Actress and activist Eva Longoria was in Austin over the weekend as the keynote speaker for Saturday’s 2012 Lozano Long Conference held at the Student Activity Center on the UT Campus. She spoke with Autumn Caviness for KUT and Reporting Texas.com about the most important issues she thinks Latinos face in the United States today.

Longoria:

    We’re the fastest-growing population and we’re the youngest-growing population. Without specifically being a monolithic group, there’s going to be ways in which we’re going to have to come together even though we have different interests and different views depending on the origin of who you are.

    There’s no specific Latino agenda. The number one issue that Latinos raise in the election coming up is the economy — like every other American. Education – like every other American. Health care – like every other American. I think that as Latinos, we kind of have to aggregate our numbers and stop being a number and start being a market, start being a voting bloc. Start being the most influential minority, not [just] the largest minority.

    When district lines are redrawn, they can be done in an unfair advantage to Latino communities, either by if they’re drawn with the constituents that are in those communities or by not appointing the correct representative. If it’s a Latino community, it should be a Latino representative.

    I find that any celebrity who has a political opinion is shunned away or really not taken seriously. I always say if I was a dentist, if I was a lawyer, I would have the same political view. I would have the same voice that I would want to be heard. The fact that I’m famous, or a celebrity, just gives me a lot of voice. But it doesn’t mean that I’m not well-versed or literate in the issues and the policies that I’m passionate about and so I think people are often surprised at how much I know regarding politics.

Originally from Corpus Christi, Eva Longoria founded the non-profit organization Eva’s Heroes for intellectually disabled children in 2006. She is an outspoken advocate for the United Farm Workers and recipient of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s 2010 leadership and community service award.

http://kut.org/2012/02/eva-longoria-on-latino-issues/

Photo Credit: Jeff Heimsath

[[ KUT Radio Feature: Eva Longoria on Latino Issue, a Q&A w/ Artist & Activist Eva Longoria ]]

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