Cartagena Says Access to Higher Ed Remains Major Focus of Civil Rights Struggle - Higher Education

Cartagena Says Access to Higher Ed Remains Major Focus of Civil Rights Struggle - Higher Education: Juan Cartagena, president and general counsel of LatinoJustice PRLDEF, said Thursday that “access to education today is as important to Latinos as it was to the Black community in the struggle with Medgar Evers.”

Cartagena was discussing civil rights issues that impact the Latino community and how higher education is part of the discussion during an hour-long Twitter chat. His organization (www.latinojustice.org) was founded in 1972 by three Puerto Rican attorneys from New York with the goal of changing discriminatory practices toward Latino communities.

“We fight for equal access housing & healthcare, public services in Spanish, #workersrights, immigrant/migrant rights & education,” tweeted Cartagena, a constitutional and civil rights attorney with extensive experience overseeing litigation on behalf of Latino and African-American communities.