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- Title
A Voice for Immigrants: Latino Activism, Testimonial Practices, and Public Catholicism in Indianapolis.
- Authors
SHARP, ETHAN
- Abstract
From the early 1990s through the early 2000s, tens of thousands of Latinx immigrants found employment and resettled in the metropolitan area of Indianapolis, giving it one of the fastest-growing Latinx populations in the United States. Amid this growth and the anti-immigrant backlash that followed, Catholic priests, nuns, and laity in Indianapolis frequently spoke for and defended unauthorized immigrants in public spheres, positioning the Catholic Church as one of the most consistent and forceful advocates for immigrants' rights. This article weaves together and examines the oral histories of Latina and Latino Catholic lay leaders in Indianapolis and traces the alliances and forms of activism that lay leaders participated in at the level of local parishes in the 1990s and 2000s. It demonstrates that by resisting marginalization and demanding greater support and more resources for working-class Latinx immigrants, Latina and Latino lay leaders contributed to the expansion of Hispanic ministries and the growth of Spanish-language radio, and created spaces in which newly arrived immigrants could feel welcomed, share their stories, organize, and mobilize. They made testimonial practices associated with Catholic evangelization and the charismatic movement into crucial resources for the articulation of this pro-immigrant stance.
- Subjects
INDIANAPOLIS (Ind.); HISPANIC Americans; IMMIGRANTS; EMPLOYMENT; ACTIVISM
- Publication
US Latina & Latino Oral History Journal, 2021, Vol 5, p67
- ISSN
2574-0180
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.7560/OHJ504