[Excerpt]
On a rainy Friday night, the Dallas church hall meeting was filled with talk of the latest tiroteos y balaceras — gunfire and gun battles.
Erika Gonzalez said she can now distinguish between the metallic sounds and rhythm of a high-caliber assault weapon vs. a pistol. “They discharge and they refill,” she said at St. Philip the Apostle Catholic Church in southeast Dallas.
“We need more help for this combat,” said Lily Rodriguez, a U.S. citizen who helped organize the meeting. “Raise your voice. It will give us credibility.”
They’re part of a new gun-control campaign that is spreading in Mexican-American and Mexican immigrant neighborhoods in Dallas and elsewhere in Texas. Already, 11,000 Texans have signed postcards asking for support for four federal bills, including two on enhanced background checks for firearms purchases, organizers say.
The campaign started after the mass shooting Aug. 3 at an El Paso Walmart, in which a Dallas-area man traveled to the border city with an assault rifle to hunt Mexicans, according to a court affidavit. By the end of the shooting spree, 22 people were dead. It is believed to be the worst violence against Latinos in a century — since widespread lynchings across the West aimed at those of Mexican ancestry....
[Photo Credit: Dianne Solis, Dallas Morning News]
After El Paso Massacre, Dallas Area Interfaith Calls for Tougher Gun Laws, Dallas Morning News [pdf]
Discover our latest initiatives and see what’s new in our communities!
Drawing more than 700 institutionally based leaders from across North Texas, Dallas Area Interfaith's 'Cry for Justice and Call to Action' tapped into fresh energy and galvanized new participation from all...
Read More
On the weekend after the election, Dallas Area Interfaith's bilingual parish leadership development training drew 60 ministry leaders from seven parishes and three guest institutions. Bishop Greg Kelly reflected on...
Read More
After Texas legislators passed the anti-immigrant Senate Bill 4, Dallas Area Interfaith (DAI) leaders didn’t lose hope. Instead, they reached out directly to the Dallas Police Department, engaging them in...
Read More
[Excerpts] You have to wonder what would become of the residents of Kendall Villas without advocates like Dallas Area Interfaith pressing the city on their behalf. ....city staffers were aware...
Read More
[Excerpt] When Pope Francis told a group of U.S. community organizers that their work was "atomic," Jorge Montiel said, "I thought, 'Oh, you mean we blow things up?'" But instead,...
Read More
Leaking faucets, holes in the floor, and rats running across children's feet at night. An apartment manager refusing to start repairs without proof of US citizenship. These are just some of...
Read More
DAI tenant advocacy for improved conditions in low-income Bachman Lake apartment complexes continues to pay off, partly due to increased collaboration with bilingual housing code inspectors. Spanish speaking Dallas Area Interfaith leaders have been at the forefront of action, including meetings...
Read More
[Excerpt] Barry Lachman, a Dallas Area Interfaith leader, was involved in the creation of Chapter 27 in 2016. He said that not having enough data for at least five to...
Read More
Two Years of Texas IAF Opposition Leads to Reforms to Limit Giving School Money for Corporate Tax Breaks The Texas Senate and House passed a compromised version of HB5 that still...
Read More
[Excerpt] Chapter 313 was one of the country’s worst examples of crony capitalism, funneling billions in Texas taxpayer dollars to out-of-state interests. The program still costs Texas taxpayers over $1...
Read More
Drawing more than 700 institutionally based leaders from across North Texas, Dallas Area Interfaith's 'Cry for Justice and Call to Action' tapped into fresh energy and galvanized new participation from all...
Read More
On the weekend after the election, Dallas Area Interfaith's bilingual parish leadership development training drew 60 ministry leaders from seven parishes and three guest institutions. Bishop Greg Kelly reflected on...
Read More