Young Jamaica filmmaker spreads the word about the 2020 Census
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Jamaica resident Tanisha Narine’s 30-second video urges New Yorkers to complete the census. Image via Narine
By Teresa Mettela
With New York City facing a serious census undercount, one young Jamaica filmmaker is working to ensure that Queens residents complete their forms and receive their fair share of federal funding.
Tanisha Narine, 15, has worked with the nonprofit organization Fresh Films to promote the importance of the census, especially among people of color who are historically undercounted in the 10-year effort.
“There are many communities that are underrepresented in New York City,” Narine said. “Getting an accurate count of the people who live in these communities through the census will help them to receive more funding, which could go to sectors such as public services and overall improving upon the quality of life.”
Narine’s 30-second video shows young Queens residents encouraging their neighbors to complete the simple census form online or by mail.
“If we can do it, you can do it,” the characters tell the audience.
Fresh Films, a nonprofit film production company, created their own summer filmmaking project called The Fresh Films Virtual Summer Program. The program helps youth interested in filmmaking to become better writers, storytellers, and communicators. Students’ first project was to create a 30-second video in support of the Census 2020 campaign.
Fresh Films Virtual Summer Program will host a premiere night for its second project that requires young participants to expand their narrative film skills by developing a two-minute film that relies heavily on visual filmmaking.
The 2020 Census counts every person living in the United States and five U.S. territories. Responses from the census determine the allocation of billions of dollars in federal funds to local communities for schools, infrastructure and other public services. The results are also used to determine state-by-state Congressional representation, which means an undercount can force New York to forfeit seats in Congress.
Queens’ overall self response rate was 53 percent as of July 6, below both the state average and the borough’s 2010 results, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The current nationwide response rate is 61.9 percent.
Some communities of color have even weaker response rates. Corona, for example, has one of the lowest rates in Queens, at roughly 40 percent, city data shows.
The city has specifically targeted Corona and Elmhurst to raise the response rate, achieving a 5.6 percent increase in Corona and a 12.6 percent increase in Elmhurst from the last week of June to the first week of July.
Oct 31 is the last day for households to self-respond to the census online, by mail, or by phone.
