Photos, Video: Immigration Reform Rally at the White House
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Earlier this afternoon, I attended an immigration reform rally at Lafayette Park next to the White House. Hundreds of people, if not more, were on hand to peacefully protest Arizona's anti-immigrant law and to demand that Congress pass comprehensive immigration reform - including the DREAM Act - now. I was extremely impressed with the speakers, as well as the friendly, peaceful, racially diverse, and passionate crowd of protesters. Among others, I heard several "Trail of Dreams" students talk about their 1,500-mile walk from Miami, FL to bring their immigration message to Washington. Along the way, "they documented their journey on Facebook and Twitter, gathered 30,000 signatures to bring to the president and marshaled support and shelter."
In addition to the photos after the "flip," check out the video (below) of Margie (spelling?), a junior from T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, VA. I think you'll agree that she's very impressive - in Spanish and in English!
UPDATE: Another video for your viewing and listening pleasure - "El Pueblo Unido".
The purpose of Blue Virginia is to cover Virginia politics from a progressive and Democratic perspective. This is a group blog, founded by me (Lowell Feld), but now including several other progressive writers. I can't speak for the other "front pagers," but I consider myself a progressive in the tradition of Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, JFK, RFK and actually a bunch of progressive Republicans (e.g., Jacob Javits, Lowell Weicker). As such, I believe in expanding opportunities to all, utilizing government as a tool to promote the general welfare and the common good, protecting the environment for ourselves and for future generations, and expanding the rights promised in our Constitution and Bill of Rights to all Americans.
I invite everyone to comment here, but please be aware that profanity, personal attacks, bigotry, and "trolling" are not allowed. Thanks, and enjoy!
P.S. You can contact me at lowell@raisingkaine.com