Join us for a special Lunch and Learn edition of our virtual MACRI Talks series. This conversation with Randy Parraz will explore recent civil rights issues facing Latinos in Arizona. We'll also discuss the role of Latinos in this "swing state" in the 2024 election.

Our FREE virtual event will stream live on Facebook at https://bit.ly/FB-MACRI and YouTube at https://bit.ly/YT-MACRI.

About our guest
Randy Parraz is an organizer, social entrepreneur, author, founder of various social justice organizations and currently Co-Founder and President of the Organizing Institute for Democracy. Prior to that, Randy served as the Executive Director of the Arizona Education Association (AEA) where he spearheaded a new approach to building power that catapulted AEA to number one in the country for membership growth.

Randy has spent the past 29 years engaged in the work of building power and moving people into action. Randy’s introduction to social justice began when he observed his father, Deputy Sheriff John Parraz, organize the Latino Peace Officers Association in the 1970s to combat discrimination in the recruitment, hiring and retention of Latino officers. In 2008, Randy moved to Arizona and joined a labor campaign to build political support for immigrant workers in the housing industry. As the campaign progressed, workers, many of whom were undocumented, began to complain about the worksite raids, harassment and mistreatment of Sheriff Arpaio. Randy’s role in organizing actions and protests to expose Arpaio’s racist and abusive practices caused him to be labeled “high profile” and eventually targeted and arrested by Sheriff deputies.

In January of 2011, Randy co-founded Citizens for a Better Arizona and spearheaded a grassroots campaign to recall the most powerful politician in the state of Arizona, Senate President Russell Pearce—author of SB 1070, the “show me your papers” anti-immigrant legislation. In November 2011, Citizens for a Better Arizona made history by recalling and removing the first Senate President from Office. Randy later wrote a book about this historic movement titled Dignity by Fire: Dismantling Arizona’s Anti-Immigrant Machine, which will be the focus of his talk today.
Randy is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley, Berkeley Law, and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Randy currently resides in Phoenix Arizona with his partner Lilia and their son Leonel.

Thank you to our funders!
MACRI's programs are funded in part by the City of San Antonio Department of Arts & Culture, Bexar County, the Mellon Foundation, the John L. Santikos Charitable Foundation Fund of the San Antonio Area Foundation, Wells Fargo, and individual donors like you! Gracias!

Disclaimer:
Views and ideas shared by presenters do not necessarily reflect those of the MACRI, its staff, or funders.