TAMPA, Fla. — Once you stroll into council member Luis Viera’s workplace in metropolis corridor, you’ll see his partitions coated in photographs and artifacts that encourage him.
“That’s, in fact, Fannie Lou Hamer. My favorites listed here are Bobby Kennedy, this FDR clock is from 1944,” he stated as he gave me a tour of his workplace.
Viera has represented District 7 since 2016, comprising North Tampa and New Tampa. “And my first race, I received by 65 votes. It was very shut, very suspenseful,” stated Viera.
If you happen to ask Viera why he bought into politics, he’ll inform you about his brother, Juan, who has an mental incapacity.
“You recognize, rising up with Juan was a giant affect on my life, clearly, towards simply problems with tolerance and empathy and compassion.” That empathy and keenness fuels his want to characterize his constituents and people with no voice.
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“You bought to come back from the guts and that’s one thing that I feel unites all Latinos, which is that we aspire to come back from the guts,” stated Viera. “We’re all very emotional, so to talk. We put on our feelings on our sleeves.”
Raised within the Temple Terrance space, council member Viera is pleased with his Cuban roots.
“I’ve at all times been proud to be a voice for all refugees, not simply individuals who appear like me, however all refugees as a result of, once more, that compassion that this nice nation had for my dad and mom 60 years in the past, it’s bought to exist nonetheless immediately for folks,” stated Viera.
