Red Ribbon Rally 2004

October 23-31 is the time in which adults and students across the city, state, and nation celebrate the Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Red Ribbon Rally. In 1985, the assassination of Drug Enforcement Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena at the hands of a drug cartel in Mexico forced members of National Family Partnership (NFP) into action. Enrique's death enraged many American's, and students in Kiki's hometown of Calexico, California began to wear red ribbons in his memory. The message of ribbons was simple: Students and parents taking a stand against the loss of life and energy. That message and its symbol, the red ribbon, spread rapidly. In 1988, NFP took the Red Ribbon Celebration nationwide, and major events began touching millions of Americans each year. Today, the annual celebration, held each October, is a major force for raising awareness and mobilizing communities in the fight against drugs.

San Antonio Fighting Back, Inc. (SAFB) kicked off the Red Ribbon Celebration, along with the state of Texas on Thursday, October 14th at the Little Carver.

Two hundred 5th graders from East and West side schools congregated at the Little Carver and listened to presentations by DEA agent Tim Jung and Executive Director of Little Carver, William Lewis. Students rocked the Little Carver when emcee Police Ice performed an anti-alcohol, anti-drug rap song on how to stay smart and not use drugs. 

After the "pep rally" students loaded six buses and headed to Austin, Texas to participate in the state Red Ribbon Rally Celebration. There, San Antonio youth joined more than 800 other youth from across the state to march up the stairs of the State Capital and make their pledge to be drug free. After making their pledge to stay drug free, students crowded into the Senate and State Representative Chambers to participate in mock hearings that would pass anti-drug legislation.

After all was said and done, the youth learned how Texas laws are passed and how each legislative committee related to passing or vetoing a law.