Freedom Walks for Justice in Woodstock calls for Latino vote participation

The League of United Latin American Citizens in McHenry County will hold a "Freedom Walks for Justice" rally and march on Woodstock Square at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2.

LULAC members, friends, and supporters will walk as a group for one mile on the sidewalks around the Square with one message: "We Walk, Mobilize, and Vote."

The program will begin with a rally around the gazebo on the Square at 1 p.m. featuring Latino voices for political empowerment and civic participation at a time these communities are under stress and attack. Voter registration and political involvement will be stressed.

"Nov. 2 is also the second day of the traditional Day of the Dead celebration, one of our most important and festive cultural celebrations," said Maggie Rivera of LULAC and a longtime McHenry County Latino leader. "We will use the occasion to remind ourselves and the wider population that despite attacks on our communities and on immigrants, we are not dead and will make our growing power be felt in upcoming elections."

The local event is just many marches across the U.S. that began in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 3 and will conclude in the same city on Nov. 3. Altogether there were 15 major marches in cities with large immigrant and Latino populations including six in Texas; New Orleans, Louisiana; Jackson, Mississippi; Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama; Atlanta, Georgia; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Charlottesville, Virginia with scores of local marches like the one in Woodstock.

Freedom Walks for Justice pays "homage to the Freedom Riders of the Civil Rights Movement and mobilizes diverse communities around the country facing the same threat-hate and injustice. The most powerful tool we have to combat systematic discrimination is the ballot box and that is why Freedom Walks mobilizes and registers voters, encouraging our communities to have a voice," said Sindy Benavides, national CEO of LULAC.

LULAC is the oldest and largest nation organization for Latino Citizens.

The Social Justice Team of the Tree of Life Unitarian Universalist Congregation in McHenry is a partner in the local effort.

For more information, call Patrick Murfin at (815) 814-5645 or visit the Facebook event.