In this special episode, Ramona’s guest, Dr. Juan Andrade, shares the fascinating history and unsung legacy of Congressman John Lewis in the political empowerment and leadership development of the Latino community.

According to Dr. Andrade, who worked as a staff member for Lewis at the Voter Education Project, Congressman Lewis played a central role in establishing the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project (SVREP) and the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute (USHLI) and in developing leaders such as Willie Velasquez and Dr. Andrade, founders of SVREP and USHLI respectively. Together SVREP and USHLI have registered over 5 million Latino voters and trained over 1 million Latino leaders. Notably, Lewis, Velasquez and Andrade have all received Presidential medals (under Clinton and Obama) for their service to the nation.