The letter originally appeared in the New York Times, El Nuevo Herald, La Opinión, and El Diario.
Querida Familia Latina,
If you are feeling terrified, heartbroken and defeated by the barrage of attacks on our community, you are not alone.
We have been smeared by political rhetoric and murdered in violent hate crimes.
We have been separated from our families and have watched our children caged.
We have been targeted with mass shootings and mass ICE raids meant to terrify us, squash our hope, and break our spirits.
But, we will not be broken. We will not be silenced. We will continue to denounce any hateful and inhumane treatment of our community. We will demand dignity and justice.
Though real pain and fear are sweeping through our communities, we remain powerful. The indignities and cruelty we have endured will never change the truth that the contributions we make to this country are invaluable. Our humanity must be respected. And, we won’t stop organizing for ourselves, our children, and for the soul of this nation.
To our allies who feel our community’s pain, we need you. We cannot make change without your voices and action. We call on you to speak out loudly against hate, to contribute your resources to organizations that support our community, and to hold our leaders accountable.
We ask you to join us in building a better country where we are all safe and valued.
May we turn this time of despair into a time of action. May our love for one another be the guiding light in these dark times.
With our deepest love,
(Signed by over 200 actors, musicians, artists, activists, and labor and civil rights leaders, including José Andrés, Gloria Calderón Kellett, María Teresa Kumar, Sandra Cisneros, Dolores Huerta, Edward James Olmos, Rosario Dawson, Salma Hayek Pinault, Jennifer Lopez, Diego Luna, Ricky Martin, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Nathalie Molina Niño, Janet Murguía, Rosie Perez, Teresa Romero, Gina Rodriguez, Zoe Saldana, Roselyn Sánchez, Tanya Saracho, Bamby Salcedo, Carmen Perez, Tony Plana, Wilmer Valderrama, more)
