November 2020 | Vol. 20 Iss. 11
FREE LATINO COMMUNITY MUST FEEL A SENSE OF OWNERSHIP, SAYS LIVING COLOR AWARD WINNER By Alison Brimley | a.brimley@mycityjournals.com
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usiness leaders from across the state were honored at this year’s Living Color Gala, held Oct. 1 at the Grand America Hotel. The awards were given in several categories to honor “the best individuals, teams, organizations, and companies who are working to foster inclusive initiatives throughout the state.” One of this year’s honorees was West Jordan’s Carlos Alejandro Moreno. Moreno, a native of Venezuela, was given a Distinguished Leader award for his work with the cities of West Jordan, Taylorsville and Riverton, helping them to create “a different kind of diversity committee,” Moreno said. “Diversity committees help the minority community to understand American system, government, how to run cities and how to get involved in the community.” The urgent need for this kind of effort is perhaps best represented by an experience Moreno himself had years ago when he was a resident of Taylorsville. He returned to his home one evening to find his neighbors, a husband and wife, crying outside their home. They looked “desperate,” Moreno remembers. “I asked my wife what was going on,” he said. “She said their kid was missing, and they didn’t want to call the police because they were undocumented.” Moreno immediately went to speak to them and convinced them to call anyway. Soon, police were able to locate the child. This kind of “disconnection” between the Latino community and public servants meant to help them is a major problem, said Moreno. “The majority [of police officers] are wonderful people and love the community,” he said.
Carlos Moreno said he “never expected” to be honored for his work encouraging Utah Latinos to become more involved in their communities. (Photo courtesy Carlos Alejandro Moreno.)
“This is their job. When people don’t have trust in the police, that is bad for the community and for democracy. That is bad for the future.” Ultimately, it comes down to a sense of “ownership”
over their country, which Moreno said some of his fellow Latino immigrants do not have. “This country is my home even if I was born in Venezuela,” he said. “You have to have a sense of ownership.” Continued page 5
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