Over 200 Latinxs leaders joined forces to show solidarity for their community.
Over 200 Latinx leaders are speaking out!
Selena Gomez, Eva Longoria, America Ferrera, Ricky Martin, Diego Luna, Jennifer Lopez and many more are sending a powerful message of hope and strength to the Latinx community. On Friday, the Latinxs in Hollywood shared an open letter titled, "Querida Familia Latina," where they touched on the recent mass shootings, ICE raids, border crisis and more.
"If you are feeling terrified, heartbroken and defeated by the barrage of attacks on our community, you are not alone," the letter, which was published in The New York Times, La Opinion, El Nuevo Herald and El Diario, begins. "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," it continues.
"Though real pain and fear are sweeping through our communities, we remain powerful," the note says, adding that the indignities and cruelty many people have endured don't change what they have contributed to this country. "Our humanity must be respected."
"To our allies who feel our community’s pain, we need you," the letter implores. "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."
The letter comes after the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, that killed 22 individuals and injured 24 others at a Walmart, as well as the continued border crisis and separation of families.
Additional artists that signed the letter include José Andrés, Gloria Calderón Kellett, María Teresa Kumar, Sandra Cisneros, Dolores Huerta, Edward James Olmos, Rosario Dawson, Salma Hayek Pinault, 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 and many more.
Ferrera also appeared on MSNBC to talk about how Hollywood celebrities are joining forces to show solidarity for their community.
"It is so easy to be overwhelmed with the bad news, to be so heartbroken, so devastated, and even numbed to what is happening to human beings in our country at this moment," she passionately said. "That it paralyzes us and we can't be paralyzed. We have to fight through that."
ET recently sat down with Longoria, as well as her Dora and the Lost City of Gold co-stars, Michael Peña and Eugenio Derbez, to talk about the importance of bringing diverse and fresh Latinx stories to the mainstream and cinemas.
"In Hollywood, we struggle with [finding ourselves] sometimes because of what people think Latinos should be in film and television. [That] is what they cast, and it's usually not what we are," Longoria said, pointing to herself and her fellow actors. "We're all Latino, so the diversity within the diversity is important to celebrate and honor. We're going to be ourselves."
Hear more on what they had to say in the video below.
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