Afro-Latino membership jumps 60% amid national NAHJ conference, membership drive
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists said that 34 new Afro-Latino members joined the organization in the last month — a nearly 60 percent increase in about two weeks.
The new figure NAHJ leaders released came four days after an article from the Latino Reporter that raised concerns from some members who said the organization has not done enough to include Afro-Latino journalists.
The percentage of Afro-Latinos in NAHJ is now about 2 percent, according to the new numbers shared by NAHJ President Nora López.
The Latino Reporter article, published on the first day of the NAHJ 2021 conference, pointed out that as of June, only 58 members — or roughly 1% of the organization’s 4,061 members — identified as Afro-Latino. The surge of new members brings that number up slightly, to 2% of 4,317 members, as of July 15, 2021.
López attributed the small percentage increase to overall membership growth.
Jorge Flores is a junior at California State University, Fullerton, where he studies political science and journalism. He is an intern at NBC Telemundo Enterprises and was recently elected president of the NAHJ student chapter at his school. Reach him at jorgeflores.fs [at] gmail [dot] com and on Twitter @jorgefles.
