Piers Morgan welcomes actress, singer, and writerRosario Dawson for a candid and engaging interview, touching upon everything from politics to the environment, and her enthusiasm for riding trains.

With the fifth annual “National Train Day” rapidly approaching, the event’s official spokesperson details why she often lists the rails as her first choice for transportation:

“It is definitely one of the greener ways of traveling, but it’s also just one of the most beautiful ways of traveling,” says Dawson. “I love the conversations that I have when I’m on a train, I love the view of America that I get to have.”

A veteran of such films as “Seven Pounds,” “Rent,” and “Unstoppable,” the native of New York City says she still takes the subway to this day, admiring its authenticity:

“I’m a New Yorker, and that’s the best thing about New Yorkers. You create New York moments. People like ‘Yo what up Rosario,’ I’m like, ‘Yo wussup,’ and then we move about our way.”

Watch the clip as the 32-year-old speaks about two of her greatest passions, engaging young Latino voters, and “National Train Day.”

Article originally posted on CNN. 

On Friday, the actress/political activist was in Washington D.C., for the Voto Latino On Series event. Then on Saturday, the “Sin City” star attended the White House Correspondents Dinner. And on Sunday, Dawson hopped on a train from D.C. to New York and spent the entire trip snapping photos of her journey as part of the “See More On A Train Online Contest,” that encourages people to submit their train journeys via photos as part of Amtrak’s 5th Annual National Train Day.”

When she landed in New York on Sunday night, Rosario invited The Huffington Post over for a chat at New York’s Penn Station. We spoke to the talented actress about her work with the non-profit organization Voto Latino (which she co-founded in 2005 with Maria Teresa Kumar), why you wont be reading about her slamming any presidential candidates in the news, and why she isn’t endorsing any candidate for president.

The Huffington Post: There are more than 9 million young Latinos in the United States, but not all of them are voting. Why do you think that is?
Well, it’s a lot of things. From the things that we’re told from them it’s because people don’t ask them — that’s the first thing they say as to why they haven’t voted for the first time. And the second is because they don’t feel like they necessarily have enough information on the issues. They’re paying attention to student loans, they have opinions on healthcare, they’re angered by the conversation around immigration, they’re feeling the backlash of violence that’s going more and more towards Latinos, because of all of the sort of hate speech that’s been used in so many peoples’ politics.

The more I talk to young people, the more I see how incredibly just full on activists they are. Just because they’re not necessarily voting, it doesn’t mean they’re not doing stuff. They’re organizing. They’re marching and they’re using social media to get their points across. [But] getting engaged as a voter really makes you powerful. If you’re at occupy movements or you’re walking in protests, then you need to march to the polls — you need to occupy the voting booth and that’s really going to make sure that you’re voice and your issues are heard.

That’s very interesting. Often times the media just says: “Young people don’t show up to vote” and they leave it at that. 
That’s it, yeah! One of the things we’re really excited about with Voto Latino is that we connect. We have been really great with our messaging and the reason that our organization has grown over all of these years — especially in this economy and with a lot of organizations shutting down — it has been a really amazing thing to see how people have been connecting with our messaging and understanding that when we’re saying ‘it’s your country, represent!’ that we really mean it. We’re really talking to them like they’re Americans and I think that’s the most crucial part — because that’s what they feel like. That’s who they are — including the DREAMers.

They’re like, ‘I’m American, that’s who I am. Why would you want to deport me? I didn’t choose to do this, I was a kid and I’ve been here my whole life. I’ve never been to this other country.’ A lot of the time they don’t even speak the language from the country they came from. We’ve made things about numbers and we’ve really dehumanized and objectified Latinos a lot in our conversations about them. Latino issues are American issues. You go to China, Brazil or India, and they understand that their population is their power. We have the largest and fastest growing demographic in this country and it represents over a trillion dollars worth of money. Why would we want to ostracize that and put that away? There’s nothing to be worried about. If we start working together, this country is going to be in really great shape.

There are some Hollywood actors who have spoken out against presidential candidates. We never hear you doing that. Is that a conscious decision on your part?

Yeah. I remember it was actually really great going to both the Democratic and Republication conventions in the last election. You have all of this stuff that’s said in the media, but when you actually get there and you’re around people, you recognize that there are different ways to think about the American dream, and there are different ways to think about our history and our past. People wanting to fly a confederate flag doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re totally racist — it [may] mean that they recognize their family and where they come from and they don’t want to feel bad about it. They want to be able to say, ‘I’m a good person, I’m willing to move forward, and I don’t want to feel like I have to deny my history to do so.’ Then there are other people going ‘Well, I don’t want to go back to that America, because in that America I didn’t have a voice as a woman or as a person of color.’ And so it’s understandable on their side. We need more diversity of conversation.

A lot of celebs endorse candidates for president. Have you thought about doing that?

No. I’ll vote the way I’m going to vote, but if I’m actually saying I’m serious about your voice being important, then what’s the point of me walking around and knocking on someone’s door and going, ‘OK, I really care about your opinion, but only if it’s exactly like mine?’ That doesn’t really make sense. You know what I mean? And I want to learn and I want to understand where people are coming from, because eventually — that standing president, whoever I’m behind — is not going to be there. Does that mean the next election I’m not going to be interested? I’m not going to vote or not going to care? I’ve already witnessed several presidents in my lifetime and I know I’m going to see several more. And I don’t want to always feel like I have to be behind one person. I’m behind the people.

What is the most important issue for you as a voter?
There are so many right now. I mean, I’m a woman of color in 2012. We’re talking about issues from everything from the war on women’s reproductive health and the economy, which is obviously such a major thing, to access to food, people getting paid fair wages, and the environment is obviously such an alarming situation that we’re not paying the proper attention to. And getting onto wind and solar technology would be so amazing and getting us off this idea of having to have this XL pipeline coming through, or digging for natural gas and destroying our beautiful country — that’s our greatest resource — our people and our land. That’s what we should be investing in.

The people and the land are the biggest things I care about. We should be investing in infrastructure — that’s why I’m doing National Train Day. Why do we not have more high speed train rails? Why are we not paying attention to one of the greenest ways to travel? We could be making incredible railways that could be connecting people and communities, and allowing access to people to be able to do that “staycation” that is so popular right now because the economy is rough. We had 30 million people use the train last year and we can up that. I fly a lot but it’s a really different experience when you’re flying and everything is like a tiny little ant. When you’re actually going through these communities on a train, you really see them. You see the differences in them, you see the areas that are more run down or areas that are more like big cities. And you get to see all of the untouched raw land — like on the train ride over here I saw a deer. You get to see the landscape of the country that you live in. And those are the things that help us be able to connect all of our different kinds of immigration stories.

Article originally posted on Huffington Post.

The fight for the young Hispanic vote is on. With 50,000 Latinos turning 18 every month the stakes are high. NBC News’ Gabe Gutierrez takes a look at VotoLatino, one organization using the star power of celebrities like Rosario Dawson and Wilmer Valderrama to get young Latinos to register to vote for this election.

Source: NBC Latino

A recent study by the William C. Velasquez Institute (WCVI), a policy analysis organization, indicates that the drop in registered Latino voters in 2010 “may diminish the size of Latino voter turnout in November 2012 by more than a million,” according to WCVI President Antonio Gonzalez.

Ahead of that curve — and along with a coalition of several Hispanic organizations working to register Latino voters ahead of November — Voto Latino, an organization dedicated to empowering U.S. Latino youth to organize around the vote, held its first annual conference this weekend in Los Angeles.

Over 300 youth leaders and activists from Washington, D.C., Arizona, Florida, and California, among others, gathered at the University of Southern California (USC) for a two-day conference “on media, leadership and activism.”

“We are thrilled that we are having this power summit,” said Sindy M. Benavides, Vice President of Field Operations and Political Affairs at Voto Latino, to The Huffington Post. “Our goal is to make sure that the students who are coming are getting the tools that they need when it comes to organizing folks to register to vote and then turning out to vote, and making sure that in November, they are at the polls.”

Founded in 2004 by civic leader Maria Teresa Kumar and actress Rosario Dawson, Voto Latino’s first annual Power Summit was sold out.

“Our outreach is organic, it comes directly from the individual and their willingness to really reach out to the community,” Benavides explained on the standing-room only turnout at some panels.

Rocio Martinez, a USC graduate student in the School of Social Work and an organizer with the South Los Angeles neighborhood council said, “This event fits perfectly with how I want to promote and help my community. I want to get as much information and resources as I can to bring back to my community on how to [register to] vote.”

The conference brought together noted activists and community leaders who spoke about a range of topics concerning civic engagement, from how to run for office and coalition building to preparing for the polls. Speakers included Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles Federation of Labor, Maria Elena Durazo, actor Wilmer Valderrama, and legendary labor leader and co-founder of the United Farm Workers (with Cesar Chavez), Dolores Huerta.

“A lot of people know about the farmworkers movement,” said Huerta to a room full of youth activists and community leaders from all around the country.

“But what a lot of people don’t know is that a very large part of our movement was register people to vote. When we talk about leadership, the first leadership experience that I ever had was asking people to register to vote. Going door-to-door, knocking on doors, and talking to people, and for Cesar [Chavez] too.”

The presence of DREAM Act-eligible youth — undocumented persons who qualify for the federal immigration bill — at the conference was also evident. During the question and answer portion of the opening plenary, two students alluded to their immigration statuses as motivation to their community organizing efforts.

Myrna Orozco, a United We Dream member from Kansas City, Missouri wore an Orange County DREAM Team t-shirt — a reappropriation of the now famous San Diego, CA caution sign — the running family now replaced with undocumented graduates, cap, gown and diploma included.

“Whether we are advocating for immigration reform, the DREAM Act, healthcare issues, education, etc.,” said Orozco, “This is a great space to come and just talk about voter registration and get-out-the vote efforts for the Latino community, which provides a focus point for all of our different issues.”

Durazo stressed the importance of reaching out to young people very early on.

“Today’s focus on young people is just great. The sooner that they become involved in the political process, then it just becomes part of the culture,” Durazo said to HufPost. “Our most important activist group within the youth is the DREAMers. They are just extraordinary [and] so courageous. So, when they’re involved, they really inspire their generation.”

Rosario Dawson ended her remarks with “Thank you all for not being at Coachella this weekend, and being with us” — referring to the music festival happening at the same time — “I truly appreciate that.”

“Where you put your heart, your time and your mind is really what is going to affect the change that we need to see. Especially this upcoming election.”

Source: Huffington Post Latino

We’re kicking off our 2012 election campaign at Voto Latino’s Power Summit in Los Angeles April 14-15 and we want YOU to participate!

This two-day event at the University of Southern California’s Davidson Conference Center will educate, engage and empower young Latinos from across the country to create positive change in their communities. Leaders will receive training from public officials, artists, grassroots organizers, and business leaders in new media, public speaking, activism and community organizing. Participants will also be the first to preview our new technology that will revolutionize the voter registration process.

Power Summit participants will be joined by legendary Latino organizers like Dolores Huerta, and Voto Latino co-founders Rosario Dawson and Maria Teresa Kumar, for two days of training and workshops in new media, public speaking, activism, community organizing, and leadership development.

Special thanks to Southwest Airlines, the official airline carrier of the Power Summit, AFL-CIO, Platinum sponsor, and other supporters who are helping us empower young people, including PG&E and Pfizer. Additional partners include Maricopa County Community College, Queens College, Rio Hondo Community College, Latino Magazine, Opportunity Nation, LOFT, NOI, LA’s Mega 106 and others. If you or your organization would like to participate, please email us at here.

In honor of Earth Day, Kiehl’s is pleased to announce a Limited Edition Label Art series with Rosario Dawson, in which 100% of the net profits will benefit  Recycle Across America (RAA), a nonprofit that works to make recycling easier for the masses. In fact, 100 percent of the profits (up to $100,000) from the sale of its limited-edition Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleansing Masques ($23) will go to RAA so that select schools throughout the US can strengthen their recycling programs.

Kiehls Rare Earth masque helps purify and detoxify skin while minimizing the appearance of enlarged pores. It is formulated with Amazonian white clay to gently draw out oil, dirt and toxins that can clog pores as well as oatmeal and aloe vera to help soothe, hydrate and protect sensitive skin.

Purchase Rosario Dawson Rare Earth Pore Cleansing Masque now!

Voto Latino wants to get the word about how crucial it is for the Latin community to vote and they’ve got LOTS of artists to help them out!

The organization will offer a FREE 35 song compilation on iTunes to help encourage and inspire Latin voters. Pitbull has donated his song Something for the DJ‘s and other artists featured in the compilation include Miguel, Kat Deluna, Los Lobos, Los Tigres and Rodrigo y Gabriela.

It is muy importante for Latin Americans to vote and what’s better to get inspired by than free music?!?!

Rosario Dawson, co-founder of Voto Latino, says the following on Voto Latino:

Our interest is to keep bringing people into the political mix. Everyone should have an understanding of the system whether or not they’re eligible to vote and we believe that offering free music through social media platforms will help continue to motivate and engage those that may not already be a part of the conversation.

Vote, Vote, VOTE! The government needs to hear the Latino community’s voice!

Click HERE to get information about registering to vote and on how to obtain the free songs.

Originally Posted at PerezHilton.com

A MEMORY, A MONOLOGUE, A RANT AND A PRAYER

Every so often things fly together in a delicate mix of elements to create something wonderful. Such is the case with A MEMORY, A MONOLOGUE, A RANT AND A PRAYER, a collection of one-night performances led by a growing cast of prominent talent from around the world. Headlined by Eve Ensler of Vagina Monologues fame, along with Rosario Dawson, Trudie Styler, Meera Syal MBE and more, strong women are slated to perform a collection of pieces to underscore how violence against women affects everyone.

As impressive as the performers are the London-based artistic talents filling the director’s chairs. From TATE Modern director Chris Dercon, the lovely Empress of the East, Iwona Blazwick OBE, to RADA’s Sue Dunderdale, even the impressive Marcus Warren and Anna Ledwich – it seems suddenly the world of art has collided with the world of theatre. There will be repercussions.

This collection of single acts is for a great cause: women. Part of V-Day 2012, 100% of proceeds go to charities dedicated to stopping violence against women and girls including Women for Women International and the Domestic Violence Intervention Project.

It’s also nice to see Goldman Sachs Gives matching ticket sales with donations, and that tripled by The Millby Charitable Trust. The fancy seats, which include a special after-party with the talent, go for £255.00 and benefit the causes most.

Don’t miss it.

Produced by Lauren Prakke and Michelle Yue for Restless Buddha Productions

Disclaimer: All efforts are made to ensure information is correct. All information, including actors, is subject to change.

CAST

• Eve Ensler
• Rosario Dawson
• Trudie Styler
• Meera Syal
• Ony Uhiara

CREATIVE

• DirectorChris Dercon
• DirectorIwona Blazwick
• DirectorMarcus Warren
• DirectorSue Dunderdale
• DirectorAnna Ledwich
• DirectorTamara Harvey

TICKETS

Stalls: £96, £56 (RV), Premium: £251
Dress Circle: £96, £56 (RV)
Upper Circle: £56 & £31 (RV)
Balcony: £31 & £21 (RV)
Boxes: Premiums: £251

PERFORMANCES

26th March 2012 at 7:30pm

BOOK ONLINE OR CALL 0844 482 9674(24HRS)