Emerging Demographic

State

Some were surprised driving past Honolulu Hale on June 12 and seeing Hispanic protestors holding signs reading, “We are asking for the respect we deserve,” “Enough with Racial Slurs,” and “This Hispanic Votes!” The protest was in response to a racial slur used by a city councilman at a public meeting, and the size and speed of the response was unexpected.

But maybe the rally shouldn’t have been so surprising.

July 2008 figures from the United States Census Bureau report that Hawaii has an estimated 105,172 Hispanic residents, about 8.2 percent of Hawaii’s total estimated population of 1,283,388. In fact, the size and health of the Hispanic community helped spur the relaunch of the Hawaii Hispanic News, a monthly newspaper for Hawaii’s Hispanic community that started up again in May 2008, almost nine years after going out of business.
 

Hawaii Hispanic News came back to life in response to demand from Latin Business Hawaii, the local Hispanic chamber of commerce formed in September 2007. Hispanic business owners statewide had expressed a need for professional networking. “What we really needed was a newspaper, because a newspaper could go statewide,” says Marie Roma Villa, president of Latin Business Hawaii and editor/marketing director for Hawaii Hispanic News.

Adds Marie’s husband, José Villa, publisher and senior editor of Hawaii Hispanic News: “We’re trying to help our Hispanic community learn what they need to learn to do business with the mainstream. We’re helping corporate Hawaii get access to the Hispanic community here, and helping them market their products and services to the Hispanic community.”
—Melissa Kelsey

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