News (Noticias) Tagged ‘National Association of Hispanic Journalists’

The UNITY Convention, considered the largest annual meeting of journalists around the world, kicks off tomorrow in Chicago.

It brings together the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, the Asian American Journalists Association, and the Native American Journalists Association. “*

Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, an associate professor in the School of Journalism, has spent her career promoting Latino community coverage in the media.

Because of her efforts, Rivas-Rodriguez, who helped found the National Association of Hispanic Journalists in 1982, will be inducted into the association’s hall of fame in July.

In her 17-year career in news media, Rivas-Rodriguez has worked for such publications as The Boston Globe and The Dallas Morning News. “*

The Los Angeles Dodgers will honor Hall of Fame Dodger Broadcaster Jaime Jarrín for his 50th season as “the Spanish Voice of the Dodgers” tomorrow, June 24 before the Dodgers take on the Chicago White Sox at 7:10 p.m. The pregame ceremony to include a ceremonial first pitch and special presentations will begin at approximately 6:50 p.m. Jarrín has called more than 7,500 regular season games, approximately 25 MLB All-Star games, and 20 World Series during his half century with the Dodgers.

“Jaime Jarrin is a treasure,” said Dodgers President Jamie McCourt. “His blend of eloquence and elegance, together with a personal dignity that exudes from his manner, has made him welcome in millions of homes. He is a vital part of the Dodgers Family-and the Dodgers Families. This franchise has been blessed to have such a kind and competent gentlemen tell our stories to generations of Dodgers-loving fans.”

In honor of tomorrow’s anniversary, Jarrín will be visible throughout local media outlets including the morning show on Telemundo, the Dodgers’ pregame radio show on KABC 790 and the club’s pregame television broadcast on FSN Prime Ticket. He was featured last week on a special two-page spread of La Opinion. Jarrín was also honored in Hoy and will receive a special award from Hoy’s publisher and general manager Roaldo Morán during the pregame ceremony.

Jarrín left his native Ecuador and arrived in the U.S. on June 24, 1955, the same year that Dodger great Sandy Koufax made his Major League debut. Jarrín had never seen a baseball game until he moved to Los Angeles and was captivated by the Dodgers while watching his first televised broadcast in 1955, the World Series in which the Dodger franchise won its first World championship by defeating the New York Yankees.

Jarrín then began regularly attending minor league games in Los Angeles, visiting both Gilmore Field and Wrigley Field for three years from 1955 until the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958. Jarrín was given one year to prepare to become a baseball broadcaster by William Beaton, the station manager at KWKW. During his first six years with the Dodgers, he didn’t travel. Instead, Jarrín and his partner would recreate the games in the studio while listening to fellow Hall of Famer Vin Scully and Jerry Doggett on the radio. Scully remains the only other broadcaster in Major League history with 50 or more consecutive years of service to the same team.

Soon after, Jarrín took the Dodgers’ Spanish-language radio broadcast on the road, making every stop with the Dodgers, and in 1973, Jarrín became the club’s top Spanish-language broadcaster, 14 years after he first joined the team. From 1962 to 1984, Jarrín consecutively called close to 4,000 games spanning 22 seasons and never missed a contest. The streak was broken only when Jarrín took charge of all the Spanish-language radio coverage and production for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Jarrín was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on July 26, 1998 in Cooperstown, NY as the recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award, becoming only the second Spanish-language announcer to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, joining Buck Canel. Jarrín has received numerous other awards in recognition of his professional contributions and is known as a pioneer in Spanish-language sports broadcasting. His honors include the first Southern California Sports Broadcaster Association’s President’s Award, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the highest award from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, induction into the Southern California Sports Broadcasters’ Hall of Fame, and its foreign-language broadcaster of the year award. Earlier this year, Jarrín received the Radio & Television News Association of Southern California’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Jarrín’s 50 years with the Dodgers are filled with many special games and moments. He counts Sandy Koufax’s 1965 perfect game, Don Drysdale’s 1968 scoreless-inning streak, and Orel Hershiser’s record 59 consecutive scoreless innings pitched in 1988 as favorites. Jarrín’s top memory was Opening Day of 1981 when rookie pitcher Fernando Valenzuela took the mound marking the start of “Fernandomania” which swept the country that season. Jarrín served as Valenzuela’s interpreter for several years and their friendship has come full circle, as Valenzuela now serves as an analyst alongside Jarrín for more than 100 games every season.

Jarrín has been broadcasting for his 50th season alongside his colleagues Valenzuela and Pepe Yñiguez on KHJ/La Ranchera 930 AM, the Spanish-language broadcasting home of the Dodgers. Valenzuela will catch the ceremonial first pitch from Jarrín during tomorrow night’s ceremony, which will also include a video tribute to the legendary announcer. “*

-The National Trauma Institute, a non-profit grant making organization that funds short-term trauma research, has hired marketing and public relations veteran Teresa Niño to head its Communications and Legislative Affairs efforts.

Niño most recently headed the Marketing Department for the San Antonio Express-News as well as its Community Relations department and the Express-News Charitable Foundation. Prior to that, she headed the Marketing and Business Development department for the commercial business park KellyUSA for eight years, now known as Port San Antonio and was responsible for their international outreach. Niño was a researcher for marketing Guru Lionel Sosa’s book, “The Americano Dream.” In the 90’s, she was an appointee in the Clinton Administration, serving in the Office of Public Affairs for the Health and Human Services department under Secretary Donna E. Shalala; and was Assistant Press Secretary for Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley for the City of Chicago in the 80’s. Niño began her professional career as a television reporter in Chicago, Illinois.

“Teresa’s vast experience and expertise in the field of communications as well as her broad network on the political front will play a critical role as we move forward with our national agenda,” said Sharon Smith, Executive Director of the National Trauma Institute. “We are delighted to have Teresa join our team and are very excited about her vision for our growth.”

The National Trauma Institute’s mission is to fund short-term (3-5 years) trauma-related research that will change and improve current practices and procedures and thereby lower the number of deaths due to trauma. Trauma-related deaths are the number one cause of death for people ages 1-44; and trauma-related injuries occur everyday throughout America and cost our country billions of dollars in treatment and rehabilitation. Many Level 1 Trauma Centers throughout the country have closed due to lack of funds. Time consuming and repetitive surgeries, such as those necessary with traumatic injuries, become too expensive for health plans to cover or for hospitals to get reimbursed. The number of casualties and injuries has increased due to the war and the opportunity to learn and implement best practices in emergency situations needs to be researched and proven. As has been shown with diseases such as AIDS and Cancer, when funds are allocated to research, and practices are changed, the number of deaths is reduced.

Niño serves on various local boards and committees and has received numerous awards for her charitable work and leadership. She is a member of the American Marketing Association (AMA), Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) and the San Antonio Association of Hispanic Journalists (SAAHJ). She resides in San Antonio with her husband, Juan A. Sepúlveda, Jr., author of the book, “The Life and Times of Wilie Velasquez: Su Voto es Su Voz,” and their two children, Michael and Victoria.”*

Ray Suarez, the senior correspondent for The NewsHour, who has spent more than a quarter century in journalism covering local, national, and international stories, will address UMass Dartmouth’s 2008 undergraduate commencement exercises.

Due to the rapid enrollment growth of the campus undergraduate and graduate students will be receiving their degrees at different ceremonies for the first time. Approximately 350 graduate students will receive their degrees on Saturday, May 24 and 1,200 undergraduates will receive degrees on Sunday, May 25.

During the undergraduate ceremony in the Vietnam Veterans Peace Memorial Amphitheater honorary degrees will be awarded to:

* New Bedford native and Qualcomm founder Irwin Jacobs and wife Joan Jacobs, who have been generous supporters of college scholarships for New Bedford students and supporters of numerous other educational and arts-related causes.

* Southcoast Hospitals Group CEO Ronald Goodspeed, who recently co-authored What If…? A Survival Guide for Physicians, a book intended to help medical students, residents and physicians successfully handle situations traditionally not covered by medical education and training.

* Retired UMass Dartmouth Dean of Students Donald Howard who spent more than 40 years at the university and was instrumental in building student government and leadership structures, student publications, the student judiciary system, student-run activity fee disbursement systems, the theater company, and the lecture series.

The graduate student ceremony will be built around three speakers: an innovator external to the campus, a graduate alumnus/a innovator, and a graduate student.

The address by the external innovator will be delivered by Dr.Onesky Aupont, a faculty member at the University of Massachusetts Medical School who is a key leader of the Massachusetts arm of the National Children’s Study, the largest study to be conducted in the United States to assess the effects of environmental and genetic factors on child and human health.

Also speaking at the graduate commencement will be Yong Zhang, chief operating officer of Salary.com, a Massachusetts-based company that provides companies with the tools to “manage and inspire their most important asset - their people.” Mr. Zhang received graduate degrees in engineering and physics from UMass Dartmouth.

Speaking from a graduate student perspective will be Master of Fine Arts candidate Jennifer Ling Datchuk.

“Commencement 2008 at UMass Dartmouth is going to feature a diverse array of people who have had, and continue to have, an enormous impact on the lives of others,” Chancellor Jean F. MacCormack said. “This will be a celebration of the power of education and innovation to strengthen our Commonwealth, nation, and world; and a challenge to the Class of 2008 to set a new and even higher standard of global engagement.”

More on Ray Suarez

Mr. Suarez, also known for his work as host of NPR’s Talk of the Nation, wrote the book The Old Neighborhood: What We Lost in the Great Suburban Migration ( Free Press ), and has contributed to several others, including Brooklyn ( Workman, 2001 ), Saving America’s Treasures ( National Geographic, 2000 ), Las Christmas ( Knopf, 1998 ), and About Men ( Poseidon, 1986 ). His latest work is The Holy Vote: The Politics of Faith in America, an examination of the tightening relationship between religion and politics. His essays and criticism have been published in The News York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, among other publications.

Mr. Suarez shared in NPR’s 1993-94 and 1994-95 duPont-Columbia Silver Baton Awards for on-site coverage of the first all-race elections in South Africa and the first 100 days of the 104th Congress, respectively. He has been honored with the 1996 Ruben Salazar Award from the National Council of La Raza, Current History Magazine’s 1995 Global Awareness Award, and a Chicago Emmy Award.

A life member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Mr. Suarez was a founding member of the Chicago Association of Hispanic Journalists. A native of Brooklyn, New York, he lives in Washington, DC with his wife and three children.

Mr. Suarez holds a B.A. in African History from New York University and an M.A. in the Social Sciences from the University of Chicago.
Contact Info:
Email: kbeals@umassd.edu Kathy Beals, UMass Dartmouth Office of Public Affairs”*

Steve Kardell, Dallas Texas employment lawyer, recently filed a Charge of Discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) on behalf of local reporter, Rebecca Aguilar. Ms. Aguilar had worked for a local Fox station, KDFW-TV, for fourteen years when KDFW management suspended her over an alleged controversial interview, just two weeks after Ms. Aguilar was awarded Broadcast Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. KDFW later terminated Ms. Aguilar’s employment, purportedly because of the controversial interview, however, Mr. Kardell’s investigation has revealed that news management, in fact, retaliated against Ms. Aguilar for advocating change inside the newsroom.

Ms. Aguilar has a documented history of complaining about her employer’s treatment of minority members. “I’m confident the EEOC will uncover what our investigation has unveiled. Fox 4 wanted my client to advocate change in the community through her reports, but to keep silent in improving working conditions in the newsroom,” says Mr. Kardell.

Ms. Aguilar contacted employment lawyers at Clouse Dunn Khoshbin LLP for help in resolving the dispute with her former employer. To discuss this matter, please contact Steve Kardell at 214.220.3888 or steve@cdklawyers.com.

About Steve Kardell

Mr. Kardell specializes in litigating complex employment issues, board of directors liability for employment practices, executive malfeasance and corporate ethics terminations, and has been quoted on executive termination cases in Forbes, Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times and other national publications.”*

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) said it is suspending its partnership with the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News in a newsroom diversity initiative, apparently because of how the MediaNews Group-owned daily handled recent staff cuts.

“More positive signs in the hiring and retention of journalists of color at the Mercury News that increase the diversity of its staffing and an improvement in its relationship with the local Latino community need to be undertaken,” NAHJ said in a statement. “Until that time this news organization will not be acknowledged as a partner in the Parity Project. When the Mercury News shows its commitment to newsroom staffing that reflects the diversity of its community and its active interaction with that community, NAHJ stands ready to resume our active partnership.”"*

*From: http://www.mediainfo.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

The Self-Reliance Foundation (SRF) and the Hispanic Communications Network (HCN) announced today the launch of ConCiencia, a newswire service in Spanish funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Each week, ConCiencia will provide and release science and health news to all Hispanic media outlets throughout the country.

According to HCN President Carlos Alcazar, “Downsizing and consolidation in the media has left few resources for local media to use to offer science information to their Latino audiences.” Alcazar hopes ConCiencia will enhance the ability of local Spanish-language outlets to provide this vital science and health information that the Hispanic community needs.

Bob Russell, Science Advisor with the Self-Reliance Foundation noted that “Latinos currently achieve lower-than-average math and science scores in public schools and are significantly underrepresented in science and engineering professions.” Russell adds that is why it is critical to provide Hispanic media with an ongoing source of high-quality science news tailored to meet the needs and interests of Hispanics.

ConCiencia’s launch took place today at the National Press Club located downtown Washington, D.C. Attendants to the event include members from the local Hispanic media, Latino community leaders, educational and scientific organizations, among others. Keynote speakers include Hispanic Heritage Foundation’s 2006 Scientist of the Year Dr. Ines Cifuentes and Xavier Serbia, news writer and former Menudo member.

Distribution for ConCiencia’s news products includes newspaper articles, radio segments and online news. Newspaper articles will be distributed in collaboration with the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) and other news organizations. ConCiencia’s radio segments will be distributed by HCN through their radio network of over 250 Spanish-language radio stations nationwide reaching millions of listeners each week. ConCiencia also plans on distributing its content over the most heavily-used Hispanic websites. A comprehensive editorial/news gathering process is in place to assure the accuracy, accessibility, and relevance of the science that is presented. Science news used in the service will be gathered from federal research agencies, scientific societies and their publications, and English-language science news services. All feeds will be disseminated in Spanish and edited for Latino interest. ConCiencia offers all its content at no cost to all Spanish-language media outlets that wish to publish it.

ConCiencia’s staff is comprised by renowned journalists and scientists. Robert L. Russell, PhD., with more than twenty years of experience in science education, serves as Science Advisor to ConCiencia. The supervision and coordination of the content production and news gathering processes will be supervised by journalist and media producer Karina Flores-Hurley, who serves as the Chief Editor of the project. Award-winning journalist Isabel Morales serves as the writer and editor of ConCiencia’s news, and Alicia Santiago, PhD., serves as senior science researcher.

ConCiencia’s staff members also rely on the expert advice of educational media and science advisory committee members such as SACNAS’ Executive Director, Judit Camacho, NRDC’s Science Center Director, Gabriela Chavarría, among others.

The audience for Spanish-language media is vast and growing. There are currently more than 1,500 Spanish-language newspapers in print in the U.S. with a total circulation of over 42 million copies. Hispanics also represent the fastest-growing Internet market. Nearly half of Hispanics currently have Internet access at home and spend 9.8 hours per week online, compared to 8.1 hours for non-Hispanics.

Media Notes: For more information on ConCiencia or to begin receiving its news products, please contact Duly Fernandez at 202.360.4052 or

*From: http://www.hispanicprwire.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Four journalism students at The University of Arizona are among 20 young journalists from around the country who have been selected to participate in an intensive training program for student journalists. The program will be held Jan. 2-13 at the UA department of journalism.

The New York Times and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists co-sponsor the New York Times Student Journalism Institute. The institute is modeled on a program that The Times established for students in conjunction with the Black College Communications Association and the National Association of Black Journalists held at Dillard University in New Orleans.”*

“The AL DIA Foundation, with headquarters in Philadelphia, PA, unveiled today in the nation’s capital the “Felix Varela y Morales” Annual Awards for Excellence in Spanish-Language Journalism in the United States, in a press conference held today, Friday, October 19th, 2007 at 10:00 a.m. in the 3rd Floor Conference Room of Two Penn Center in Downtown Philadelphia.

The Foundation named the award after Father Felix Varela y Morales, a resident of Philadelphia in the 19th Century, because of his intellect as a writer, entrepreneurship as a newspaper editor and publisher in Philadelphia and New York, and his commitment in the defense of poor immigrants, at his time pouring into New York City mostly from Ireland and Italy to escape poverty and hunger in their homeland.

“Living always as one of the poor, he devoted himself entirely to the service of God and of needy people. He became an Apostle for the Immigrants,” says one of his many biographies.

Father Varela was born in Havana in 1788, and died in Saint Augustine, FL, in 1853. In 1824, at 37 years of age, Father Varela, escaping political persecution in Spain, found refuge in Philadelphia where he published in Old City “El Habanero”, a newspaper in which he passionately wrote for the independence of Cuba, well before the better-known Cuban writer and poet José Martí came to New York to pick up exactly the same flag and follow on the same intellectual pursuit.

“Hispanic print has been contributing to the national dialogue since 1824, when Father Felix Varela y Morales founded the first known Spanish-language newspaper in the East Coast, in the City of Philadelphia,” stated Hernán Guaracao, Chairman of the AL DIA Foundation.

Since its inception, and over the past almost two centuries, Spanish-language publications have been part of a vital process to provide news and information to a substantial group of “Americans that have populated this land since Father Varela came to Philadelphia, and America, like all the ancestors of our fellow immigrants to America, who arrived by boat or ship, plane and, more recently, by foot,” Guaracao said.

“All of them were escaping persecution, and in search of freedom – the central dream and heart of the human being – in this generous land called the United Sates of America.” He also stated that the recognition of this kind of intellectual work, and particularly what he called “this type of overlooked, and undervalued American journalism,” produced today by hundreds of Spanish-language publications across the nation with over 200 years of accumulated history, is crucially important for America to understand fully and correctly.

“This little known but proud journalism must be finally recognized for its excellence while underlining its essential role in bringing Americans together, building pride for what American Democracy, in general, and American Journalism, in particular, still represent in the free world today,” the AL DIA Foundation Chairman said.

For more Information about the award, or AL DIA Foundation, please call 215-569-4666 Ext 116.
About the AL DIA Foundation:

The AL DIA Foundation is a nonprofit organization, of the Philadelphia newspaper of the same name, incorporated in the State of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Guaracao is the former president of the National Association of Hispanic Publications (NAHP, Inc.), and a Fulbright Scholar with 25-year career in Journalism in the Americas. He has an undergraduate degree in Communications and Journalism from a prestigious University in Latin America, in addition to a Master’s Degree in Journalism from the University of Iowa, in Iowa City.

He is currently the Publisher of AL DIA Newspapers Inc., one the leading Hispanic Publishing Houses in the nation, headquartered in downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Current members of the Foundation Board, in addition to Mr. Guaracao, are Dr. Concetta Stewart, Ph.D, Dean of Communications of Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, and Mr. Rudy Beserra, Senior Vice-president of Coca-Cola, USA, in Atlanta, GA.

The “Felix Varela” National Awards for Excellence in Spanish-Language Journalism in the United States

(Full Details)
THE LARGEST CASH AWARD IN THE U.S. HISPANIC PRESS

– The National Felix Varela Annual Awards for Excellence in
Spanish-language Journalism in the United States will carry one of the largest cash prizes for journalism in the nation.
– In its first year, the contest will choose winners in only two
categories: Hispanic Print Journalism and Hispanic Digital Journalism.
– Each category winner will receive a $10,000 prize each.
– Although there exist other awards with cash prizes such as those
awarded by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), and the National Association of Hispanic Publications (NAHP), this prize is by far the largest of them all monetarily as well as in its scope.

THE JURY IN CHARGE OF SELECTION:
The jury will be made up of 3 prestigious practitioners of Journalism in the Americas:

– Albor Ruiz, Columnist of the New York Daily News, and member of the
Hall of Fame of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ).
– Zita Arocha, Former Executive Director of NAHJ, and currently
Associate Director of the Sam Donaldson Center for Communications Studies at the University of Texas, at El Paso.
– Jorge Castañeda, former Foreign Relations Secretary of the Mexican Government, and current syndicated columnist of El Pais in Spain, has been invited to be the third judge in this prestigious panel.

THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS:
In the first edition of the awards, the jury will accept entries of work published from January 1st, 2006, all the way to June 30th, 2008.

A formal ceremony, with guests from all across the Americas and Spain, to acknowledge the winners, will be hosted in a prestigious venue in the Washington-Philadelphia-New York corridor during Hispanic Heritage Month of 2008, which runs from September 15th to October the 15th.

Full details will be made available online through an official web site of the “Felix Varela” Awards of the AL DIA Foundation, announced the Chairman of the nonprofit corporation, which also intends to disperse scholarships and fellowships each year to contribute to the advancement of American Journalism.

Those that are interested in learning more about the program immediately, please contact Hernán Guaracao at 215-569-4666 ext. 116. “*

“A few weeks ago, Rebecca Aguilar was honored by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists as Broadcast Journalist of the Year.

Today, the KDFW/Channel 4 reporter finds herself indefinitely suspended, the object of jokes, threats and sexual and racial slurs from hundreds of bloggers over a story that aired early last week.

Neither Aguilar nor station management are talking about her suspension.”*

“Aguilar — who was just named one of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ Broadcast Journalists of the Year — has been indefinitely suspended, based on concerns about how Aguilar treated Walton. “*

“– The AL DIA Foundation, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit organization, announced today the ‘FELIX VARELA’ National Journalism Award; The award will bestow cash awards of $20,000 dollars

– The award honors an American intellectual of Hispanic origin who 183 years ago published in Philadelphia a Spanish-language newspaper, one of the first in the history of the nation

– The award, the largest cash prize in Hispanic Journalism in the nation today, will open an opportunity for the young talent driving Hispanic print journalism in the nation today to be finally acknowledged, honored and properly rewarded

New York, NY–(HISPANIC PR WIRE)–October 15, 2007–The AL DIA Foundation, with headquarters in Philadelphia, PA, unveiled today in the nation’s capital the “Felix Varela y Morales” Annual Awards for Excellence in Spanish-Language Journalism in the United States, in a press conference held today Monday, at 10:30 a.m. in Room 601C of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York.

The Foundation named the award after Father Felix Varela y Morales because of his intellect as a writer, entrepreneurship as a newspaper editor and publisher in Philadelphia and New York, and his commitment in the defense of poor immigrants, at his time pouring into New York City mostly from Ireland and Italy to escape poverty and hunger in their homeland.

“Living always as one of the poor, he devoted himself entirely to the service of God and of needy people. He became an Apostle for the Immigrants,” says one of his many biographies.

Father Varela was born in Havana in 1788, and died in Saint Augustine, FL, in 1853.

In 1824, at 37 years of age, Father Varela, escaping political persecution in Spain, found refuge in Philadelphia where he published in Old City “El Habanero”, a newspaper in which he passionately wrote for the independence of Cuba, well before the better-known Cuban writer and poet José Martí came to New York to pick up exactly the same flag and follow on the same intellectual pursuit.

“Hispanic print has been contributing to the national dialogue since 1824, when Father Felix Varela y Morales founded the first known Spanish-language newspaper in the East Coast, in the City of Philadelphia,” stated Hernán Guaracao, Chairman of the AL DIA Foundation.

Since its inception, and over the past almost two centuries, Spanish-language publications have been part of a vital process to provide news and information to a substantial group of “Americans that have populated this land since Father Varela came to Philadelphia, and America, like all the ancestors of fellow immigrants who arrived by boat, ship, plane, or simply by foot,” Guaracao said.

“All of them were escaping persecution, and in search of freedom – the central dream and heart of the human being – in this generous land called the United Sates of America.”

He also stated that the recognition of this kind of intellectual work, and particularly what he called “this type of overlooked, and undervalued American journalism,” produced today by hundreds of Spanish-language publications across the nation with over 200 years of accumulated history is crucially important.

“This little known but proud journalism must be finally recognized for its excellence and essential role in bringing Americans together, building pride for what American Democracy, in general, and American Journalism, in particular, still represent in the free world today,” the AL DIA Foundation Chairman said.

For more Information about the award, or AL DIA Foundation, please call 215-569-4666 Ext 116.
About the AL DIA Foundation:

The AL DIA Foundation is a nonprofit organization, of the Philadelphia newspaper of the same name, incorporated in the State of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Guaracao is the former president of the National Association of Hispanic Publications (NAHP, Inc.), and a Fulbright Scholar with 25-year career in Journalism in the Americas. He has an undergraduate degree in Communications and Journalism from a prestigious University in Latin America, in addition to a Masters Degree in Journalism from the University of Iowa, in Iowa City.

He is currently the Publisher of AL DIA Newspapers Inc., one the leading Hispanic Publishing Houses in the nation, headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Current members of the Foundation Board, in addition to Mr. Guaracao, are Dr. Concetta Stwart, Ph.D, Dean of Communications of Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, and Mr. Rudy Beserra, Senior Vice-president of Coca-Cola, USA, in Atlanta, GA.

What are the Felix Varela National Awards for Excellence in Spanish-Language Journalism in the United States

Details…

THE LARGEST CASH AWARD IN THE U.S. HISPANIC PRESS
– The National Felix Varela Annual Awards for Excellence in Spanish-language Journalism in the United States will carry one of the largest cash prizes for journalism in the nation.
– In its first year, the contest will choose winners in only two categories: Hispanic Print Journalism and Hispanic Digital Journalism.
– Each category winner will receive a $10,000 prize each.
– Only a few of the prizes given by the NAHJ that have cash prizes, each about $250. Ivan Roman, Executive Director of the NAHJ, said in a ceremony in DC that these prizes could be raised to $500, or up to $1,000, if the Hearst chain of newspapers decides to sponsor them to this level.

THE JURY IN CHARGE OF SELECTION:
The jury will be made up of 3 prestigious practitioners of Journalism in the Americas:

– Albor Ruiz, Columnist of the New York Daily News, and member of the Hall of Fame of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ).

– Zita Arocha, Former Executive Director of NAHJ, and currently Associate Director of the Sam Donaldson Center for Communications Studies at the University of Texas, at El Paso.

– Jorge Castañeda, former Foreign Relations Secretary of the Mexican Government, and current syndicated columnist of El Pais in Spain, has been invited to be the third judge in this prestigious panel.

THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS:
Entries for this award will be accepted from October 30th, 2007, until June 30th, 2008.
A formal ceremony, with guests from all across the Americas and Spain, to acknowledge the winners, will be hosted in a prestigious venue in the Washington-Philadelphia-New York corridor during Hispanic Heritage Month of 2008, which runs from September 15th to October the 15th.

Full details will be made available online through an official web site of the “Felix Varela” Awards of the AL DIA Foundation, announced the Chairman of the nonprofit corporation, which also will disperse scholarships and fellowships to contribute to the advancement of American journalism.

Those that are interested in learning more about the program immediately, please contact Hernán Guaracao at 215-569-4666 ext. 116.”*

“The AL DIA Foundation, with headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, unveiled today in the nation’s capital the “Felix Varela y Morales” Annual Awards for Excellence in Spanish-Language Journalism in the United States, in a press conference held today Thursday, October 4th, 2007 at 12:00 p.m., in the Zenger Room of the National Press Club of Washington, DC.

“Hispanic print has been contributing to the national dialogue, ever since 1824, when Father Felix Varela y Morales founded the first known Spanish-language newspaper in the East Coast, in the City of Philadelphia,” stated Hernán Guaracao, Chairman of the AL DIA Foundation.

Since its inception, and over the past 100 years, the industry of Spanish-language publications has been part of a vital process to provide news and information to a substantial group of “Americans that have populated this land since Father Varela came to Philadelphia, and America, like all the ancestors of our fellow American immigrants, on a plane, boat, ship, plane, or simply by foot,” Guaracao said. “All of them, escaping persecution, and in search of freedom –the central and universal longing of the human race– in this generous land called the United States of America.”

He also stated that the recognition of this kind of intellectual work, and particularly what he called “this type of overlooked American journalism,” produced today by hundreds of Spanish-language publications across the nation, and already with over 200 years of history in America. This little known but proud journalism “must be finally recognized for its excellence, as any other, important as its essential role is in bringing Americans together and building pride for what American Democracy, in general, and American Journalism, in particular, still represents in the free world today,” the AL DIA Foundation Chairman said. CASH AWARD, THE LARGEST IN HISPANIC PRESS:

The National Felix Varela Annual Awards for Excellence in Spanish-language Journalism in the United States will carry one of the largest cash prizes for journalism in the nation.

In its first year, the contest will choose winners in only two categories: Hispanic Print Journalism and Hispanic Digital Journalism.

Each category winner will receive a $10,000 prize each, the largest in the nation today for Hispanic Journalists in the US.
THE JURY IN CHARGE OF SELECTION:

The jury will be made up of 3 prestigious practitioners of Journalism in the Americas:

Albor Ruiz, Columnist of the New York Daily News, and member of the Hall of Fame of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ).

Zita Arocha, Former Executive Director of NAHJ, and currently Associate Director of the Sam Donaldson Center for Communications Studies at the University of Texas, at El Paso.

Jorge Castañeda, former Foreign Relations Secretary of the Mexican Government, and current syndicated columnist of El Pais in Spain, has been invited to be the third judge in this prestigious panel.

THE DEADLINE FOR ENTRY SUBMISSIONS:

Entries for this award will be accepted from October 12th, 2007, until June 30th, 2008.
A formal ceremony, with guests from all across the Americas and Spain, to acknowledge the winners, will be hosted in a prestigious venue in the Washington-Philadelphia-New York corridor during Hispanic Heritage Month of 2008, which runs from September 15th to October the 15th.

Full details will be made available soon online through an official web site of the “Felix Varela” Awards of the AL DIA Foundation.

Those that are interested in learning immediately more information about the program, please contact Hernán Guaracao at 215-569-4666 ext. 116.

Mr. Guaracao is the former president of the National Association of Hispanic Publications (NAHP, Inc.), and a Fulbright Scholar with 25-year career in Journalism in the Americas. He has an undergraduate degree in Communications and Journalism from a prestigious University in Latin America, in addition to a Masters Degree in Journalism from the University of Iowa, in Iowa City. He is currently the Publisher of AL DIA Newspapers Inc., one the leading Hispanic Publishing Houses in the nation, headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
THE FOUNDATION:

The AL DIA Foundation is a nonprofit organization incorporated as well in the State of Pennsylvania.

Current members of the Foundation Board, in addition to Mr. Guaracao, are Dr. Concetta Stwart, Ph.D, Dean of Communications of Temple University in Philadelphia, and Mr. Rudy Beserra, Senior Vice-president of Coca-Cola, USA.

The Foundation named the award after Father Felix Varela y Morales because his intellect as a writer, entrepreneurship as a newspaper editor and publisher in Philadelphia and New York, and his commitment in the defense of poor immigrants, at his time pouring into New York City mostly from Ireland and Italy to escape poverty and hunger in their homeland.

“Living always as one of the poor, he devoted himself entirely to the service of God and of needy people. He became an Apostle for the Immigrants,” says one of his many biographies.

Father Varela was born in Havana in 1788, and died in Saint Augustine, FL, in 1853.

At 1824, at 37 years of age, Father Varela came to live in Philadelphia where he published in Old City “El Habanero”, a newspaper in which he passionately wrote for the independence of Cuba, well before the better known Cuban writer and poet José Martí­ came to New York to pick up exactly the same flag and follow on the same intellectual pursuit.”

“Hispanics and Latinos are described as the largest minority group in the United States, as a burgeoning force in the electorate and as an untapped frontier of the business market. Yet these descriptions belie the complexity of the 44 million people to whom they refer.

Even the terms used to name them — Hispanics, Hispanic-Americans, Latinos, Latino-Americans, the Spanish-surnamed — too tightly package the people categorized by those definitions, some observers say.

“We are mixed and we are many things,” said Phillip Rodriguez, a documentary filmmaker. Many of his films, such as “Los Angeles Now” and “Brown is the New Green: George Lopez and the American Dream,” explore the experience and identity of Latinos in the United States.”

I have been asked several times why is it HispanicTips instead of Latino and frankly it is just because that is what popped into my head first when I purchased the domain. There was no rhyme or reason to the decision, no brainwashing by the government, no motive. I just wanted to get the news out. I don’t have an answer, though I personally don’t mind either because I know who I am and there are no labels that can affect who I am. All I can do is continue to provide the best service that I can regardless of the label. As a side note after two years of collecting here at HispanicTips, I can easily say that at least 80 to 90% of what I collect contains the term Hispanic not Latino. So the media definitely uses this terms more heavily than Latino. It would be interesting to see what Hispanic/Latino journalists use in their articles. Although, their national organization is called National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

“Hispanic Business magazine editor and publisher JesÚs Chavarrí announced that Ms. Val Zavala, Anchor of Life and Times, and V.P. of News and Public Affairs, will be the Mistress of Ceremonies for the magazine’s annual EOY Awards Gala. The EOY honors the top Hispanic entrepreneurs in the United States and will be held on Thursday, November 8 at the Los Angeles Marriott Downtown. It will feature 15 of the nation’s top Hispanic entrepreneurs in five industry-specific categories.

“Val Zavala’s life’s work is influential in the U.S. Hispanic community on a local and national level,” said Chavarrí. “Her work in the positive portrayal of Hispanics in the media is integral in the current Hispanic enterprise landscape.”

An accomplished reporter/anchor, Zavala joined KCET in 1987 with six years of reporting experience at commercial news stations. Multi-talented as she is accomplished in her 19 years at KCET Zavala has not only served as a reporter/anchor; she has also served as a co-host, documentary producer and executive producer.

Her extensive work has garnered ten L.A. Area Emmy Awards, six Golden Mikes, two Imagen Awards for Excellence for positive portrayal of Latinos, and the “Avance” award from Hispanic Americans for Fairness in Media honoring those for longevity and integrity in broadcast journalism. She was also named one of the hundred most influential Latinos by Hispanic Business Magazine (2006).

Consistently working towards the advancement of Hispanics portrayal in the media, Zavala serves as a long-standing member of the California Chicano News Media Association, as well as the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. She has also served as a keynote speaker, mistress of ceremonies, moderator and panelist for numerous organizations including The United Way of Greater Los Angeles, MALDEF (Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund), Zocalo and the Walt Disney Hall speakers’ series.

“It is a privilege to be celebrating the entrepreneurial spirit,” states Zavala. “With the growing income divide between the wealthy and poor in the Hispanic community, business ventures are critical for the upward mobility of our fellow Hispanics.” “

“Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, a journalism professor who helped spearhead a grassroots campaign for meaningful inclusion of Latinos in the upcoming Ken Burns documentary titled THE WAR, and Maria Burns Ortiz, a college soccer columnist with ESPN.com and one of the newer Latino voices in the country’s newsrooms, are among those to receive the prestigious n Awards next month from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

Rivas-Rodriguez, from the University of Texas at Austin, and Burns Ortiz will receive the Leadership Award and the Emerging Journalist of the Year Award, respectively.

Others honored with n Awards include Dianne Solis of The Dallas Morning News for her thoughtful and sincere coverage of immigration, Gary Coronado of The Palm Beach Post for his stunning photographs chronicling the physical risks Central Americans take jumping trains to go north and enter the U.S., and Rebecca Aguilar of KDFW-TV Fox 4 in Dallas for her reporting work that gives a voice to those who typically don’t have one in the media. They will receive the Frank del Olmo Print Journalist of the Year Award, the Photojournalist of the Year Award and the Broadcast Journalist of the Year Award, respectively.

All the n Award recipients and winners in 14 other categories will be honored at the 22nd Annual Noche de Triunfos Journalism Awards Gala on Oct. 4 at the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C., NAHJ’s signature event during Hispanic Heritage month. Gloria Campos Brown, news anchor at WFAA-TV Dallas, the evening’s honorary gala chair, and master of ceremonies Antonio Mora, anchor at CBS 2 News Chicago, will host the event attended by journalists, Latino leaders and the community at large.

The work honored with the Journalism Awards that evening ”” produced all across the country from Miami and Charlotte, North Carolina in the east to Salinas and San Diego/Baja California in the west ”” range from an editor’s impassioned defense of undocumented immigrants in the deep South in his commentary to a documentary investigating California’s rural gangs and their devastating effect on Latino families.

The award-winning work also chronicled the emotional journey of a woman diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer during her fifth month of pregnancy, investigated the little-known, yet incredible story on the U.S. military’s contingency plans to invade Mexico, and descriptively narrates in literary style a woman’s story of sexual violence on both sides of the border and the forced silence of undocumented abuse victims who have little hope of finding justice.

“Immigration was a big issue in 2006 and in our journalism awards, it shows,” said Ivan Roman, NAHJ’s executive director. “Much of the winning coverage went way beyond the huge immigration marches to deeply explore other aspects of the debate and tell simply heart-wrenching stories conveying much of the emotion with such wonderful writing that as journalists, they make us proud. It’s bound to be an inspiring evening.”

The five n Awards honor journalists for their professional achievements and their leadership in bringing greater awareness to issues affecting the Latino community, while NAHJ’s Journalism Awards are given out to honor Latino journalists for excellence in their specialized fields of work or to any journalist, regardless of ethnicity, for their outstanding coverage of the Latino community.

The gala’s presenters include Janet Murguia, president of the National Council of La Raza, Gilbert Bailon, publisher and editor of Al Dia (Dallas) and current president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Maureen Bunyan, anchor of WJLA-TV in Washington, Miguel Almaguer, a reporter with WRC- TV in Washington, and Renay San Miguel, senior vice-president/senior media strategist with Weber Shandwick/WCTV public relations firm and former anchor of CNN Headline News.

For information on purchasing tables, tickets or other sponsorship opportunities, please contact Azuree Salazar, NAHJ Development Director, at (202) 662-7482 or asalazar@nahj.org. The deadline to confirm a sponsorship option is Monday, September 24, 2007. Sponsors to date include: Freddie Mac, Continental Airlines, Chrysler, Hearst Newspapers, State Farm Insurance, Disney, Harrah’s Entertainment, Prudential Financial, Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc., Univision Communications and Western Union.

For more information about all the winners and winning entries, please go to www.nahj.org/sponsorship/specialevents/2007/noche/07awardwinners.shtml

For general information about the Gala event, presenters and sponsorships, please go to www.nahj.org/sponsorship/specialevents/2007/Noche/07nochedetriunfos.shtml“

“Rafael Olmeda, president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and Joe Torres, anchor at New York’s WABC-TV, will join other prominent minority journalists as speakers at the World Journalism Institute Conference for Minority Journalists of Faith, to be held at The King’s College in New York City, November 2-3, 2007.

The annual conference will attract both student and professional minority journalists of faith from across the country. Attendees will be encouraged to integrate their Christian faith and journalism practice in an appropriate fashion.

Participants will begin the conference with a variety of New York media tours Friday afternoon and will formally begin the conference with a pizza dinner, followed by the Samuel Cornish lecture presented by the husband and wife team of Herbert and Mira Lowe. Mira Lowe is the assistant managing editor at Johnson Publishing Company, which publishes Ebony and Jet magazines.

Herbert Lowe is the immediate past president of the National Association of Black Journalists and is the communications director for the National Black Caucus Foundation in Washington, D.C.

Saturday will be filled with seminars beginning with photojournalists Gary Fong (formerly, San Francisco Chronicle) and Kenneth Irby (Poynter Institute). Other morning sessions will be led by Judith Howard (Denver Post), Leema Thomas-Joseph (Newsday), Mizell Stewart III (Evansville Courier and Press). Joe Torres (WABC-TV) will give a luncheon talk. In the afternoon will be a panel with bloggers LaShawn Barber and Josue Sierra (Townhall.com). Deswood Tome (Navajo Nation) and Rafael Olmeda (South Florida Sun-Sentinel) round out the afternoon sessions. The conference ends at 4:00 in order to give participants time to enjoy the sights and sounds of Manhattan.

To register, go to worldji.com. Cost is $50, and includes books, dinner Friday and breakfast and lunch Saturday. Housing and transportation are the responsibility of attendees.

WJI’s mission is to recruit, equip, place and encourage Christian journalists in the mainstream newsrooms of America. The institute is located in New York City.”

“Edelman, the world’s largest independent public relations firm, announced today that Stephen Chavez will join the firm as Senior Vice President and US Director of its fast-growing multicultural practice. Chavez brings more than 16 years of Hispanic and multicultural communications experience. Based in Los Angeles, he will work with Edelman’s multicultural team of more than 30 professionals in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Atlanta.

Since its founding in 1998, Edelman’s award-winning multicultural practice has delivered significant counsel and expertise in segment marketing to a comprehensive range of industries, including healthcare, consumer products, travel & tourism, food & beverage, automotive, retail, corporate, financial services, telecommunications/wireless, and entertainment.

In the past year, the practice experienced substantial growth by securing several key new accounts, increasing staff, and enhancing its core capabilities of integrated marketing, media relations and employee communications. Clients include Unilever, General Electric, WaMu, Microsoft, Starbucks, and AstraZeneca.

“We are very excited to have Stephen join our team,” said Pam Talbot, President and CEO of Edelman in the US. “He brings a proven track record of successful, award-winning communications strategies for major brands. Via his thorough understanding of the Hispanic market and the relationships he’s forged with key U.S. Hispanic leaders, he will be of great value to taking our Multicultural practice to the next level.”

Previously, Chavez was Vice President, Director of Public Relations at La Agencia de Orcí­, where he spearheaded the growth of the agency’s Hispanic practice by acquiring top blue chip clients and developing ground-breaking programs. His work has received three Public Relations Society of America PRism Awards including Hispanic Campaign of the Year for Verizon Communications. Prior to La Agencia de Orcí­, Stephen worked for six years at Valencia, Perez & Echeveste, where he supervised a team of 25 staff members as head of Consumer, Public Affairs and Social Marketing.

Chavez said, “Among the numerous positive aspects of joining a firm as rich in expertise as Edelman, I look forward to leveraging Edelman’s proficiency in digital media to explore new ways to communicate with multicultural communities. For example, Hispanics are the fastest growing audience in the US using the Internet.”

Chavez has been deeply engaged with the Hispanic community through his affiliation with professional associations. He serves as a board member of Mariachi USA Foundation, Self-Help Graphics & Art, and is a member of the California Chicano News Media Association (CCNMA) and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. Formerly, Stephen served for two years as President of the Hispanic Public Relations Association and board member of the Public Relations Society of America, Los Angeles Chapter, as well as the Hispanic Americans for Fairness in the Media.

About Edelman
Edelman is the world’s largest independent public relations firm, with 2,700 employees in 48 offices worldwide. The firm was named PRWeek’s Large Agency of the Year for 2006. Advertising Age named Edelman as one of ten marketing firms to watch in 2007 in its Best Agencies issue. Edelman was also named 2006 Large Agency of the Year and 2005 International Agency of the Year by The Holmes Group. A&R Edelman was formed following the acquisition of A&R Partners in May 2006. “

“The Latino “war” against Ken Burns’ upcoming documentary, “The War,” to be aired on PBS is not over. Despite recent press statements, key Latino organizations and leaders across the country today publicly announced that the issue is far from resolved and that they will continue pressing for a respectful resolution.

Latino organizations and leaders called on Ken Burns and Florentine Pictures to meet with a representative cross-section of the national Latino leadership to explain in detail the changes they have made to the film, how they plan to include the Latino experience in their future projects and how they plan to include Latinos on the Florentine team. They also call on PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger, as well as WETA-TV’s CEO and president, Sharon Percy Rockefeller, to explain the measures that will be taken to assure that such a gross exclusion of the Latino community does not occur again in their current and future programming, and how they will supplement The War with other programming and activities to include the Latino experience, in particular with the educational programming.

At the urging of a corporate sponsor, Burns met with two Latino groups in early May and reiterated that he would include interviews with some Latino veterans in the 14.5 hour documentary, without offering many details. This was a commitment that he and PBS had already made publicly. Citing the results of this meeting, Burns and PBS officials at both the national and local levels have declared the issue closed.

“Ken Burns cannot choose to make a secret deal with only two of the many Latino groups that were involved in this issue and in discussion with him and PBS, and then claim that the matter is resolved,” explains Marta Garcí, co-chair of the New York Chapter of the National Hispanic Media Coalition and one of the founders of Defend the Honor, a Latino grassroots mobilization that first raised the alarm about Latino exclusion from this PBS documentary at the beginning of this year. “He must bring closure to this issue by paying the Latino leadership of this country the respect, respeto, of meeting with us to explain himself and his future relationship to the Latino community.”

Some progress had been made on the issue over the past several months in that Burns has added interviews with two Mexican American veterans and one Native American to the 14 hour and 28 minute documentary. “But make no mistake,” said Iván Román, executive director of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, “we will withhold judgment on how meaningful that additional material is - whether it truly speaks to the Latino experience and whether it is reflected in the companion book and educational material.”

In subsequent statements to the press, Burns has been dismissive of the arguments that the inclusion of Latinos is about historical accuracy rather than political correctness.

“It is unfortunate that Ken Burns continues to see this issue as one of politics and rhetoric that he must rise above,” said Dr. Maggie Rivas-Rodrí­guez, the University of Texas journalism professor who co-chairs the Defend the Honor Campaign. “It has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with historical accuracy and inclusion.”

Rosa Rosales, national president of LULAC, said that it was crucial for the Latino organizations to publicly challenge statements in the press by Burns and PBS that the issue had been resolved. “As Ken Burns travels across the country as part of the $10 million promotional effort by PBS, he still characterizes this as a terrible misunderstanding,” Rosales said. “It’s no misunderstanding. We understand perfectly that he only added the new interviews under pressure and, right now, it looks like he’s not very proud of that new material.”

Another sticking point are the discrepancies between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant proposal that provided federal funding for the film, and what he and PBS have said in recent months. For instance, Burns has said repeatedly in news interviews that in the more than 6 years of production, “no Latinos came forward” to be interviewed about their WWII experiences. But he apparently excluded Latinos from the beginning: in the NEH grant proposal submitted in 2004, Burns and Florentine Films said that the film “will celebrate American diversity” and that it will be about the “diversity of wartime America African-American, Japanese American and white.”

“This is certainly very different from the way he discusses his film today in defending himself against Latino criticisms,” observes Jess Quintero, president of the Hispanic War Veterans of America.

That documentary will shape how Americans view WWII, and if short shrift is given to the Latino contributions, there will be a reinforcement of the widespread ignorance of the Latino contribution to the building of the U.S. “Ken Burns and PBS are playing recklessly with our history, both as Latinos and Americans,” observes Gus Chavez, one of the co-chairs of the Defend the Honor. He concludes, “This is something every American should be upset about.”

“We are very uncomfortable with taking Burns and PBS’ word that they have addressed the Latino community’s concerns before actually seeing the product,” Armando Rendon of Defend the Honor Campaign of Northern California adds. “The anger in the grassroots Latino community continues unabated by the manner in which he and PBS have handled this matter.”

Preliminary signatories to this statement include the following, with additional signatures to be added through Sept. 22, 2007.

Defend the Honor Campaign Website http://www.defendthehonor.org

Organizations:

Afro-Latino Project, Queens College (CUNY), Flushing, NY
APITO Centro Cultural de Puerto Rico (ACCPR), San Juan, Puerto Rico
Defend the Honor
Latino Literacy Now, Los Angeles
League of United Latin America Citizens (LULAC)
Lic. Rudy L. Ramos Civil Rights Chapter of the American GI Forum, San Antonio, Texas
National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), Washington, DC
National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP), Los Angeles, CA
National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC), Los Angeles, CA
National Institute for Latino Policy (NiLP), New York, NY
National Latino Council on Alcohol and Tobacco Prevention (LCAT), New York, NY & Wash., DC

Individuals (affiliations for identification purposes only):

Vicente “Panama” Alba, New York, NY
Frances Aparicio, Ph.D., Professor, Latin American and Latino Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago
Luis Aponte-Parés, Boston, MA
Louise Bonanova, Civil Rights Investigator (Retired), Office for Civil Rights, United States Department of Education, San Francisco, CA
Marí Cabán
Grissele Camacho, Esq.
Ed (Gato) Castillo-Rubio, Commander, Viet Nam Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 9305 of Imperial County
Marí Elena Cepeda, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Latina/o Studies, Williams College, Williamstown, MA
Evelyn Collazo, New York, NY
Edgar De Jesus, AFSMCE East Region Area Organizing Director, and National Bronx Member, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LACLA)
Minerva Delgado, Bronx, NY
Dra. Rosalina Diaz, Associate Professor of Education, Medger Evers College (CUNY), Brooklyn, NY
Martin Espada, Professor, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Jaime Estades, Brooklyn, NY
Myra Y. Estepa, Brooklyn, NY
Dolores M. Fernández, Ph.D., President, Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community College (CUNY), Bronx, NY
Ricardo R. Fernandez, Ph.D., President, Herbert H. Lehman College (CUNY), Bronx, NY
Juan Flores, Ph.D., Visiting Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis, New York University, New York, NY
Cynthia Garcia Coll, Ph.D., Charles Pitt Robinson and John Palmer Barstow Professor Professor of Education, Psychology & Pediatrics, Brown University, Providence, RI
Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, Queens, NY
Gabriel Haslip-Viera, Ph.D., Chair, Department of Sociology, City College of New York, City University of New York, New York, NY
Hilda Hernández-Gravelle, MSW, Ed.D.
Tanya K. Hernandez, Professor of Law and Justice, Frederick W. Hall Scholar, Rutgers University School of Law, Newark, NJ
James Jennings, Ph.D., Professor, Tuft University, Boston, MA
Miriam Jiménez Román, Afro-Latino Forum, New York University, New York, NY
Francisco J. Gonzalez, Cottage Grove, MN
Aldo Lauria Santiago, Ph.D., Rutgers University
Raul Madrid, Ph.D., Department of Political Science, University of Texas at Austin
Miguel “Mickey” Melendez, New York, NY
Carlos Molina, Ph.D., New York, NY
Edwin Karli Padilla, Associate Professor of Spanish, University of Houston-Downtown
Franklyn Perez, Esq., Hostos Community College, Bronx, NY
Luis O. Reyes, Ph.D., New York, NY
Eugene Rivera, Clinical Coordinator, Hill Health Center, Middletown, CT
Clara E. Rodriguez, Ph.D., Bronx, NY
Luz Rodriguez, New York, NY
Carlos Rodriguez-Fraticelli, Ph.D., University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras
Placido Salazar, USAF Retired Vietnam Veteran, State Veterans’ Affairs, Officer of The American GI Forum of Texas, San Anotnio
Carlos Sanabria, Ph.D., Coordinator of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community College, City University of New York, Bronx, NY
Izzy Sanabria, publisher, Latin NY Magazine; Salsamagazine.com
Dr. José Ramon Sánchez, Chair, Department of Urban Studies, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY
Nelson Sierra, Albany, NY
Hector Soto, Esq., La Resurreccion UMC Social Justice Committee, Bronx, NY
Candida Tapia
Donato Tapia, JD, San Francisco, CA
Hon. Esteban Torres, former U.S. Congressman, California
Gloria Tristani, former Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Luis Urrieta, Jr., Ed.D., Department of Curriculum & Instruction, University of Texas at Austin
Richard Valencia, Ed.D., Department of Educational Psychology, University of Texas at Austin
Angela Valenzuela, Ed.D., Department of. Curriculum and Instruction and Educational Administration, University of Texas at Austin
Armando Vazquez-Ramos, Ph.D., Chicano & Latino Studies Department, California State University, Long Beach
Emilio Zamora, Ph.D., Department of History, University of Texas at Austin “