns around different issue areas, including immigrant rights, health care, and secular issues.
Any questions or requests for interviews can be directed to kuesugi@americanhumanist.org.
Find more information on the campaign here.
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The Latinx Humanist Alliance’s mission is to facilitate social justice activism among, expand the visibility of, and foster safe spaces for Latinx Humanists.
The American Humanist Association (AHA) works to protect the rights of humanists, atheists, and other nontheistic Americans. The AHA advances the ethical and life-affirming worldview of humanism, which—without beliefs in gods or other supernatural forces—encourages individuals to live informed and meaningful lives that aspire to the greater good of humanity.