Peace walk to stress community unity
March 28th, 2008Pasadena Star News on tomorrow’s walk:
For the past year, groups like El Centro de Accion Social, the Pasadena NAACP, the California Coaches Coalition, Amer-I-Can, the Neighborhood Outreach Workers and the Western Justice Center, among many others, have quietly chipped away at the problem, according to area activists.“We need to concentrate on our similarities, not our differences,” said Israel Esteban, executive director of the upcoming Pasadena Marathon and an activist who has worked on building bonds between the city’s blacks and Latinos. “We have more in common than we have different.”
To highlight the commonalities and continue the dialogue, El Centro de Accion Social and Pasadena NAACP have organized a “Peace and Unity Walk,” beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Villa Parke Community Center. From there, blacks, Latinos and anyone else who wishes to join will walk to the Jackie Robinson Community Center, about a mile away on Fair Oaks.
“It’s important to do this and develop trust between Latinos and African Americans, and I think it sends a strong message to our young people,” said Randy Jurado Ertll, El Centro’s executive director, who will walk at the head of the march next to local NAACP branch President Joe Brown.
While a lot has been accomplished in terms of increasing understanding between the two communities, the activists said Wednesday, much more still needs to be done.
“I feel we need to keep talking,” said Tarik Ross, a city commissioner who represents Northwest Pasadena and a program director for the nonprofit community group Amer-I-Can. “Young African Americans and Latinos need to start communicating.”