Friday, August 29, 2003

La Raza Hero QUOTE OF THE DAY "A Chicano is a Mexican American with a non-Anglo image of himself." - - Ruben Salazar  (From an LA Times Op-Ed entitled, "What Is a Chicano? And What Is It Chicanos Want?") KNOW YOUR HISTORY - AUGUST 29th 1957 -- Congress passes the Civil Rights Act. The bill establishes a Civil Rights Commission & a Civil Rights Division in the Department of Justice. South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond sets the all-time filibuster record of 24 hours, 18 minutes attempting to prevent his colleagues from adopting the bill. 1966 -- Rhino (age 15) attends The Beatles last public concert. It's in front of 25,000 faithful at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The boys played 11 songs in just over half an hour, opening with "Rock & Roll Music" & closing with "Long Tall Sally." 1970 -- Thousands of Chicanos gathered at Laguna Park in East Los Angeles for the Chicano National Moratorium, They protest the disproportionate number of deaths of Chicano soldiers in Vietnam. When the LAPD attacks the crowd, one shot, a tear gas canister, is fired into the Silver Dollar Bar and hits Ruben Salazar, LA Times columnist & commentator on KMEX TV, in the head, killing him. RHINO HERE: A play about Reuben Salazar's life entitled, "August 29th" opens today in Los Angeles. Today's RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE is an article written for Latin Style Magazine by Rhino's Blog reader, Teresa-Michelle Ruiz revealing some of Salazar's legacy and giving details on where & when the play will be performed. Reuben Salazar was an LA Times reporter & columnist and a Spanish language TV commentator. He was doing an in depth investigation of police brutality against Chicanos when he was killed by L.A. County Deputy Tom Wilson, who was never brought to trial. http://www.aztlan.net/twilson.htm A brief bio of Reuben Salazar is posted on the web. Heroes of La Raza Series - Ruben Salazar (March 3, 1928 - August 29, 1970) http://www.aztlan.net/default3.htm A collection of Salazar's work was published in 1995 entitled, "Border Correspondent: Selected Writings, 1955-1970" By Ruben Salazar (Edited and with an introduction by Mario T. García - Univ. of Calif. Press) For An Excerpt of "Border Correspondent", GO TO: http://www.hispanicmagazine.com/1999/jun/Cultura/ Reviews of the book at: http://www.utep.edu/border/essays/rsalazar/rsalazar.html Salazar's life has been an inspiration to many Chicano journalists. CHECK OUT: Ruben Salazar Journalism Awards http://www.ccnma.org/GenInfoSalazar.htm Ruben Salazar Scholarship Fund http://www.nahj.org/student/2002/2002ruben.html 7:49:38 AM    comment

RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE - Ruben Salazar, Symbol of the Chicano Movement Ruben Salazar - Symbol of the Chicano Movement Written by Teresa-Michelle Ruiz and Gabriela Lopez, Latin Style, September 2003 http://www.latinstylemag.com Many of us Latinos take our freedom in this country for granted. We sip out of any drinking fountain, go to any restaurant or dance club without acknowledging that at one time signs like, "No Mexicans" prohibited us from doing such things. It didn't matter if you were actually Mexican; these signs were an overgeneralization that included all Latinos. Just like the Civil Rights movement had brave, outspoken representatives like Martin Luther King Jr., the Chicano (Mexican American) Movement had Ruben Salazar, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times and news director for KMEX, the Spanish language TV station in Los Angeles. Ruben Salazar was a seeker of Truth, a daring, brave pioneer who exposed injustices against Mexican Americans, when most journalists stayed away from these topics. Thirty-three years after his death, he is still an important symbol of the Chicano Movement of the 1960's and '70's. His topics were diverse, ranging from racism aimed at Mexicans, to exposing police brutality and the disproportionate death rate of Latinos in war-something many Latinos today say has once again happened during the war on Iraq. This commitment to his work and to uncovering Truth is what led Ruben to the third National Chicano Moratorium March in East Los Angeles on August 29. He was killed that day. Outside in the hot sun, thousands of Chicanos marched and rallied peacefully, protesting the Vietnam War specifically because Chicanos were dying in disproportionate numbers. When violence erupted, marchers ran to seek refuge in nearby homes. Ruben thought he'd be safe in the Silver Dollar Cafe. Not so. Police threw a tear-gas projectile inside, hitting him in the head. His death was ruled an accident. Mexican American marchers pointed to Ruben's death as yet another example of rampant police brutality and other injustices against Mexican Americans. At the time of his death, Ruben was working on a book about police brutality based on confidential documents he had received. His FBI file shows he had been heavily investigated. Even on the morning of his death, Ruben said he knew he was being followed. He had also been threatened directly by a sheriff who said, "You had better stop stirring up the Mexicans." Ruben was frightened, but when colleagues asked what he would do about the threats, he said, "Keep writing." In 1990, to commemorate the 20th year anniversary of Ruben Salazar's death, The Latino Theater Company in Los Angeles wrote and produced "August 29," a play about a Chicano Studies professor and the Spirit of Ruben Salazar. "We wanted to address the apathy in the Chicano community, and to honor Ruben and his writing," says Evelina Fernandez, one of the collaborators. This play is in production again this year in L.A. by Courage and Hermosa Productions at CASA 0101 theater. Executive producer, Jacqueline Calderon-Guido says she is producing the story because, "Young people need to know who (Ruben Salazar) was and what he did. He opened a lot of people's eyes." "August 29" runs Aug. 29, 2003 until Sept. 21. Fri/Sat 8pm, Sun 6pm at CASA 0101 theater, 2009 E. First St., Los Angeles, CA. Tickets: $12 general, $6 seniors, students and Boyle Heights residents. RSVP: (323) 263-7684. Info: WritingMuse@aol.com "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT: http://www.rhinosblog.info RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES: http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. 6:31:54 AM    comment

© Copyright 2005 Gary Rhine.