BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Zulmary India Cruz organized an event in front of City Hall on Saturday to celebrate the contributions minorities have made to the United States.
"We're celebrating everybody. Latinos, Black people, Afro-Latinos, anybody...everyone and anyone in between," she said.
Through spoken word, music and dance, Cruz said she wanted to give people in the community a platform to express who they are.
It's not only a celebration of Black and Brown Lives, it is also a call for action.
"What we're trying to do is reclaim the Fourth. Black and Brown people were here July Fourth, 1776. So we're trying to celebrate what we have brought to the table," said Cruz. "Historically America has erased a lot of the contributions that minorities have made in this country. So what we're going to do today is not only remind them but remind ourselves, and let us know that we have to be celebrated, we deserve the right to be celebrated on this day as much as anybody else."
"Today is a celebration in terms of who we are as a people. Celebrating on the fourth of July is symbolic because we are very much a part of this community, and very much a part of what we understand what America is," said Oswaldo Mestre, Director of Citizen Services.
