Dear LULAC Familia,

After more than two weeks of traveling across the country, we have seen a movement grow beyond what we imagined. LULAC is excited to share this journey on Thursday, November 14th – one year ahead of the 2020 elections – the national leadership of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) joins community activists and local leaders in hosting a press conference and panel conversation highlighting the state of voting rights for communities of color in the U.S.

This event follows LULAC’s historic Freedom Walks nationwide campaign including stops in eight different cities. Along the journey, LULAC leadership met with hundreds of local council members, elected officials and community advocates to discuss the latest legislative attempts intended to silence the minority vote and ways to increase Latino engagement and voter registration.

The press conference will feature key leaders and specific developments on voting rights, as well as details for the critical next community commitments LULAC will undertake for the 2020 elections. It is vital that the coalitions created by the Freedom Walks serve as the foundation for future grassroots organizing and empowerment.

The “Freedom Walks for Justice” campaign inspired countless community members from diverse backgrounds to mobilize around the power of the vote, as well as to promote greater civic engagement and education on voting rights throughout Texas, Iowa, Florida, Georgia, Virginia, New York, and Washington, D.C. These actions came in the wake of successful advocacy campaigns and lawsuits in state and federal courts led by LULAC. The victories resulted in stopping voter suppression in Dodge City., Kansas. Also, in preventing the purging of more than 95,000 names from voter rolls in Texas and overturning an unjust Voter ID Law in Iowa, which aimed to blatantly limit voter participation.

In solidarity,
Freedom Walks Family
#WeWalkWeVote

Freedom Walks: Su Voz, Su Voto!
Washington, D.C. (11/14)

SPECIAL GUEST

Sylvia R. Garcia, House of Representatives, Texas, District 29th

Congresswoman Garcia was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 2018, becoming the first Latina ever to represent Texas 29th Congressional district.

Sylvia is a native of Palito Blanco, a South Texas farming community. The eighth of ten children, Congresswoman Garcia saw her parents struggle to raise her and her siblings. Congresswoman Garcia's parents taught her that with hard work and a good education she could accomplish anything. As a result of these lessons, Congresswoman Garcia dedicated herself to success at school. She earned a scholarship to Texas Woman's University in Denton, where she graduated with a degree in social work and political science. Congresswoman Garcia then received her Doctor of Jurisprudence from Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University in Houston, working several jobs to pay for her tuition. Just as her parents believed in her future, Congresswoman Garcia believes the children of Texas can do anything.

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About Freedom Walks for Justice
The Freedom Walks for Justice is a national campaign being led by LULAC. Following the example by the Freedom Riders, LULAC is organizing local and national leaders to walk in unity from October 15 - November 14, 2019. The Freedom Walk campaign includes marches, rallies and community events, aimed at mobilizing communities across the country to register and vote in 2020. The first Freedom Walks will start on the U.S.-Mexico border city of Brownsville, Texas, and Corpus Christi, Texas, LULAC’s birthplace in 1929, and end in Washington, D.C. on November 14, 2019 - a little less than a year out of Election Day 2020. For more info: www.freedomwalks.org.

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 over 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