Lin-Manuel Miranda & AOC Made a Bilingual Census PSA

The 2020 Census is here! Are you ready? You better be because your contribution is crucial to the DNA of this country. To help you understand the importance of the Census, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez created a Census public service announcement (PSA) to inform people why the Census matters.

The power duo gathered this week in New York and met with students from Hunter College and The City College of New York to film a bilingual PSA. Lin’s dad, Luis A. Miranda, Jr., was also in the mix.

“The 2020 Census is vital to New York’s future, and I can’t think of better ambassadors to get out the word to New Yorkers in every community than Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Lin-Manuel Miranda,” NYC Census Director Julie Menin told New York Daily News. The newspaper also noted that the Hamilton creator participated in the PSA entirely as a volunteer.

Communities of color, immigrants and poor people are under attack. The Census afford us a possibility to increase resources and power if they are counted. Is simple to fill the Census as @AOC & @Lin_Manuel explain in an upcoming PSA. pic.twitter.com/UXXTrXFeI4

— Luis A. Miranda, Jr. (@Vegalteno) January 23, 2020

While the ad will most likely be shown exclusively in the Tri-state area, we’re confident it’ll be making its rounds on YouTube. It’s not every day that two of the most powerful Latinx team up in such a conscientious manner.

The 2020 Census rollout is currently underway. However, Census workers will begin going door-to-door beginning in April until the end of July. The results of the Census will be turned in to the government at the end of the year, and around March 2021, the public will know the results.

There are several elements to the Census. At the root of the system is getting an accurate picture of what the United States of America looks like. It’s critical that every person is counted because that information provides how much federal funding a particular area gets. It’s also needed in case of an emergency such as an earthquake, tornado, flood, or fire. One of the most important reasons that every person (age, race, gender) must be counted is because each district needs to be represented politically. Every district has a representative, but people need to live there in order to have that representation. If people refrain from answering the Census questions, it could harm that specific area substantially.

While we wait for the Lin and AOC public service announcement to be released below, you’ll find another informative PSA on why the 2020 Census matters. And we’d like to take this opportunity to remind you, the Census will include nine questions (for each person in the household), but none of those questions include whether or not you are a citizen of the U.S. The questions only concern your name, age, ethnicity, and gender.