Organizations advocate Hispanic rights

By: Lindsey Pruitt

Posted: 3/14/08

Members of two UA Latino organizations visited the nation's capital for Advocacy Day with the National Council of La Raza, according to a press release.

"This trip gave me the opportunity to voice out the disparities that exist among our community to our representatives in Washington, D.C.," said Luis Manjarrez, founding member of Phi Iota Alpha.

Phi Iota, the first Latino fraternity in Arkansas, and the League of United Latin American Citizens sent members to receive policy briefings by the National Council of La Raza.

While in the district, member of the organizations were briefed by the NCLR on specific pieces of legislation in Congress that would improve the economic and social status of all Hispanics, said Phi Iota President Danny Diaz.

"We thanked Senator [Blanche] Lincoln for always being on board with the DREAM Act and pressed Senator [Mark] Pryor for an explanation on why he changed his support this last session," Diaz said.

The DREAM Act is a piece of proposed federal legislation in the U.S. that would provide eligibility for legal status to high school students who are undocumented immigrants and wish to attend college or serve in the armed forces.

"We continued the dialogue with Congressman [John] Boozman, who has never supported the DREAM Act, and urged him to hear the outcry of desperation of potential Razorbacks in his backyard," Diaz said.

Manjarrez expressed interest in attending the NCLR Awards, a briefing day on which pieces of legislation NCLR will focus.

"Everyone that attends meets with their states' senators and congressman to talk to them about issues that are affecting their communities," Manjarrez said.

"Since I am the vice president of LULAC, I was invited and we all raised funds with LULAC so that we could attend," he said.

Alejandro Aviles, philanthropy chair and founding member for Phi Iota, organized the trip to the capital.

"It is our fraternity's mission to promote economic and social mobilization, and we traveled to our nation's capital bringing with us a passion for the amelioration of those in need and we hope to continue this endeavors for years to come," Aviles said.

"We will always support our Greek partners in their great efforts of helping to defeat a disease, or cleaning a highway, but as members of Phi Iota, we also believe it is our civic duty to voice the needs of our community directly to our elected officials at a time of glaring disparity in the Hispanic community," he said.

For Rafael Arciga, LULAC president and founding member of Phi Iota, the trip was his third time visiting the capital and second time to go to NCLR National Advocacy Day.

"Last October, along with Alejandro Aviles, we attended the first ever Latino Youth Summit sponsored by the United States Senate," Arciga said. "There, during our visit, senators pointed out that civic involvement is a duty and that every member of the community should participate.

"As president of LULAC, League of United Latin American Citizens, I wanted to get as much involvement of the members as possible in order for us to voice the concerns and needs of our community here in Northwest Arkansas in issues that matter not only at a local level but also at the national," he said.

Both LULAC and Phi Iota strive to bring together and create understanding among the different cultures that make up our community, Arciga said.

"As president of Phi Iota Alpha, I have recognized the importance of education for the Hispanic community," Diaz said.

Phi Iota was charged with promoting higher education in a coalition with other community-based organizations throughout Northwest Arkansas. Having traveled from Monnett, Mo., and Rogers, Ark., Diaz saw hundreds of families during the presentations disenchanted with the future they thought they couldn't attain, he said.

"Latinos are a great part of this country. Unfortunately, there is a lot of negative information about Latinos in this country, and we need to change that," Manjarrez said.

The great majority of Latinos come to the U.S. to work hard so that they can obtain a better quality of life, but that is not what is portrayed by the media, Manjarrez said.

"We need to make it known that we are here to stay, that we are part of this great nation and that we want to live just like anyone else in this country," Manjarrez said.

"In order to change these negative stereotypes and truly change things for Latinos, we need the support from our senators and congressman/woman," he said.

Representing Latinos nationally is LULAC's way of supporting its small grain of sand, Manjarrez said.

"Even though there were many points of contention with our elected officials," he said. "The simple fact that we went to D.C. was a success for taking with us the many voices of those back home in Arkansas," Diaz said.

"I definitely feel that our visit to the capital was a success," Manjarrez said.

"Being able to represent Latinos and voice their needs and concerns to our representatives in Washington is a great honor and a great way to raise awareness of our presence here in this country and especially in our community," he said.

"The fruits of our labor might not be immediate, but they are sure to come."