Celebrities promote arts, immigration reform at DNC

John Leguizamo and Rosario Dawson are among the celebrities attending the Democratic National Convention this week promoting the arts and immigration reform.

Leguizamo is part of the nonpartisan Creative Coalition delegation, which advocates for arts funding. Other actors that are part of the delegation to DNC include: Patricia Arquette, Beau Bridges, Rose Byrne, Tim Daly, Wayne Knight, Richard Schiff and Alfre Woodard.

“(Kids) are two-thirds less likely to drop out of school if they have a strong arts curriculum,” Arquette told the Charlotte Observer. “And those are kids that we would be paying for to be in jail or to be on welfare, so we might as well pay for them to be in arts classes.”

Dawson participated in a Voto Latino policy forum in Charlotte and chanted “Education, not deportation!” while holding up a banner reading “Undocumented” during a protest where 10 undocumented immigrants were arrested.

“That’s what it takes,” Dawson told the Charlotte Observer. “For all of you who just got arrested, I want to commend your bravery. Things will change. We are here with you.”