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A message from League of United Latin American Citizens

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View as web page:
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LULAC: View Native America Story Tapestry On Indigenous Peoples’ Day
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Nation’s Oldest and Largest Latino Civil Rights Organization Partners with The
Barcid Foundation in Screening the True History of the Americas

Washington, DC - The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) says
October 12th is a day commonly used to commemorate a myth about how European
explorers discovered the Americas. This year, LULAC is helping to recast that
history through the eyes and voices of the indigenous peoples of the modern-day
Western Hemisphere in an event that will inspire and empower communities of
color.

“The indigenous civilizations of North and South America are the ones we should
be honoring on this day every year,” says Sindy Benavides, LULAC Chief Executive
Officer. “We should do so in remembrance of their loss, the unimaginable
suffering they experienced and the atrocities committed against them simply
because they were in the way of so-called explorers. This is why we are proud to
join with the Barcid Foundation [ [link removed] ] , a respected
organization led by Ian Skorodin, President and CEO, which is dedicated to
uplifting the stories of Native Americans in the United States. This event is in
collaboration with the University of Southern California (USC) School of
Cinematic Arts in its Visions and Voices Series presenting: “Native America Next
Shorts Program” [ [link removed] ] .
This is a beautiful weaving of stories that depict how the indigenous spirit
across our history has surpassed the worst acts of brutality and unspeakable
wrongs committed against Native Americans and communities of color. Today, we
stand as a nation that can and must seek reconciliation by acknowledging past
wrongs and correcting the record as a first step towards healing,” says
Benavides.

Evidence of the shifting sentiments about the true meaning of October 12th is
seen by a growing number of cities, states and jurisdictions that observe a
holiday but do not reference it to the traditional tale of a lone Spanish
explorer-savior who ventured west in search of a path to the Far East. Instead,
increasingly the day is being spent by entire communities connecting with their
indigenous roots through cultural celebrations, informational forums and solemn
ceremonies remembering ancestors slain and indigenous civilizations decimated by
the conquistadors and those who followed them.

“LULAC extends its heartfelt gratitude to the USC School of Cinematic Arts
filmmakers for inviting us to pause and listen to the voices of the first peoples
of the Americas and to truly look around ourselves and imagine the indigenas...
the men, women and children here long before Europeans ‘discovered’ this land,”
says Benavides. “May today be a time of reflection and a day of advocating for
adopting a new movement of truth in our schools, our governance and throughout
our nation, not born out of guilt, but out of a resolve to end oppression against
the weaker, the less-powerful or the gentler cultural spirits among us. Only
then, will we truly be a country of the free and the brave by honoring the great
civilizations which preceded us embracing their legacy and descendants as part of
who we are today and hope to become in the future,” says Benavides.

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About LULAC
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the nation’s largest and
oldest civil rights volunteer-based organization that empowers Hispanic Americans
and builds strong Latino communities. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with 1,000
councils around the United States and Puerto Rico, LULAC’s programs, services and
advocacy address the most important issues for Latinos, meeting critical needs of
today and the future. For more information, visit www.LULAC.org [ [link removed] ] .







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