Broussard, Louisiana —City Council Members are welcoming the founding members of the Chambre de Commerce Bilingue (Bilingue Chamber of Commerce, CDCB) to tonight’s city council meeting, where CDCB co-founders and members will read a proclamation for Broussard City Council’s acceptance and signature. The proclamation acknowledges French as vitally important for the city’s culture and identity, while identifying and substantiation French as are newable resource on local, state,and federal levels. It encourages bilingual accessibility in private and public life, at work and while doing business, by asking Broussard’s bilinguals to speak and do business in French. It cites examples on how everyone, even if you don’t speak French, can contribute to the unique benefits from making bilingualism and bilingual accessibility a shared value in the City of Broussard. Whether spoken, written, on-site, online, or at home, the proclamation encourages local bilinguals to find ways to do business bilingually with their own partners, employees, and of course customers, who are both locals and visitors alike.The centennial you will not be hearing about The city council meeting will take place tonight, Tuesday, March 23, 2021 —100 years after state legislators imposed English as the language of education in Louisiana (Section 12, Article XII). With 2010 Census estimates in hand, Louisiana’s bilingual population estimates ranging today between 100,000-250,000 remaining francophones and créolophones, down from 1 Million just 50 years prior, the CDCB is working with local and state governments on this ,and other proclamations seeking to identify, acknowledge, and valorize bilingual accessibility between the public and private sectors.The CDCB is a new, private organization inspired by the decades of work leading up to the centennial, co-founded by Holden Hoggatt, Calvin Léger, and Brian Clary, who are already working with local and state officials to identify and provide resources for Louisiana’s bilingual populations, with special emphasis on our entrepreneurs.
Read more here.
