Aimee Cruz
Template:TOCnestleft Aimee Cruz was, in 1975, a New York City member of the Union of Democratic Filipinos.[1]
DC demo
April 15, 1978 — In one of the most militant and massive demonstrations held anywhere in the United States since the civil rights struggle of the 1960s, over 35,000 people, the majority Black, Asian and Latin youth, came to Washington, D.C., to voice their total opposition to the racist Bakke case now pending before the Nixon-packed U.S. Supreme Court.
Chanting “We won’t go back, send Bakke back,” the angry voices of thousands of youth from the oppressed communities demanding the overturn of the notorious Bakke decision, an end to racism and upholding of affirmative action programs were undoubtedly heard in the hallowed halls of the Supreme Court and the White House.
Among the speakers at the rally were Grantland Johnson from the National Committee to Overturn the Bakke Decision, Aimee Cruz of Union of Democratic Filipinos, Digna Sanchez of the Puerto Rican Socialist Party, Betsy Gimbel of Disabled in Action, Reverend Bob Pruitt, Joe Malloy, a coal miner and member of the United Mine Workers Union, and Claudette Furlonge of the Women’s Focus of the National Committee to Overturn the Bakke Decision.
Larry Holmes, New York City mobilizer of the National Committee to Overturn the Bakke Decision, received a tremendous cheer as he opened his remarks with the chant “Down with Bakke, up with Soweto.” He then went on to express the sentiments of all those participating in today’s demonstration when he said, “Today we have a meeting of organizers, a meeting of anti-racist activists. We have to be about continuing the struggle. Our presence here today is making history, making April 15 a turning point in the struggle to liberate the oppressed people.”[2]