Members of the Washington, D.C., chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists participated Wednesday in a press briefing with several top Latinos in the Biden administration, including Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, White House Political Strategy and Outreach Director Emily Ruiz, and White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs Director Julie Chávez Rodríguez.

The wide-ranging discussion included remarks on asylum, immigration reform, the environmental impact of the train derailment in Palestine, Ohio, and COVID-19. On the pandemic that has disproportionately affected the nation’s communities of color including Latinos, Secretary Becerra spoke on how the Biden administration will continue to ensure accessibility to tests, treatments, and vaccines after the COVID emergency declaration is lifted in May.

“There isn’t a human being in this country that has paid a penny for that vaccine,” said Becerra, adding that the Biden administration will work with community health clinics to provide services to the uninsured and low-income communities.

NAHJ President Yvette Cabrera said the gathering was a unique opportunity that she hopes will happen more often.

“I’m so pleased that our members had this opportunity to question the Biden Administration’s top Latino officials on a wide range of issues, ranging from COVID-19 misinformation to immigration reform,” said Cabrera, who was one of several NAHJ members who came from other cities to attend the meeting. “This accessibility is foundational to the work we do as journalists to hold our government accountable to the American public. As Latino journalists, we bring a unique perspective to our coverage and that was reflected in the questions we asked during this press briefing.”

This was the NAHJ’s first White House briefing in nearly nine years. “During the Trump Administration, I requested a briefing with top Latino officials at the White House,” said D.C. Chapter President Brandon Benavides, a former NAHJ National President. “Despite promises from the director of communications at the time, no briefing was held with NAHJ. I’m satisfied the Biden administration granted our request and went above and beyond what we asked for,” Benavides said.

Our 9th Annual Noche de Periodistas will be a hybrid backyard happy
hour with an optional curbside pick-up. We are getting creative to
raise money for the chapter and follow the current pandemic rules in
the District.

NAHJ Hall of Famer Ray Suarez and his wife, Carole, will host our
chapter fundraiser at their home in the AU Park neighborhood of the
District.

We’ve lowered the price of tickets to $40 and students are free.

Get tickets here.

Please bring happy hour snacks such as individually packaged chips,
fruit, nuts, candy, etc. Do not bring anything that needs to be heated
up. We will be socially distancing in the backyard. Bring your mask.

Our fundraiser will be Saturday, August 8 from 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM.

We will have a virtual program for our members who wish to donate to
the chapter but cannot attend. The program will begin at 4:30 PM.

We will also have curbside pickup between 4:45 – at 5:00 PM. You can
come by and pick up your NAHJ DC Wine and Chapter Hand Sanitizer.

As you can read, we have a variety of options for you to participate
in this year’s chapter fundraiser. If you choose to join us in the
backyard, capacity will be limited to 45 people. Virtual and Curbside
pickup is unlimited.

We look forward to seeing you in person or virtually at our
fundraiser. As always, thank you for your support.

The NAHJ DC Chapter is offering convention assistance to paid members who need a little financial help. The chapter will pay for one professional early-bird registration fee valued at $190 and one student fee valued at $90.

NABJ-NAHJ Virtual Convention & Career Fair will be held August 5-8, 2020.

Write a one page essay describing your situation and what you hope to gain from the convention (i.e., training, job hunting, networking, etc..). Include your name and contact information. Email your submission to nahjdc@gmail.com.

You must be a paid member of NAHJ and registered NAHJ DC Chapter member to qualify. The deadline to apply is Friday, July 17, 2020.

Members of the NAHJ Washington, D.C. Chapter unanimously passed an emergency resolution (posted below) within a 24 hour period.

National Association of Hispanic Journalists
Washington, D.C. Chapter Membership Resolution

WHEREAS the Trump administration declared a public health emergency on January 31, 2020 in response to the Global Coronavirus Pandemic;
WHEREAS the Mayor of Washington, D.C., Muriel Bowser, declared both a state of emergency and public health emergency on March 11, 2020, closing schools and non-essential businesses;
WHEREAS the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the National Association of Black Journalists announced on April 24, 2020 that the joint
NAHJ- NABJ conference will move from an in-person conference in Washington, D.C. to a virtual conference to be held August 5-9, 2020;
WHEREAS the board and staff of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists are busy concentrating their efforts on ensuring a successful virtual conference;
WHEREAS we, the members in-good-standing of the NAHJ Washington, D.C. Chapter, want to help facilitate the national and chapter elections as stated in the bylaws of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists;
WHEREAS we offer our members to serve on the national elections committee;
WHEREAS we want to hold our annual chapter elections as stated in the bylaws;

THEREFORE BE IT…
RESOLVED the NAHJ Washington, D.C. Chapter will hold chapter board elections 60 days prior to the virtual national conference as stated in the bylaws.
RESOLVED the NAHJ Washington, D.C. Chapter urges the national association to hold elections as stated in the bylaws and we offer to help facilitate the national board elections.

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The NAHJ Washington, D.C. Chapter has more than 300 members who live
and work in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. Our members
report for local, national, and international media companies.

We encourage all members to continue to pay their membership dues and to make sure that the DC Chapter is selected in your membership profile (update here).

Good morning,

We will hold an emergency general chapter membership meeting on
Tuesday, May 26, 2020 at Noon on Zoom.

Agenda
Welcome
Membership Update
Financial Update
Job Fair Update
Noche de Periodistas Update

New Business
Resolution Proposal to conduct annual chapter elections and offer
assistance to national to facilitate their election

Please email us at nahjdc@gmail.com if you would like to join the Zoom call.

Members please pay your membership dues. Members in good standing will
be asked to vote on the resolution.

We look forward to virtually seeing you,
– NAHJ Washington, D.C. Chapter