Press Release

Several thousand protesters are expected to attend the Stand for Freedom March and Rally in New York City on Saturday, December 10, the United Nations Human Rights Day. The Rally will be led by a coalition of over 150 civil rights and community organizations in response to the recent national sweep of proposed voter identification laws that are likely to disenfranchise voters of color.

“After monitoring elections for over two decades, we have seen how Asian Americans are disenfranchised by voter identification laws, anti-Asian bias at poll sites, and poor enforcement of the Voting Rights Act’s language assistance provisions,” said Margaret Fung, Executive Director of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF). “At a time when Asian Americans are more politically engaged than ever, we need to ensure that all Americans, especially new citizens, are able to exercise their fundamental right to vote.”

Fung will join NAACP President Ben Jealous, 1199SEIU President George Gresham, NAACP LDF President John Payton, American Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Anthony Romero, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Executive Director Barbara Arnwine, and other civil rights leaders in a press conference before the march and rally on Saturday at 10:30 am.

The march will begin at 61st Street and Madison Avenue at the NYC headquarters of Koch Industries and culminate in a rally across from the United Nations. Busloads of protestors from Maryland, Rochester, Washington, D.C., New Jersey, Virginia, Connecticut, Buffalo, and several other places are expected to join.

“We hope New Yorkers will join us in standing up for freedom on Dec. 10,” said Fung. “If these proposals are not defeated, Asian Americans and other communities of color will face new discriminatory obstacles to voting.”

STAND FOR FREEDOM MARCH TO PROTECT MINORITY VOTING RIGHTS

DATE: Saturday, December 10, 2011

TIME: Press Conference begins at 10:30am

WHERE: 61st Street and Madison Avenue

SPEAKERS:
Benjamin Jealous, President and CEO, National NAACP
George Gresham, President, 1199SEIU
U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel
Rev. Al Sharpton, Civil Rights Activist/Founder of National Action Network
Margaret Fung, Asian American Legal Defense & Education Fund
John Payton, President, NAACP LDF
Michael Mulgrew, President, United Federation of Teachers
Dr. Hazel N. Dukes, President of the NAACP New York State Conference
Marc Morial, President, National Urban League
Judith A. Browne Dianis, Co-Director, The Advancement Project
Anthony Romero, Executive Director, ACLU
Barbara Arnwine, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Deepak Bhargava, Executive Director, Center for Community Change
Lillian Rodríguez López, Executive Director, Hispanic Federation
Melanie Campbell, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation
Chung-Wha Hong, Exec. Director, The New York Immigration Coalition

SCHEDULE

PRESS CONFERENCE: 10:30am at 61st Street and Madison Avenue

MARCH: Kick off at 11:30 am – see march route at Stand4Freedom.org

RALLY: 12:30pm at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, 47th St. between 1st and 2nd Ave.

For further information, please contact:
Ujala Sehgal
Communications Coordinator
usehgal@aaldef.org
212.966.5932 ex.217