AUSTIN, Texas — A healing ceremony in support of Uvalde was held in Austin on Sunday.
The community ceremony was hosted by Nuestro Grupo/Academia Cuauhtli at the Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center on the morning of June 5.
Organizers invited the community to honor the 19 students and two teachers who lost their lives at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. Attendees could also use the event to express their grief and call for change.
"What we are doing today is unifying ourselves so that we can promote our own healing but also so that this will be the foundation for future political and policy action and advocacy," organizer Angela Valenzuela said.
Several indigenous, Latino and Hispanic groups were part of the healing ceremony.
Founded in 2014, Nuestro Grupo/Academia Cuauhtli is a Saturday school that works in partnership with Austin ISD, as well as the ESB-MACC, according to a release. The Academia offers fourth- and fifth-graders a cultural enrichment program with a Spanish-language curriculum on Mexican American and Indigenous Studies.
The group also develops curricula for bilingual-dual language programs in Austin ISD. Nuestro Grupo is a community-based organization that organizes the activities of Academia Cuauhtli.
This ceremony was the latest of several held in the Austin area in honor of the 21 lives lost in Uvalde almost two weeks ago.
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