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Cinco de Mayo

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PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Cindy Gomez-Schempp–218-443-1033–cindy@fmppp.org

Local Mexican Community To Demand Accountability from the Mexican Community Center, Centro Cultural de Fargo-Moorhead on Cinco de Mayo

On May 5th, 2013 at 4:30 PM, members of the Mexican community will gather at Fargo-Moorhead’s only Latino center at 1014 19th St. S. Moorhead to demand that Centro Cultural de Fargo Moorhead provide programs and serve the needs of the Mexican Community.

In 1995,  the Hispanic Center (now Centro Cultural) project was established and the organization gained enough community and grant support to buy a building and land to establish Centro Cultural de Fargo-Moorhead in south Moorhead. The organization’s mission is currently: To reach out, connect, and empower Latinos in the Fargo/Moorhead community to bring social change.  The vision has been to see Latinos lead the Fargo/Moorhead community with academic excellence, self respect and full participation in community governance.

Two years ago, the organization received a 3 year, $120,000 grant from the Otto Bremer foundation to develop Latino leadership to bring about social change. The funding and the ongoing programs of the center were to be focused on enhancing and developing Latino leaders and assisting the Latino community in addressing the issues Latinos face.

Since that grant was awarded, the center has been unresponsive to the Mexican community in providing access to Centro or providing programming requested in a community report in 2010. Instead, Centro has been serving the needs, directives and hosting events of organizations and entities that serve a very small number of (mostly non-Latino) community members.

Meanwhile, Mexicans in this community want programming, services and cultural events for Mexicans at Centro, but are being denied access. Mexicans have waited for Centro to hold meetings/trainings, or otherwise discuss the historic report of the community vision for Centro’s work – – which have been stalled or ignored by the board for years.

Some of the most important policy, politics, and social movement changes in Mexican-American history are happening locally and around the country. Without access to Centro, Mexicans have no base to speak from, to meet at, to educate and learn from each other, to develop their community voices and their leaders.

The Latino community has been led to believe that this is a result of apathy. But, that’s not true. It is a result of inactive leadership. The Latino community is not willing to be silent or apathetic to this occupation of “do-nothingness.”  Latinos are people of action and they are demanding action from their board and access to use Centro Cultural as it is intended — for the advancement of Mexican Culture and People.

Centro has failed to hold any Cinco de Mayo Celebration for years now. This year, the Mexican community will celebrate Cinco de Mayo at their community center. This is a protest to demand the services and programming and access to Centro that the people were promised. Members of the Mexican community will be there to Occupy their Latino community center, to celebrate our culture, and to demand the programming and leadership that the people of this community have been asking for.

Cinco de Mayo in Mexico marks the day that Mexicans defeated the French and threw oppression out of the country. This Cinco de Mayo, Latinos will celebrate this history by doing the same — occupying their place, their space, the community’s Mexican center, Centro Cultural de Fargo-Moorhead.

The protest and occupation of the Mexican community center will take place at  4:30 PM, Sunday, May 5, in Front of Centro Cultural de fargo-Moorhead, 1014 19th St. S. Moorhead, MN.

There will be a rally, speeches, music food and a celebration of independence.

For ongoing information of this historic event, visit the FaceBook event page at:

http://www.facebook.com/events/515829075148324/

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