[[Atlanta Journal-Constitution]]/[[Shelia Poole]]/[[October 12, 2006]]/ link

The Rev. Joseph E. Lowery on Wednesday urged Latinos and African Americans to form alliances to build a political and civil rights powerhouse.

Lowery, president emeritus of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, compared the immigrant rights movement today to yesterday's civil rights movement.

...Lowery, chairman of the Georgia Coalition for the Peoples Agenda, was the keynote speaker at a luncheon celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month and the third anniversary of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GAELO).

...Lowery's call was backed by another civil rights legend, the Rev. [[James Orange]]. Orange said African Americans and Latinos have a history of working together on issues of human and workers' rights. In the 1960s, for instance, Orange said he was sent west by the Rev. [[Martin Luther King Jr]]. to march with Cesar Chavez, the labor activist who organized migrants and other laborers who worked on farms for low wages and in poor conditions.

Not mentioned: Chavez was a strong opponent of illegal immigration.

More recently, Orange, Lowery and the Rev. [[Timothy McDonald]] have spoken at immigrant rights rallies in Georgia and elsewhere.

"What he (Lowery) was saying is that we need to stick together," said businessman [[Ray Ortega]]. "The civil rights movement in the '60s and '70s and the civil rights movement of the Hispanics in the 2000s are similar."

...Jerry Gonzalez, executive director of GALEO, said efforts are under way to register more Latinos to vote. "The Latino vote will be a force to be reckoned with," he said.

Proceeds of the luncheon benefited [[GALEO Latino Community Development Fund]], [[Hispanic National Bar Foundation]] and the [[Georgia Hispanic Bar Association]].