Dear family,

Please join the New Mexico Media Literacy Project at the National Hispanic Cultural Center Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at Noon in the History and Literary Arts Building, conference room 113 for a press conference to draw more attention to CNN’s problem with Lou Dobbs.  We will update Albuquerque on the amazing progress of the BastaDobbs campaign and layout some next steps regarding hate speech in our media.

Hate speech in our media has had serious and deadly impacts on our communities.  Three weeks ago, Albuquerque joined 25 other cities around the United States in telling CNN “BASTA” with Lou Dobbs.  The news anchor who insists on spreading myths and distorting information he reports on Latinos, which helps to legitimate violence perpetuated on our community.  Latinos along with Immigrants, perceived immigrants, and other marginalized people disproportionally suffer from hate/biased violent crimes.  We recognize how hate speech is detrimental to our health and the time has come where we demand accountability from the entities that foster such toxic behavior.  People are dying, our children live in fear, and we do not deserve any of it.

As organizers, activists, and advocates, we understand how vital it is to break this cycle of violence that thrives on the inflammatory language used by the media.  In breaking this cycle, we strive to cultivate safe and healthy spaces for all communities. This language is not only inflammatory, it is actually hate speech.  Hate speech describes words that attack or put down people based on their actual or perceived race, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, language ability, appearance, mental capacity, and any other distinction that might be considered by some as liability.  Hate speech covers written and oral communication and some forms of behaviors in a public setting.  Hate speech is not protected by the First Amendment; it is not a constitutional right.  There is a direct correlation between hate speech and hate crimes.  Hate speech also negatively impacts local, national, and global policies.

We look forward to seeing you at Noon on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in the History and Literary Arts Building conference room, 1701 4th St SW.

For constant updates on the BastaDobbs campaign, visit http://bastadobbs.com/action/org/nmmlp/.

In solidarity,

New Mexico Media Literacy Project