Hosted by C.H.I.P.(Coalition for Hispanic/Latino Issues & Progress)In collaboration with 60 other Hispanic/Latino serving, local, state & national organizations. Lorain County Community College1005 Abbe Road North • Elyria, OH 44035.
This year’s presenters include Enrique Morones, Founder and Director of the Border Angels;
Over 10,000 immigrants have died attempting to immigrate from Mexico to the US since the United States built the first part of its fence between San Diego and Tijuana in 1994. This great non-profit known as Border Angels, was founded by Enrique Morones in the 1980s as a faith-based organization. They began by placing water in the San Diego desert along known immigration routes.
The organization consists of extraordinary volunteers who want to stop unnecessary deaths of individuals traveling through the Imperial Valley desert areas and the mountain areas surrounding San Diego County, as well as the areas located around the United States and Mexican border. The high percentage of unnecessary deaths have been results of extreme heat and cold weather conditions, in addition some have sadly been the results of racial-discrimination crimes.
“The key to helping Americans and everyone else is to understand the truth about what undocumented immigrants seeking entry into this county are facing. “We got to remember that before we were us, we were them,” Morones says referring to all the US population who came in as immigrants. “We were that latest wave of immigrants coming in.”
There will many other important speaker like Baldemar Velasquez, Founder and President of FLOC (Farm Labor Organizing Committee); Dr. Celia Williamson, Professor at University of Toledo; Lilleana Cavanaugh, Executive Director of the Ohio Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs; Dr. Nelson Soto, Provost and Vice President of Union Institute and University; Dr. Raquel Ortiz Rodriguez, Professor and Author from Boricua College; Toinette Parrilla, Director of the Cleveland Department of Public Health; and Maria Dominguez, Visual Artist, Educator and famed Latino Muralist from Brooklyn, New York.
Conference begins with breakfast at 7:30 a.m. and opening remarks start at 9 a.m. Speakers, workshops, displays, door prizes, cultural entertainment, health screenings and more will take place until 4 p.m. The conference includes a youth component with workshops designed specifically for high school participants.
Preconference activities include a reception at the Lorain Palace Theater, 617 Broadway, Lorain, Ohio on Friday, April 24 at 6 p.m. followed by a movie “Detained in the Desert” at 7:30 p.m. will be shown and is open to the general public at no cost.
This year’s Gala on Saturday April 25th will be at DeLuca’s Place in the Park located at 6075 Middle Ridge Road in Lorain, Ohio. Special guest, Bill Santiago from New York, a comedian and author, will entertain the audience along with music from Karen Paz Labra, Sonido Trapical, Jose Pepe Rivera, Sammy DeLeon Y Su Orchesta and DJ Vic Santana. For more information on the Hispanic Leadership Conference Visit www.chiplorain.org or call 440-989-1178 or email Michael at mf777df@msn.com or Dina at dinaferrer@yahoo.com
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