About:
Mission Statement:
LatinoSpeak.net is a site devoted to the dissemination of written information focused on:
- informing and educating site visitors on important public policy issues impacting the Latino community;
- engaging progressive policy thought among site readers; and
- encouraging Latino participation in the important public policy debate.
David Almager, a life long Texas resident and fourth-generation Mexican-American, grew up in a small cotton community in West Texas. He attended West Texas A&M University in Canyon where he received both a bachelor of fine arts degree in graphic design and a master of science in interdisciplinary studies (counseling / health). He has also done doctoral work in the area of public policy/public administration. Almager has been actively involved in the field of Family Violence since 1994, serving in a family violence program in Amarillo and currently in Dallas.
His life long community activism has gotten him involved in both political and none political causes. As a young college student, he was active in mentoring other Latino students entering the university and advocated for the recruitment and retention of Latinos in higher education. Almager first became interested in politics while a college student, participating in campaigns for national, state and local candidates. His political involvement and community activism has resulted in several historic elections of Latina women to elected position.
In the late-1990’s, Almager, along with other community activist, spearheaded the fight to change the electoral system of the Amarillo Independent School District (AISD) board of trustees. His diligent grassroots research and extensive interviews with community members set the stage for the 1998 federal lawsuit brought on by two Latino residents and one African-American resident under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The federal lawsuit resulted in an agreed settlement with the adoption of a cumulative voting system, making Amarillo the largest jurisdiction in the country using this electoral method. As a result, both Latinos and African-Americans have been elected to the AISD school board since the new election method was put into place. (See: The Amarillo Story)
Almager went on to work as a partnership specialist with the U.S. Bureau of the Census during the decennial count of 2000, focusing on improving participation of traditionally undercounted populations. His knowledge and training of census data established Almager as an expert in the field of Texas demography and populations.
He later joined the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) as the statewide redistricting coordinator where he led the organization’s redistricting education effort at the state and local levels. As the MALDEF coordinator, Almager testified before the Texas Legislature advocating for the creation of state house, state senate, and congressional districts which reflected the significant growth of the Latino population in Texas. MALDEF’s education efforts resulted in the tremendous participation of a large number of individuals and community organization in the important redistricting policy debate throughout the state.
Today, Almager continues his counseling work in Dallas. He is sought after as a consultant/presenter on the issue of cultural competency within not-for-profit organizations. His interest in public policy and its impact on the Latino community has led him to conduct research in the areas of U.S. immigration policy, Texas population trends, and Latino political participation in Texas and the U.S. He is a regular contributor to the Amarillo Globe-News as an opinion columnist and his writings have been featured in other Texas newspapers.