President of National Council of La Raza to Speak at MLK Day Event in Birmingham, Alabama

AP reports that Birmingham Alabama’s MLK King Day will put the spotlight on the immigration debate.  The keynote speaker for the Martin Luther King Unity Breakfast in Birmingham is the daughter of Mexican immigrants. Organizers said they chose Janet Murguia, the president and chief executive officer of the National Council of La Raza, because of her message of unity and her opposition to a resurgence of hate speech in the immigration debate. It is the first time in more than two decades that the keynote speaker for the Birmingham event is not white or black. Isabel Rubio, executive director of the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama, said having Murguia on the program signals a recognition of the growing population of Spanish-speaking people in Alabama.

Murguia will talk about common challenges and opportunities for African Americans and Latina/os.

UPDATE NCLR’s Janet Murguia, the first Latino/a ever to address Birmingham’s Annual Unity Breakfast in honor of Doctor King’s birthday this morning, used the occasion to highlight the hate in the current political debate, particularly about immigration. Despite some initial rumblings that it was pretty unorthodox to ask a Latina to give the speech, we have heard that Myrguia’s speach was well-received, with a standing ovation at the end. The part Murguia’s speech on hate speech can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0kcrJCIJaY and the entire speech is at http://www.youtube.com/ibcwayne

KJ