Census 2020: NAKUM to be Counted! Youth Writing Project
NAKUM to be Counted!
HABLAR para ser Contado!
I SPEAK to be Counted!
Ah Manam Hays County Community!
NAKUM (nah-koom), the Coahuiltecan word meaning “we speak” or “I speak to you,” is significant especially now because both language and communication bring us together as a community, allow us to express ourselves and understand each other.
We speak to our friends, families, pets, neighbors, and teachers. We also speak to ourselves and have the power to speak to our community and be heard and understood.
During this transformational time as our communities are working and organizing tirelessly to advocate for justice and liberation from state sanctioned violence and as we are collectively experiencing COVID where many of us may be feeling isolated and unheard:
The medicine of now is to connect to who we are, what our role is in the movements, and to use our voice.
This project asks our youth to hand write about their identity, share who they are with our community and why it matters to them to be counted in the 2020 Census.
We’re asking our youth to participate by saying:
I Matter to my community
I Count to my community
NAKUM to be Counted!
HABLAR para ser Contado!
I SPEAK to be Counted!
Need Help Getting Started? Watch the NAKUM Writing Workshop video:
NAKUM to be Counted is a youth-centered community Census Outreach Project which aims to engage and encourage our Hard To Count (HTC) and minority populations in Hays County, of which at least 40% are indigenous-Hispanic, to complete the 2020 Census by providing a platform to showcase the explorations of identity and voice of our youth through the craft of writing.
This project is Sponsored by Hays County Complete Count Committee, United Way for Greater Austin, the Indigenous Cultures Institute, and the Sacred Springs Powwow.