Actress and producer Eva Longoria made an appearance Wednesday in the African-American Cultural Center in Witherspoon Student Center. Lambda Pi Chi, a Latina sorority, sponsored the event.
Longoria is a vocal advocate for Hispanics, Latinos, Latinas and people of color for Hillary Clinton.
Despite the event’s subtle promotion, more than 70 people attended the free event, initially held in the cinema, but the audience migrated to a more intimate setting.
Longoria’s charity, the Eva Longoria Foundation, focuses on inspiring Latinas to reach their potential through education and entrepreneurship. Additionally, Latinas are provided with career training, internships and equal opportunities.
“I feel like sometimes you have to ignite the fire in minorities so we all know what’s at stake,” Longoria said. “The future of our country is dependent upon who we elect. We obviously want a candidate who wants to move the country forward and believe in the progress Obama has built: to expand on from civil rights, to women’s rights, healthcare rights, access to higher education and give people more economic equitability.”
Longoria said she votes for her community and detaches herself personally.
“If I wanted to vote for my personal interests, I would probably vote differently because of the tax bracket I’m in or where I am now in life,” Longoria said. “I never thought that way; I don’t think that way.”
Longoria came from humble roots and intimately elaborated on her past. Her parents always told her to remember where she came from.
“We came from a very lower class family,” Longoria said. “I was the youngest of four girls. My oldest sister has special needs, my mother, who is a philanthropist, became a special needs teacher. We were always volunteering early on in life.”
Women and minorities are disproportionally affected by policy, with Latinos being the most undereducated, the most unemployed and the most uninsured, according to Longoria.
“Women stand on the shoulders of all the women who came before us; people died for us to have the right to vote,” Longoria said. “Having the right to vote is a serious thing that should not be taking for granted. This goes for any minority; if you’re Latino American, Mexican or black, if you’re not voting, you’re spitting upon the graves of the people who came before who earned this right. I want to support the candidate who supports us; whether that candidate is a woman or not.”
Longoria elaborated on her view toward the Republican nominee, speaking of Donald Trump as one who is “segregating America and doesn’t reflect who we are and the progress we’ve made.”
“I actually don’t get mad at Trump,” Longoria said. “I get mad at people applauding what he’s saying — who are those people applauding that kind of rhetoric in this country.”
Longoria proudly referred to herself as a ninth-generation Texan.
“I’m more American than Donald Trump,” Longoria said. “We never crossed the border; the border crossed us.”
After that statement, the audience applauded and snapped. She elaborated on her family heritage more via an incident that happened to her father.
“I remember my dad never had a passport, because he didn’t go anywhere,” Longoria said. “I was getting married in France 10 years ago so he had to get a passport. Before that, he had no reason to get one. When he was in Arizona — my father is very dark — he was pulled over and was asked to show his papers. He was arrested because he didn’t have any. I would have been spitting fire as my father, who’s an eighth generation American.”
Brayndon Stafford, student body vice president and senior studying environmental science, added that great policy starts within, but one’s voice must be heard in order to make the policy set in stone.
“You have a lot of these laws in a lot of different states that have voting rights being stripped and are targeting minorities and people of color,” Stafford said. “I really think that Hillary is the only candidate for my community and people of color.”
The board initiated a Q&A session to wrap up the conference.
Pedro Becquer-Ramos, a senior studying chemical engineering, heard about the event through the Lambda Pi Chi sorority.
“I’m a brother of Lambda Theta Phi,” Becquer-Ramos said. “I understand that it was a last minute event, but it was very big. I think the message is really important. My perspective is that voting is very important to be educated and then go vote. They’re trying to get the student population to vote to be educated and out there to vote.”
Andrea Yanes, host of HOLA NC, a local bilingual lifestyle program on FOX 50, appreciated how personable Longoria was.
“I really liked the event; it was intimate — I could feel like I could connect with her,” Yanes said. “What I liked about her advocating for the candidate is that it feels more relatable and personal than somebody in the political eye; you see them as so far and unrelated. Having her being seated so close from all of us and answering our questions from this setting were amazing.”
