Ramon Ramirez among 50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World

50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World

Minneapolis, MN..- Utne Reader Magazine has chosen Ramon Ramirez, President of PCUN, Oregon's Farmworker Union has one of it's 50 visionaries Who Are Changing Your World for 2008.

Utne reader, one of the oldest progressive magazines in the US selected Ramon Ramirez based on his vision building leadership among America's migrant farmworkers. Ramon Ramirez is one of 50 activists, artists, scientists, transcendentalism, and non-conformists who made Utne Reader's list of visionaries, working in social justice and community organization, transforming technology and the world.

Speaking about the award, Ramirez, said it was truly an honor to be selected, but the award goes to the real heroes, the farmworkers who for to long have been treated without the respect and dignity they deserve for being one of America's most important workers. This recognition belongs to them.

Ramón Ramírez knew that Spanish-language radio stations were instrumental in reaching and mobilizing Latino immigrants. So when his union bought its own low-power FM station in Oregon two years ago, they opted to broadcast in Spanish. Because 70 percent of the state's farmworkers are indigenous, the station also hosts programs in Mixteco, Triqui, and Purépecha, three languages native to Mexico.

Organizers-turned-deejays make listeners aware of their rights regarding wages, pesticides, and working conditions, empowering thousands of immigrant laborers to have a voice in the community. Coming soon to KPCN's airwaves: radionovelas, which will use time-tested storytelling techniques to educate women about sexual harassment.

To see the article in Utne Reader, link here

Posted in: KPCN-LP,Ramón Ramírez,UTNE,UTNE Reader