Census Party Rolls Thru Fair Haven

Behind a face mask, DJ Rob Nice stood on the back of a flatbed truck driving up Blatchley Avenue and shouted through the mic: ​“2020 Census, baby! Wash your hands! Wash your hands!”

Standing a few feet away, Kaylib raised his own mic to speak up above the reggaeton beat. ​“2020 Census!” he shouted. ​“Veinte Veinte Census Dot Gov!”

DJ Rob Nice and Kaylib took a break Friday morning from their usual gigs spinning independent hip hop on Ugly Radio to participate in the Census 2020 Party-On-Wheels.

A caravan of a half-dozen cars — including a city parks truck bearing DJ Rob Nice, Kaylib, DJ Skorp, and a mess of amplifiers, wires, laptops, and one exhaust-spewing portable generator — rolled through the streets of Fair Haven to raise awareness about the once-a-decade national headcount that is still taking place during the Covid-19 pandemic. The event was spearheaded by the city’s Complete Count Committee.

The car blasted music and information about the Census, which can be filled out online and responded to as late as Oct. 31 this year.

The decennial count of everyone living in the United States plays a critical role determining federal legislative districts and in influencing how much money each state receives from the federal government for such programs as Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, and Head Start.

Standing in the parking lot of Radiant Star of Jacob church at 201 Chapel St., city Assistant Director of Comprehensive Planning Keith Lawrence and Complete Count Program Manager Karolina Ksiazek said that Friday’s rolling get-out-the-count dance party was specifically targeted at encouraging people in traditionally undercounted communities — including lower-income black and brown New Haveners — to fill out the Census online, by phone, or by mail.

“We obviously can’t do the face-to-face community events that we had planned” because of social distancing requirements designed to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, said Lawrence (pictured at left, with Complete Count Committee member Addie Kimbrough).

The committee has been hosting virtual webinars on Zoom and Facebook Live over the past few weeks. But more outreach is needed, Ksiazek said: New Haveners in some of the hardest-to-count neighborhoods of the city don’t always have reliable Internet access.

So the committee — in partnership with Ugly Radio — turned to an in-person event adapted to the pandemic: a rolling party through the streets, blasting music to anyone at home, on the sidewalk, on the roads, or otherwise within earshot. 

“This is a way to get out to where people are,” said Ksiazek (pictured). ​“I think it will reach a lot of people who haven’t been reached.”

New Haven native and Witnesses to Hunger member Lisa McKnight (pictured) said she turned out to the complete count caravan Friday to do her part in encouraging fellow African American residents to fill out the census form.

“I grew up in a community where we didn’t harbor a lot of trust” for the government, she said.

She said she was won over to not just participate in the census, but also encourage others to do so, when she learned that the Census Bureau is legally not allowed to share any of the information it collects with other areas of government. She also was convinced when she learned that the count plays a critical role in determining funding for social services like Head Start and food stamps.

“I want to see our federal tax dollars coming back to our community,” said fellow Witnesses to Hunger member Rachel Schmidt (pictured).

Rev. Abraham Hernandez (pictured), the executive director of the state chapter of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and a leader of the New Haven Latino Council, was on hand, too. He said he decided to participate in the caravan to reinforce for Hispanic New Haveners in particular that undocumented immigrants can fill out the Census without fear that that information will end up in the hands of immigration enforcement officials.

“We believe as a faith-based community that it is our moral imperative to ensure the well-being of all residents, not just our parishioners,” he said.

Mayor Justin Elicker (pictured at right) applauded the rolling party as an innovative way to get the word out about the census as Covid-19 dominates the headlines — and keeps many New Haveners sheltered in place at home.

“We’ve got to get creative” about how to spread the word about the Census, he said.

Friday morning’s party got off to a bit of a late start — an hour-and-a-half late start, to be precise — because no one brought a power generator necessary for the DJs on the back of the truck to amplify their music and messages.

Gary Robinson, a former DJ at Ugly Radio, showed up at around 11:15 a.m. with a portable 5500 watt generator in tow. The Ugly Radio crew spent another half-hour positioning the generator on the back of the truck, plugging in all the wires and getting the sounds just right. Then the caravan hit the streets to drive east on Chapel, up Blatchley, across Lombard Street and then up Ferry Street.

In English and Spanish, DJ Rob Nice and Kaylib shouted above the hip hop and reggaeton, urging people looking out from their windows and porches to go to the Census’s website and respond to the count.

Toray Parks (pictured) danced to the music blaring from the passing truck as he checked the mailbox at his Ferry Street apartment.

Inside the box was an envelope from the U.S. Census Bureau, urging him to respond to the count.

He smiled and waved as the rolling census party passed on by. ​“All right, all right,” he said. ​“It’s a shame there’s no one out here to enjoy it.”

He told the Independent that he hadn’t filled out his census form yet. With envelope in hand and rolling party driving by, he said, he does plan on filling out the form.

According to the U.S. Census website’s response tracker, 44.2 percent of New Haveners have responded to the Census so far. Statewide, 61.1 percent of Connecticut residents have responded.

Click here to fill out the 2020 Census.