Anita de Palma, 67, of Clearwater is the state director of the League of United Latin American Citizens.
By ADRIENNE P. SAMUELS
Published May 13, 2004
Some 1,000 Hispanics are planning to descend upon Tampa next week for a state convention celebrating the nation's largest and oldest Latino organization.
And Clearwater resident Anita de Palma is ensuring the League of United Latin American Citizens' three-day event adequately deals with immigration, education and activism - a few of the topics planned for the gathering.
More importantly, de Palma said, the event itself could become a political hot pot.
Former gubernatorial contender Bill McBride is speaking at the league's awards dinner. Senate candidates Mel Martinez and Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas plan to attend. Rep. Jim Davis is flying in from Washington, de Palma said.
Other politicians are signing up as well, possibly to sway the state's sizable Hispanic vote.
It's about time, said de Palma, the league's state director.
"Maybe something like this will wake them up," said the 67-year-old activist. "Our members are manning the voter registration all over the city and the I-4 corridor. ... We have the numbers, and we need to make a difference."
As state director, de Palma has spent the past year helping migrant workers, persuading the state's sizable Puerto Rican population to register to vote and signing up more league members.
Based in El Paso, Texas, the League of United Latin American Citizens started out as a group dedicated to Mexicans and Mexican-Americans. That changed within the past 70 years to include all Hispanics.
In Florida, the organization is made up almost equally of Cubans, Venezuelans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans and Dominicans.
Some 400 Latinos are members of the Tampa Bay chapters of the league. Statewide, the number is more than 900 and growing. In Tampa Bay, 10 new chapters were created since 2003.
For district director Matilda Martinez Garcia, 85, of Tampa, the league's work boils down to advocacy.
Though its constitution asks that all Hispanics learn to speak English, she is currently working on a project that would benefit Spanish speakers seeking to get licensed for child care.
"They teach the classes in Spanish, but when they give the exam, it's in English," said Martinez Garcia. "We've called attention to that. We've written letters."
The organization has also gotten involved in cases in which it believes racial discrimination is in effect, including one in Ruskin where first- and second-grade Hispanic students were removed from class and subsequently suspended for wearing blue jeans that teachers said carried gang symbols. The league's attorneys are now involved.
"We've opened a lot of new doors and made a lot of people aware of us," said de Palma, who is running for re-election during the conference. "We've made our own people realize that we exist."
The league's conference - except for private meetings and gala dinners - is open to the public. Seminars are planned on immigration issues, the state of education in Florida, farm workers in Florida and Hispanic heritage in the arts. The events will be at the Wyndham Harbor Island Hotel from May 21-23. For more information, call the league at 446-0272.
