Latino Victory Project is a movement that is helping unite Latinos and getting the conversation started about the issues that affect this community. This upcoming election is very important, especially since Latinos are the biggest minority. Last night, the Latino Victory Project hosted an event called Latino Talks where Eva Longoria, Alex González and Fher Olvera from Maná, and Diane Guerrero from Orange is the New Black, among others talked about their personal experiences.
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The event was streamed on Facebook and Twitter and for most millennial’s, which is the largest group within the Latino community; this is how they receive their news. The average age of Latinos living in the U.S. is 27 years of age and events like these help organize people and talk about the important issues, such as immigration.
Eva Longoria hosted the event and she shared a story about living in Texas and so close to the border. “We used to cross over to Mexico all the time, we would go to lunch, buy medicine, and even a quinceañera dress,” she says. It only cost 35 cents to cross and all you had to do was say that you were an American Citizen. One time she saw a line of people and she asked her dad why all those people couldn’t just say the magic words (American Citizen) and he said because “we’re lucky, we were born on this side of the country.” She didn’t even realize she was different until she made it to the white part of Texas where school lunches consisted of Pop Tarts and not bean tacos, which is what she was accustomed to eating.
Another actress that sharing her personal experience with deportation is Diane Guerrero who is Colombian and was separated from her parents when she was only 14 years old. Even though this came as a shock, it wasn’t unexpected. “My family taught me to be strong and they taught me that if deportation happened to them, I had to keep going because I had dreams and aspirations because I wanted to keep their dream alive,” explains Guerrero. She kept her parent’s deportation a secret for a long time, until she realized that there are many living in the U.S. with similar stories. She even wrote a book where she shares the struggles that she went through and how this separation still affects her today.
Alex González and Fher Olvera from Maná have been performing for over 20 years and they feel that it’s their civic duty to help rock the vote and inspire people to get out there and make a difference. When they first started out, bands like The Beatles, U2, and Springsteen inspired them because they were very vocal about social issues. They were inspired to talk openly at their concerts in countries like Mexico and all over Latin America where social issues exist and affect many.
“It’s not about being an artist or a dentist or an architect—at the end of the day we’re human beings and we have to speak about the things that we don’t like and raise our voice and be active and not to keep our mouth shut and do it in a very intellectual way,” explained Alex.
“We want to inspire people to move things, to change the world, so we could live in a better world,” says Fher. He knows how hard it is to leave a child behind when he goes on tour, the only difference is that he can see his child whenever he wants to fly in, but many immigrants don’t have that option.
Maná is currently on their Latino Power Tour (kicks off in September) and they decided to call it that because they are very attached to the Latino community, they’ve seen how fast this community has grown, how it’s developed to the biggest minority and all of the achievements that Latinos continue to accomplish. “It’s important to celebrate the contributions of Latinos. It’s important that Latinos register and vote for the candidates that will contribute to your community, to your state, to this amazing country,”says Alex. The Mexican band is also scheduled to perform at the White House Cinco de Mayo celebration happening tonight.
Diane Guerrero: An American Victim of Immigration Deportation