USC Annenberg students and faculty took part in a community celebration of the 84th birthday of slain journalist Ruben Salazar at la Plaza de la Raza in East Los Angeles last Saturday. Salazar, a Los Angeles Times columnist and KMEX news director, was killed by a Los Angeles County sheriff after the National Chicano Moratorium March in East L.A. on August 29, 1970. The event, spearheaded by Chicano rights activist Rosalio Muñoz, bridged the gap between the defining events of Salazar’s coverage era — the Chicano Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, the Chicano Movement — and today. On display at the event, organized by the Chicano Movimiento Resource Center, were an array of photographs, copies of Salazar’s articles, and posters supplemented by video clips and a range of speakers. Salazar's daughters, Lisa and Stephanie, were among the many in attendance. “The intent is to bring forward the significance of the life of Ruben Salazar to today,” Muñoz explained. Muñoz presented the display, which stretched from Salazar’s birth in Mexico in 1928 and included a 1963 series he wrote for the Los Angeles Times on Mexican-Americans. Salazar also wrote about issues such as Latino political representation, educational equality, and bilingualism. The most honored Latino journalist in U.S. history, his career included serving as Mexico City bureau chief for the Times. Also on display were posterboards documenting Latino presence and coverage in the media during Salazar’s era and onward, put together by journalism professor Félix Gutiérrez.
Gutiérrez co-directs the Ruben Salazar Project with journalism professor Robert Hernandez, who also attended. Annenberg students working on the project are transforming Salazar’s personal papers such as letters, articles, photographs and other personal items into a digital timeline of Salazar’s life.
"We're seeing a different side of Ruben Salazar,” said Melissa Caskey, one of the students working on the project. “It's important to see the music he liked, what music he liked to hear. We need to see his personal side."
Other USC Annenberg students taking part in the birthday celebration included Elena Kadvany, Frances Vega, Regina Graham and Elaine Baran. Additional USC Annenberg elements for the day included a screening of the pilot for the Ruben Salazar documentary being produced by Annenberg Fellow Phillip Rodriguez, who spoke following the screening, enlarged printouts of some of Salazar's Los Angeles Times articles in the exhibit. The Plaza de la Raza event celebrated Salazar’s achievements as a bold journalist and inspiring Chicano community leader. The students will produce a timeline that fills in the gaps between Salazar’s professional and public images to portray who he was beyond that—as a husband, a father, a co-worker, a friend, a person. * This post was edited on March 8 to include the event's sponsor/organizer, the Chicano Movimiento Resource Center.
Also, it now includes the fact that Salazar's daughters, Lisa and Stephanie, attended the event.
