DETROIT – Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (MI-13), Michigan State Senator Stephanie Chang (SD-01), and Detroit City Councilmember Raquel Castañeda-López (District 6) have announced a series of events between their offices, teaming up to address issues that impact all of their districts and highlight the need for collaboration amongst all levels of government. This historic collaboration is an effort to demonstrate the power of multiple levels of government working together to impact people’s quality of life. 

“Senator Chang and Councilmember Castañeda-López continue to provide their constituents with exceptional services and advocacy on the state and municipal levels. I’m excited to be partnering with them to make sure our constituents are served, and their issues are solved. To be effective representatives, we must connect our work on all levels of government to push for issues such as access to clean, affordable water, combating poverty, and addressing our broken health care system,” said Congresswoman Tlaib.

The three legislators made history when they were each elected, all firsts to serve in their respective positions. According to a report done by New American Leaders, fewer than 2% of the 500,000 state and local seats are held by Asian Americans or Latina/os and state legislators who identify as African American, Asian American, Latina/o and Native American hold only 14 percent of all seats, despite non-Whites making up nearly 40 percent of the American public.¹

Councilmember Castañeda-López is acutely aware of this and the importance of their collaboration. “Being a woman of color in office is an act of resistance and courage for so many. In today’s hateful and toxic political climate, people long for authentic, trustworthy leadership that understands and reflects their communities. Our partnership represents the possibility and potential of our government to truly reflect and serve all people in our communities and country.” said Councilmember Castañeda-López. 

To kick off this partnership, the three elected officials will host a coffee hour titled Lattes and Legislation this Thursday, February 20^th from 4 – 5:30 p.m. at the Michigan Veterans Foundation located at 4626 Grand River, Detroit, MI 48208.

“I am excited about the continued partnership between Congresswoman Tlaib, Councilmember Castaneda-Lopez, and myself,” said Senator Chang. “Rashida and Raquel are incredibly fierce leaders and advocates for our communities and I’m honored to partner with them. We are all social justice warriors in public service and know that by working together on seemingly insurmountable challenges, we can get things done.”

The coffee hour will be followed by additional events to raise awareness about the Census, literacy, voting and more.

More information on the coffee hour can be found here.

^1.State of Inclusion, 2016: https://www.newamericanleaders.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/States-of-Inclusion-FINAL-12516.pdf

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