FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS STATEMENT
CONTACT: Justin Olsen, jolsen@fenton.com
ORLANDO –– Last Saturday, American Pride Rises (APR) continued its Summer of Us Campaign with an event in Orlando. APR partnered with community organizations to empower residents and local advocates with tools and resources to protect and defend diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). During the event, speakers such as American Pride Rises Founder, Stacey Abrams, Florida State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-17), and Florida State Rep. Anna V. Eskamani, PhD (D-42) spoke about how DEI policies and initiatives impact everyday lives—ensuring access to opportunity, education, health care, and economic stability for all.
“‘DEI has been here since the beginning of this country,” said Stacey Abrams, founder of American Pride Rises. “Today we’re here because we know that they are trying to divide us. To tell us that DEI means this community, not that community. But we know they’re going after immigrants and transgender children. We know that they’re going after teachers for teaching. That is why this is the summer of us. Not some of us. All of us.”
“Lately we’ve had to pivot from what we usually do. We want to focus on pesticides, heat stress, the labor rights that farmworkers desperately need because they don’t have water breaks. But now, we have to focus on immigration. They say they’re going after violent criminals and gang members, but they’re going after mothers and fathers, and a 15 year old who got sent to alligator Alcatraz just a few weeks ago,” said Rene Gomez, raised in South Florida representing the Farmwork Association of Florida. “It is up to our community to stand up and use our voices. But there’s so much fear and so much damage going on so we need help from allies too.”
In recent years, Florida has become a national testing ground for extreme rollbacks of diversity, equity, and inclusion. From banning DEI programs at public colleges and universities, to targeting inclusive corporate practices, to dismantling efforts at institutions like Disney and New College of Florida, cynical state leaders have pushed a coordinated agenda to silence marginalized voices, erase progress and deny opportunity. Summer of Us events are meant to bring communities together in opposition to these attacks, reclaim space for truth and representation, and demonstrate that Floridians are standing up for DEI and a future where everyone has the opportunity to build their own American Dream–no exceptions.
The Summer of Us campaign is a strategic initiative designed to defend the progress made since 2020, when multiracial coalitions and community movements united around justice and equity. In the face of mounting anti-DEI backlash, this campaign will celebrate national milestones, call out efforts to erase history, and equip individuals to advocate for inclusion. Through events held nationwide, this campaign will push back on the anti-DEI narrative by affirming the true patriotism in inclusion and celebration of our diversity.
About American Pride Rises:
American Pride Rises (APR) is an initiative committed to protecting pathways to the American Dream by fighting for a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive America for all.