Census aims comic book at Brazilians
The Portuguese-language comic book features two everyman characters to explain the census process.

By Lisa Kocian
March 18, 2010


The US Census Bureau is trying to encourage Brazilians, whether here legally or illegally, to be counted. And while officials are still using tried-and-true approaches like outreach through Portuguese-language radio shows and community networking, this year they have added a new tool — a comic book.


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The comic seeks to assure Brazilians that the 2010 Census is confidential and will benefit them, because an accurate count will be reflected in funding for hospitals, public safety, and schools.

Although some Brazilians say the comic is a big hit, not everyone is a fan.

“That’s disgusting,’’ said Fausto da Rocha, cofounder of the Brazilian Immigrant Center in Allston, when asked about the comic book. “I work to boycott the census. We want the government to work to legalize first and count second.’’

But Vera Dias-Freitas, a longtime community activist in Framingham, said nearly all Brazilians she knows support the population count, and she likes the comic book, even though she initially thought it was aimed at children.

“It’s really cool,’’ she said. “The census is doing a pretty good job, reaching out to the Brazilian community.’’

The idea for the publication came from Brazilian members of the census staff who contacted award-winning cartoonist Daniel Nocêra, a native of Brazil who lives in Boston.

The two stars of his comic, “Zé Brasil & Tião Mineiro,’’ are everyman characters, joking about needing an extra form for their many roommates and complaining about their landlord.

It is being distributed in coffeeshops and other places where Brazilians already get Portuguese-language publications.

“It seemed like a unique opportunity to reach our fastest-growing immigrant population here in Massachusetts, and to reach them with in-language communications,’’ said Kathleen Ludgate, regional director for the US Census Bureau.

Last year, a small but vocal group of advocates began urging illegal immigrants and their supporters nationwide to boycott the census to protest the federal government’s inaction on immigration legislation. The movement, launched by the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, a Washington, D.C.-based organization representing 20,000 churches nationwide, calls for immigration reform by April 1.

“Politicians broke their promise to us,’’ said da Rocha, who supports the boycott. “We don’t have access to higher education, we don’t have access to driver’s licenses. Why do you want us to be counted if we don’t have any of these kind of rights?’’

Other community activists disagree. “It’s really getting to the nerves of people, what he’s doing,’’ Dias-Freitas said of da Rocha’s effort.

Dias-Freitas said the boycott campaign has more people talking — and learning — about the census, and she predicts the effort will backfire and more Brazilians will participate.

Dias-Freitas said she first thought the comic book was aimed at getting children to talk about the census with their parents, as just another way to publicize it.

There are games in the comic, a word search, and a maze, but, no, said census officials, the effort is geared toward adults.

“It’s totally for adults,’’ said Alexandra Barker, a spokeswoman for the Boston Regional Census Center. “The characters are published in newspapers for adults.’’

Cartoonist Nocera created the characters in 2005, and they have appeared in Brazilian newspapers around the country, according to the Census Bureau.

The population information amassed by the census, held every 10 years, will be used to distribute some $400 billion in federal funding, as well as determine the number of House seats each state gets.

Ludgate said those who don’t fill out the census are effectively invisible. “You won’t have your fair share of the dollars,’’ she said.

Census forms are scheduled to arrive in local mailboxes this week, said Ludgate.

For the first time, there is no long form; this year’s version has 10 questions, which should take 10 minutes to complete, she said.

The census form is available in six languages, but Portuguese is not one of them. Brazilians who don’t speak English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean or Russian will have to use a Portuguese language assistance guide to fill out the English version of the questionnaire.

Dias-Freitas said that will make it “a little bit more complicated.’’

Ilton Lisboa hosts a Brazilian radio talk show twice a week on 650 AM and has made the census a frequent topic. As a member of the Portuguese-Speaking Complete Count Committee, he is encouraging traditionally hard-to-count Brazilians to change their ways this year.

The comic book has been a popular tool in that effort, he said.

“We are always undercounted,’’ said Lisboa. “Every single city and town has their own budget and the budget is based on the population. I feel bad for a mayor or town manager who thinks they have a certain number of people living there but they don’t know for sure because immigrants are always undercounted.’’

Lisa Kocian can be reached at lkocian@globe.com.

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