Coverage from the BastaDobbs.com campaign - NY Times!

On October 21, 2009, I was part of a nation-wide group that organized 18 cities around the country to call out Lou Dobbs’ anti-immigrant rhetoric and CNN’s hypocrisy by promoting its Latino in America series while standing behind Dobbs’ hate speech against our community. Led by immigrant rights organizations in cities such as Dallas, New York, Miami, Tucson, Sacramento, San Antonio - we told CNN - "You can't have it both ways." We even made it on the cover of the New York Times' website! You can read the article by clicking  here.

BastaDobbs.com is a campaign launched by Presente.org, an online, Latino advocacy organization I co-founded earlier this year.

I was proud to stand side by side with mi gente across the United States in saying ¡Basta! to Lou Dobbs. As the daughter of immigrants, I felt especially inspired to be in the company of all the mujeres who really were at the forefront of organizing this. Here are some of the hottest pics:

ABOVE: Graciela Sanchez, from the Esperanza Center for Peace and Justice in San Antonio, and a panel of women speaking out against hate speech. (photos by Antonia Padilla)

ABOVE: BastaDobbs.com crew in front on CNN's headquarters in NYC

ABOVE: Boston's Latina/o and Faith Communities coming together to say ¡Basta!

I was also interviewed on KPFA twice last week.  First, I was on Hard Knock Radio. click here to listen to interview. I was delighted to share the radio show con mi hermana, Rosa Clemente, vice-presidential candidate on the 2008 Green Party ticket.  In case you are short on time, the juice of the show begins after 13 minutes.  The show really takes an awesome turn at 46 minutes, when Isabel Garcia—civil-rights attorney and human rights advocate— speaks to an audience in Tucson, Arizona. A little bit about Isabel Garcia, from Latino Politico:

There is no greater promoter of human rights and advocate for migrant families in Baja Arizona than Isabel Garcia. She was a recipient of the 2006 Premio Naciónal de Derechos Humanos, presented by the Mexican government for the first time to someone who wasn't born there, in order to get an idea of the scope of work she's done. Rather than accept the award, however, she took the opportunity to call a press conference and demand that the affluent and elite south of border do more to promote economic justice among the working classes. It was a perfect example of Isabel's work to keep the focus on the underlying roots of human migration and exploitation, rather than on herself.

Its women like Isabel Garcia and Graciela Sanchez that inspire me to work for justice.

I was also on The Morning Show with Eric Boehlert from Media Matters.  Check out the link here.

Here is some press from the cities that also stood up to hate this week:

Photo by JanInSanFran

• San Francisco, CA covered in Mission Local, read more
• Minneapolis, MN speaks out,  read more
• Our friends at the Esperanza Center for Peace & Justice in San Antonio, TX, read more
• Our campaign in Spanish AP,  read more
• BastaDobbs.com in the New York Times, read more