Exclusiva: Ozomatli Endorses National Latino Advocacy Days

By Michael Lopez

A while back we reported on rock band Ozomatli’s association with the National Council of La Raza. Before last November’s elections, Ozo and NCLR teamed up to spread voter awareness within the Latino community. Now, five months later, they are partnering again to spread the message of respect. Dubbed the National Latino Advocacy Days, this new campaign is set to create quite a stir on Capitol Hill.

“We are very concerned about the issue of respect,” NCLR director Clarissa Martínez-De Castro told Tr3s. “We need to come together and agree that we can treat each other respectfully.”

Ozo saxophonist Ulises Bella heartily agreed.

“We want to motivate and hopefully move young activists to get the message out,” Bella told Tr3s.

That message has already been heard by hundreds of influential citizens across the country. This week, NCLR’s National Advocacy Days plan to assemble more than 300 community leaders. The goal, according to NCLR communications director Julian Teixera, is to visit Washington and call on Congress to oppose inflammatory rhetoric towards Latinos.

Bella pointed to the anti-immigration movement in Arizona as an example of areas where respect is sorely needed. And it’s clear that Ozomatli is passionate about subject. As part of its last NCLR effort, the group wrote and recorded the human rights single, “Respeto.”

“[‘Respeto’] resonated with a lot of people," said Wil-Dog Abers, Ozo’s bassist. "That song was the most successful pre-download campaign we’d ever done!”

Though the group didn’t confirm whether they were recording material for the new campaign, “Respeto” already seems like a perfect anthem for National Latino Advocacy Days, occurring March 9-10 in Washington D.C.

For more information, please visit NCLR’s website.

Do you think there's enough respect within the Latino community? Sound off in the comments or @MTV3.

Tags Cultura, Exclusive Entrevista, national council of la raza, National Latino Advocacy Days, NCLR, Ozomotli, Politics, Respeto