Happy Holidays from

William C. Velasquez Institute

Dear Friends,

Happy Holidays from all of us at the William C. Velasquez Institute. Thank you for your support! We ask that you consider WCVI for your end of year giving with a tax-deductible grant or contribution.

Your support has been put to good use in the community. We are especially proud to have hosted EarthDay Latino, where we celebrated the 18 high school students of the first WCVI Eco-

Intern Program! I invite you to take a look at 2011 highlights in WCVI’s Newsletter.

Additionally, through WCVI’s leadership, a coalition of Latino organizations conducted a policy development effort that included community outreach, a survey and legal research that culminated in the proposal of the first pro-immigrant ballot measure in US history (currently underway in California)!

The year ahead promises to be very exciting as well! In the works: a 5 year Anniversary event of LA River Revitalization Plan; the 6th Annual NLC in Chicago, IL.; Eco Intern Programs in Los Angeles and San Antonio, polling studies and much much more. Are you excited yet? We are! Your support of WCVI will go directly to these programs. Please consider us in your 2012 budget plans.

Another bright note to this year: our Senior VP, Patricia Gonzales was just named as one of the “40 Under 40” to watch by the San Antonio Business Journal. Congrats to Patricia on her well deserved recognition!

Thank you again for your support and friendship. We ask you to give to WCVI during this holiday season and in 2012!

Have a safe and happy holiday season!

Antonio GonzalezWCVI President

Donate Here!

Snapshot of WCVI in 2011National Latino Congreso

Deliberating over three days delegates from 15 states and more

than one hundred organizations approved over 30 resolutions on a variety of topics. Importantly, many “non-Latino” or mainstream issues

were addressed including the proposed ATT-T-Mobile merger, and President Obama’s military

intervention in Libya.

Antonio Gonzalez at the 6th Annual NLC, Austin, Texas

This yearʼs NLC served as Call to Action that focused on strategies to defeat anti-immigrant legislation, proposals to create jobs, efforts to create majority minority districts through redistricting, and plans for Latino electoral mobilization. The 2011 delegates and observers took part in 20 workshops, 3 plenary sessions, the special “Take Back Texas” strategy session to stop anti-immigrant legislation, Hispanic Federation sponsored, Womenʼs Reproductive Rights Luncheon and LCLAA sponsored Labor Breakfast.  Other activities included a screening of the movie, Will the Real Terrorists Please Stand Up and a Floricanto Tejano multicultural reading with 14 poets and artists.

California Latino Congreso Delegates representing scores of Latino organizations across California agreed to set up Congreso Campaign Committees to massively mobilize the Latino vote and support several initiatives that would provide California status to immigrants, reform local government, label genetically modified foods, and reform the three strikes law.Delegates from across the state were especially interested in the “California Plan” which would grant temporary status for certain immigrant taxpayers, and follows a recent string of pro-immigrant and other progressive legislative victories in Sacramento.

NALACC hosts the 2012 NLC!

“The California plan is a win-win initiative.California’s

undocumented immigrants will pay more than 2.7 billion in

state and local taxes and at the same time it would integrate

undocumented immigrants in a positive way into the social

fabric of the state improving the quality of life of all

Californians,” Martha Arevalo

PresidentCARECEN Board of Directors

WCVI is a founding Convener and Organizer of

the NLC!

The Eco-Interns were trained and

mentored over Spring ramping up to

Earth Day 2011 with 6 site visits to

parks, rivers and environmental locales

with guest speakers whose careers are

rooted in conservation and

environmental areas. The program

concluded with EarthDay Latino!

Eighteen Eco Interns participated as

part of the 2011 Inaugural Class. The

high school juniors and seniors came

from 8 area schools from east/

northeast Los Angeles and the

Anahuak Youth Sports Association.

EarthDay Latino & Eco Interns

WCVI has worked as the Alianza de los Pueblos del Rio de Los Angeles (Los Angeles River Peoplesʼ Alliance) since 2004 helping to develop five parks with active and passive recreation along the Los Angeles River (Marsh St in Frog Town, Albion St. in Cover, G2 in Glassell Park, Piggy

Back Yards in Lincoln Heights, El Hoyito in El Hoyo).

This led to the next logical step, the formation of the Eco-

Interns Program. The Eco-Intern Program is designed for students who demonstrate a strong interest in environmental conservation, public health and city history. The program concluded with an EarthDay Latino event that included a Walk-A-Thon and camp out and Eco-Intern

Completion Ceremony. The students concluded their program by unveiling their collective creative youth project in the form of a billboard.

WCVI led many efforts in 2011 from the California Latino Congreso to Earthday Latino

Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality plants a tree at the EarthDay Latino 2011.

Donate Here!

40th Anniversary of the Failed War on DrugsWCVI held a Day of Action on June 17, 2011, the 40th Anniversary of President Nixonʼs declaration of the “war on drugs”. WCVI highlighted the impact of this failed “war on drugs” on the Latino community. To commemorate the 40th anniversary, WCVI hosted a Special Leadership Briefing and Live Remote Broadcast of the KPFK Radio show, Strategy Session with Antonio Gonzalez. The event was a time to reflect on the disastrous effects the failed war on drugs has had on the Latino community with focus on strategies for making marijuana legal, reducing over-incarceration, advocating drugs as a health issue and not a criminal justice issue including alternative solutions to the current 40 year-failure that is the drug war.

WCVI’s live remote broadcast featured these leading experts:

Mauricio Garzon from the Coalition for Cannabis Policy; Stephen Gutwillig of the Drug

Policy Alliance; Dr. Raul Hinojosa, UCLA NAID Center;

Miguel Tinker Salas from Pomona College; and geri silva

of Families to Amend California's Three Strikes and

Fair Chance Project.

In a WCVI White Paper entitled, “The Economic and Social Implications for Latinos of AT&T Inc.ʼs Proposed Acquisition of T-Mobile – USA,” Dr. Blanca Gordo of UC Berkeley and Albert Jacquez, WCVIʼs Senior Policy Advisor, concluded that as currently structured, the proposed merger was not in the best interest of the U.S. Latino community. They found that Latino consumers are less likely to enjoy the benefits of the proposed AT&T merger with T-Mobile and more likely to be harmed economically if the mega-merger is approved.

White Paper on the Proposed AT&T/T-Mobile Merger“Going forward, national public

policy decisions like this one will have to take into account the

potential- negative impact and benefits of any proposed policy

structure for major American subgroups like Latinos.

Increasingly, policies must be designed to be good for Latinos in order to be good for the nation.”

Albert JacquezWCVI Senior Policy Advisor

Latinos Harmed by Current Proposal Recommends Changes to Protect Employees and Consumers

January - April Eco-Intern Program,

LA, CA

April 20th: Benefit for Eco-

Intern Program21st: EarthDay Latino

May 17-19th National Latino Congreso,

Chicago, IL

July 13th SVREP Sabor de Las Americas, LA, CA

20th SVREP Latino Vote 2012 Dinner,

SA, TX

August 22nd SVREP Sabor de

Las Americas, Houston, TX

*Additional Dates/Events will be added

to WCVI’s 2012 calendar

@wcvi @thepgonzales

@latinocongreso@latinoVotrsLeag

Save the

Date* 2012 “Our state leaders and attorney general seem to think that is still okay in 2011 to attempt to disenfranchise Latino voters and gerrymander them to have no voice. This practice has to stop a n d t h e F e d e r a l c o u r t s a r e o n l y following the law and correcting the v o t i n g r i g h t s violations. It is time to unite Texans not keep trying to divide them.”

Texas Latino Redistricting Task Force

Domingo Garcia, Co-Chair, Texas Latino Redistricting Task Force

and former Dallas Mayor Pro-Tem

Strategy Session with Antonio GonzalezAntonio Gonzalez continues to host a weekly show called Strategy Session on KPFK. He also gives regular commentaries on NPRʼs Tavis Smiley show, a nationally syndicated progressive show featuring minority issues.

We invite you to connect with us!WCVI Social Media Networks

Important DatesJanuary 2012

U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case DC District Court Trial

April 3rd Texas Primary Election

The maps from the three-judge panel in San Antonio provided the following gains for Latinos:

Latino leaders and organizations in Texas came together during the redistricting process to form the Texas Latino Redistricting Task Force. WCVI is a member plaintiff of the Task Force. WCVIʼs sister organization, SVREP serves as the co-chair for the Task Force along with Domingo Garcia. The Texas Latino Redistricting Task Force represented by MALDEF filed a lawsuit to stop Texas from implementing Congressional and state house maps that violated the Voting Rights Act. 

The U. S. Supreme Court earlier this month granted a request by the State of Texas and blocked all maps put into place by a three-judge panel in San Antonio. As a result of this decision, Texas does not have a map for 2012 Elections. January 9th the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments by the parties in the case.

It is important to note that while the Federal maps from the SA three-judge panel didnʼt provide all that the Texas Latino Redistricting Task Force (represented by MALDEF)requested, Latinos still came away with several gains. (see right)

• Created an additional Latino opportunity congressional district (CD 35) along the I-35 corridor;

• Created a congressional district in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex (CD33);

• Restored Congressional District 27 in South Texas as a Latino opportunity district;

• Restored Congressional District 23 in West Texas as a Latino opportunity district