Dream Riders Conclude National Bus Tour
Today, “Dream Riders Across America,“ a national campaign fostering dialogue between communities with an emphasis on supporting one another, exploring intersections, and building unity across the immigrant rights, racial justice, and civic engagement movements, comes to a close in Dallas, Texas. Local organizations, including Mi Familia Vota, welcomed the Dream Riders – 12 emerging Asian American, Latino, and African American youth leaders – to share their personal stories and reflections from this unique leadership development experience.
Press Release
For Immediate Release
August 7, 2015
CONTACT:
English: Healy Ko, hko@nakasec.org
Korean: Ga Young, gchung@nakasec.org
“Dream Riders Across America” Conclude National Bus Tour
DALLAS, TX – Today, “Dream Riders Across America,“ a national campaign fostering dialogue between communities with an emphasis on supporting one another, exploring intersections, and building unity across the immigrant rights, racial justice, and civic engagement movements, comes to a close in Dallas, Texas. Local organizations, including Mi Familia Vota, welcomed the Dream Riders – 12 emerging Asian American, Latino, and African American youth leaders – to share their personal stories and reflections from this unique leadership development experience.
Young people are increasingly at the forefront to build more progressive power throughout the country. And Texas is a critical state where more young voices working for justice need to be heard.
One Dream Rider from Texas, Saba Nafees, said: “We are young dreamers who have been raised in this land that we call home. Texas is my home. Texas is also where the lawsuit temporarily halting the implementation of the expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of U.S. Citizens (DAPA) programs originated. And until August 5th, Texas had one of the strictest voter ID laws in the country. I am a Dream Rider because despite the obstacles low-income communities of color and immigrant communities face, we still believe true justice can be achieved through organizing and working together.”
Four other Dream Riders, along with Jean Hervey (Vice President of the Southwest Regional Joint Board-Workers United, SEIU) and Sandra Tovar (DFW Coordinator of Mi Familia Vota) also spoke at the press conference. Ellie Wingfield and Jose Montes, Dream Riders from California, and Max Kim, Dream Rider from Virginia, concluded the program, emceed by Healy Ko from NAKASEC and Robert Sanders from SEIU AUWW, with a poem.
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Children Over Politics (COP) was founded by children of SEIU members and SEIU partner organizations. Last year, the youth came together to fast for the Salvadoran youth who fled gang violence in their home country. In recent months, COP showed solidarity with youth who have experienced police brutality and working parents who have faced wage theft, low pay, and other issues of social and economic justice.is a youth led organization.
The National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC) was founded in 1994 by local community centers to project a progressive voice and promote the full participation of Korean Americans on major social justice issues. NAKASEC maintains offices in Annandale, Virginia and Los Angeles, California. NAKASEC has affiliates in Chicago (Korean American Resource & Cultural Center) and Los Angeles and Orange County (Korean Resource Center).
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) unites 2 million diverse members in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. SEIU members working in the healthcare industry, public sector and in property services believe in the power of joining together on the job to win higher wages, benefits and create better communities, while fighting for a more just society and an economy that works for all of us, not just corporations and the wealthy.
SEIU United Service Workers West represents more than 40,000 janitors, security officers, airport workers, and other property service workers across California.
The SEIU California State Council is over 700,000 members strong in California, and we are proud to be part of the largest and fastest growing union in the United States, the Service Employees International Union, with over 2.0 million members nationwide.