Eddie Sandoval
Lifetime Achievement Award
Henry Guerra Lifetime Achievement Award
Saturday, July 23 was like living a dream, I’m still pinching myself. Prior to being introduced, they showed an eight-minute video that was expertly shot and narrated by Spectrum TV reporter José Arredondo. In it, Little Joe, Sunny (Ozuna), René René and Eduardo Díaz from the National Museum of the America Latino validated my award with their edification. The video was a compilation of my photojournalistic career which spans from 1968 to the present. After I viewed it, all I could say is, “Holy vaca! I just saw my whole life flash before my eyes. Am I going to die?”
What an honor. I can easily write hundreds of words per day and it is said that a picture says a thousand words. My problem is for those words to come out of my mouth. Therefore, needless to say I lisped and stuttered in giving my acceptance speech. Nonetheless, I was floored when it ended with a standing ovation. It was so surreal. So unreal that I spent the next five days reflecting on my life and this honor bestowed on me by the Alamo City’s television and print media – most of them legends in their own right.
I must admit that I don’t have a BA or Master’s Degree, but thanks to the San Antonio Association of Hispanic Journalists, the Henry Guerra Lifetime Achievement Award was like receiving a PhD. All I can say is muito obrigado, tante grazie, salamat, merci beacoup, mil gracias and simply stated, thank you!
We send our Congrats to Ramon .
‘Bean & Chisme’ web show tells it like it is, San Antonio style
Two savvy media professionals in San Antonio have built the perfect platform for entertaining and educating fellow Latinos about their culture. All it took was unleashing their inner hoodrat.
That platform is “Bean & Chisme,” a live web show by Nina Duran, former publisher of the bilingual newspaper La Prensa, and Samantha Najera, CEO of the creative marketing firm HeartFire Media. It features raucous sketch comedy and unfiltered talk about all things Latino.
As for the so-called hoodrats, meet Lil’ Frijolita and Lil’ Chismosa, Duran and Najera’s alter-egos. They embody chola subculture from their bold black eyebrows to their long white tube socks, with the attitude and street-smarts to match.
The “Bean & Chisme” mission: Spoof and spotlight the topics Latinos relate to no matter how taboo. Or as Lil’ Chismosa and Lil’ Frijolita put it, they “call you out on your (expletive) and enjoy teaching la raza a thing or two about life.”
“The whole goal of ‘Bean & Chisme’ was to not just draw attention to the Latino culture but to the San Antonio South Texas vibe, living as a Mexican American. All of that,” Najera said. “We want to celebrate that and bring attention to it.”
So far “Bean & Chisme” has captured the attention of more than 90,000 followers on their Facebook page (@beanchisme). And a handful of original videos by the duo have racked up more than half a million views.
Now after a pandemic-forced hiatus from their live online shows, the self-described “two chismosas doing hoodrat things” are back with “Hoodrat Cumbia,” a nalga-shaking new song and music video to mark their return and the return of Fiesta.
“Hoodrat Cumbia” drops Thursday on iTunes, Spotify, Tik Tok and other music streaming and social media platforms, just in time for the first day of Fiesta.
Duran and Najera credit their growing audience to their “crazy chemistry to play verbal ping-pong” and their willingness to take on any topic Latinos can relate to, no matter how taboo.
“We talk about everything from finances to why do you line up for Selena bags but you don’t vote,” Najera said. “How come tios and tias die with no money and we have to have plate sales at the funeral?”
Najera and Duran launched “Bean & Chisme” in October 2017, at first just to have fun with live streaming.
“People kept telling us, ‘You guys are hilarious together,’” Najera said. “And Nina would say, ‘Oh, if only there was a fly on the wall.’”
So the longtime friends decided to share the kinds of conversations out loud that most people wouldn’t dare have in public. But that blunt talk didn’t really take off until a few months later, when Lil’ Frijollita and Lil’ Chismosa came along.
In April 2018, Duran and Najera unveiled the characters at the old Image Shots photo studio in Ingram Park Mall, where they rocked their finest Claire’s dark lipstick and gaudy earrings as a jokey throwback to when they wore such so-called chola gear in the 1990s.
When they posted the photo online, “it went ridiculously viral,” Duran said. “And just like that, in the bathroom of Ingram Park Mall in April of 2018, the hoodrats were born.”
The likes and looks really blew up when the duo started appearing in “Bean & Chisme” spinoff videos, such as “Hoodrats at Fiesta” and “The Real Hoodrats of San Antonio.”
On Facebook alone, “Hoodrats at Fiesta” has more than 367,000 views, while “Real Hoodrats of San Antonio” has 184,000.
On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio rapper Southside Hoodlum making waves beyond his hometown (expressnews.com)
Some of the duo’s edgier satirical clips really raise eyebrows and view counts.
“Interview with The Cucuy: Episode 3, Yolanda Saldivar,” a 2019 mock sitdown with the convicted killer of Tejano star Selena, remains “Bean & Chisme’s” top YouTube video with more than 200,000 views. The faux “Frost/Nixon” has Lil’ Chismosa grilling the Saldivar stand-in (San Antonio comedian Joanna Estrada) until Lil’ Frijolita rips off her curly wig and fights her.
Then there’s their 2019 “Frozen” parody, “Do You Wanna Make Tamales?” More than 67,000 have seen the decidedly not-for-children video on Facebook, which stars Duran as a pot-smoking version of Elsa who spikes the tamales for her kid sis and family.
“We want to be like Cheech & Chong,” Najera said, “or like (the Spanish-language entertainment show) ‘El Gordo y La Flaca.’ Maybe if Cheech & Chong and Selena had a baby?”
“Bean & Chisme” may be about two crazy Latinas, Najera said, but their hoodrat humor can shed light on real topics, which can lead to frank conversations that influence change.
“We’re just embracing who we are,” Duran said. “We can embrace and educate our Latino population with a little humor.”
“And we’re educating people just by being ourselves,” Najera said. “Not everybody is just one thing. We’re also business owners and single moms.”
On ExpressNews.com: The first Texas rap record likely was made by a San Antonio DJ better known as radio personality Alberto Alegre
All jokes aside, Duran and Najeda pack some serious media credentials.
Before launching her San Antonio-based marketing and public relations firm in November 2012, Najera spent about a dozen years on both sides of the television camera. While earning her communications degree from the University of the Incarnate Word, she interned at Turner Studios in Atlanta as a production assistant on series such as TBS’s “Movie and a Makeover” and “Dinner & A Movie.” She parlayed that experience into production assistant work at KSAT-TV news and then reported the news for the ABC affiliate in College Station.
Duran’s own behind-the-camera work includes associate producer work at the KENS-TV morning show “Great Day SA.” She later worked her way up from sales to managing partner and then publisher of La Prensa, which her father Florentino “Tino” Duran founded in 1989 as a sort of relaunch of the original La Prensa, which dates back to 1913. Duran closed La Prensa in 2018, about a year after her father’s death.
Much as Najera and Duran enjoy channeling their inner cholas, they said a lot of hard work goes into making their on-screen personas look so easygoing.
“We wrote it, we did everything from the ground up,” Duran said. “We’ve done a good job at parodying, but I hope this also helps people see us as artists.”
Duran and Najera are working on new online shows and skits, and they hope to take their humor to the comedy club now that Fiesta and other large social gatherings are coming back.
In the meantime, the duo hopes that “Hoodrat Cumbia” helps score their San Antonio-based web show a larger national audience. They already have a #HoodratCumbiaChallenge planned for Tik Tok to really get the kids and cool abuelitas shaking and sharing what their mamas gave them.
And there’s nothing like a citywide celebration to get that party started.
“We wanted people to be able to play it wherever. And what better time to do that than Fiesta?” Duran said. “Yeah, our eyebrows are going to be melting this year.”
rguzman@express-news.net | Twitter: @reneguz
Selena Veinticinco Años postponed due to coronavirus concerns
Selena Veinticinco Años, the San Antonio event expected to be a blowout tribute to Selena, is the latest local big-scale event to be affected by coronavirus concerns.
The concert with headliners like Pitbull, Becky G and Ally Brooke was planned for May 9 at the Alamodome.
“There are very uncertain times ahead given the nature of what’s going on right now. Our family truly understands everyone’s concerns about the COVID-19 virus. We’ve spent the past several days monitoring the situation and we feel that rescheduling the tribute concert for Selena is in the best interest of everyone,” said Suzette Quintanilla, CEO/President of Q Productions in a news release. “Rescheduling will give people time to feel more comfortable and bring calm and ease during this unprecedented time.”
Quintanilla said the event honoring her sister will still happen in San Antonio, just on a different day which has not been announced.
Tickets that have been purchased will be honored on the future date of the event, according to the release.
Fans with questions about refunds can contact Ticketmaster at 800-653-8000, or reach out to your original point of purchase.
from : MY SA.com
Tejano Music Awards Fan Fair, St. Patrick’s Day Festival in San Antonio canceled
Two big weekend celebrations have been called off in response to the public health emergency declared by the city.
The Tejano Music Awards Fan Fair, which was expected to draw thousands of fans to Market Square through Sunday, has been canceled.
The St. Patrick’s Day Festival and Parade on the River Walk and the dyeing of the river green also have been canceled.
“The mayor has informed us that they’re canceling all major events, and that includes ours,” said Felix Mendoza, executive director of the Tejano Music Awards.
“We will make an announcement when we will be able to reschedule it.”
More than 200 acts, including Shelly Lares, Stefani Montiel and Hometown Boys, were scheduled to play the fan fair, which started Thursday.
Mendoza said about 5,000 people attended the first day of the event.
Though the big holiday weekend festivities on the River Walk are not happening, the St. Patrick’s Day Artisan Show today and Saturday will go on.
“The artisan show does not attract a large static crowd; instead, it is a flow of people,” said Paula Schechter, director of marketing and public relations for the San Antonio River Walk Association.
Schechter said River Walk restaurants and hotels are still open for business, though crowds on the river have been much smaller than during a typical spring break.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg declared a public health emergency Friday morning to limit the spread of the coronavirus after a person in the city tested positive for Covid-19, the illness caused by the virus.
As part of the declaration, the city banned public gatherings with crowds of more than 500 people.
Jim Kiest is the arts and entertainment editor for the San Antonio Express-News. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | jkiest@express-news.net | Twitter: @jimik64
from “MySA.com
The Long and Winding Road of Jimmy González
The Long and Winding Road of Jimmy González
By Ramón Hernández
Was Jimmy González trying to tell us something through his music?
Normally, this writer would say, his most ‘recent CD,’ but in this case Jimmy’s latest production was his ‘last CD.’ And, the title to the last song, which was sung by Danny Ortíz was “The Long and Winding Road.”
The previous CD was titled “Que Cante El Mundo (Mi Dolor).” Today radio stations are playing his music all day long and fans are singing along in sorrow. And before that, he included “Porque Me Gusta a Morir” (“Because I Like You till Death”). Was the multi-Grammy Award winner telling his fans – between the lines – that he loved them until he died?
Jimmy González passed to heaven’s pearly gates at 9:57 a.m. on Wednesday, June 6 at San Antonio’s Methodist Hospital. For more details, check out the articles on the Brownsville Herald and McAllen’s The Monitor newspapers via their websites.
I did call Joe López for a quote and his brother Lorenzo López, told me Joe was deeply sadden by the news. “Pobrecito,” Lorenzo said as Joe was getting ready to tape an exclusive interview with NBC News in Brownsville at 4 p.m. that same day. That interview should be on-line by the time you read this article.
Now where does one begin when one is experiencing a mental block from the shock of Jimmy’s untimely death. He was only 67. He would have been 68 on August 28 and he died only 11 days short of Father’s Day.
Okay, here goes. Jimmy and Joe López were born on the same year, the same day and only 30 minutes apart. The only difference is that Jimmy was born at home.
Both received their first guitar in 1962, first Joe, then Jimmy. Four years later, they formed Little Joe’s Group; and, in 1967, the teenagers changed their name to The Glares.
The dynamic duo graduate from Brownsville High School in May 1969. A year later, Joe joined the U.S. Army; and in his absence, Jimmy and Juan Murillo formed Brown Express.
After Joe finished his two-year stint in mid-1972, they joined the Phases club house band; and, at year’s end, Joe and Jimmy joined Bel-Air Band of Brownsville. It wasn’t long before they took control of it and modified its name to the Bel-Aire Band.
Joe, lead vocals, Jimmy, guitar; Lupe García, Noé García, Ray García, Richard Garza, Frank De La Rosa, Luis Maza, Arnold Montalvo, Bobby Rodríguez, Lupe Salinas, Leó Víllarreal and later, Juan Murillo, made up Bel-Aire Band.
In September 1973, López hung up his microphone to attend college. Meanwhile González and Murillo joined Something Easy, which featured vocalists Leó Sílva, Patsy Franco; and, they became the house band at The Resaca Club, located in the Fort Brown Hotel.
Four years later, after recording and touring with Los Fabulosos Cuatro, Joe joined Jimmy and Juan. In 1978, the band changed its name to Mazz; and, the rest is history. Eleven years later, Jimmy’s brother, Tommy, was now playing congas and saxophone with Mazz. Other members were Alfonso González, accordion; Brando Mireles, keyboards; Frankie Caballero, guitar; Robert Chávez, bass; Adolfo García on drums; and they were under the management of Joe’s brother, Lorenzo López.
As is the norm for any band, musicians came and went; as well as countless female vocalists. Joe and Jimmy first recorded with Paulino Bernal’s Bernal Records and Bob Grever’s Cara label. Then they went on to record for Capitol-EMI Latin and Freddie Records.
Those are some little known ‘facts.’ There’s enough information on the world-wide-web to fill a couple of books; and all I have is a few inches of space.
On the personal side, Jimmy had four sons with his first wife. And on May 1, 1999, he and the former Lisa De Luna exchanged wedding vows in San Antonio. He died in the Alamo City. So, perhaps the family will consider a public viewing in San Antonio.
Yes, Jimmy’s musical history has been one ‘long and winding road.’
Breaking / Jimmy Gonzalez Gone
Jimmy Gonzalez of Grupo Mazz dies in San Antonio hospital
Gonzalez was taken to the hospital after his blood sugar dropped. Family members said he died around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Author: Rudy Trevino / KIII TV south Texas ABC
Published: 10:19 AM CDT June 6, 2018
Jimmy Gonzalez of Tejano band Grupo Mazz died Wednesday morning after being hospitalized in San Antonio, according to Gonzalez’ relatives.
Gonzalez was taken to the Methodist Hospital of San Antonio after his blood sugar dropped. Family members said he died around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Jimmy was rushed to the hospital halfway thru performing in Mission, TX this past Saturday as he could not breath, but was released and was feeling fine the next day.
more info to follow:
Memorial HS student first in family to attend college, will go to Yale
Education
Memorial HS student first in family to attend college, will go to Yale
Alejandra Salazar, 18, was accepted into 2 Ivy League schools
By Tiffany Huertas – Video Journalist
SAN ANTONIO – A Memorial High School student will be the first in her family to not only attend college, but also go to an Ivy League school.
Alejandra Salazar, 18, has been accepted into two Ivy league schools and has decided to go to Yale. And while poverty and different obstacles in life affect many students, Salazar said she hopes her individual story will help another student like her in the future.
“When you are going out and pursuing your educational goals, never place limits on your self,” Salazar said. “Chances are you not truly aware of how much ability you have to achieve what you want to do.”
Salazar said during the application process she knew right away that her life story was a great fit for her college essay topic.
“I wrote about my mother who currently works really hard and found her own opportunities by working at the flea market,” Salazar said.
Salazar’s mother and father have always pushed her and her brother to succeed. So when her father lost his second job last year it was her mother that stepped up.
“She took the initiative to find that job and create the opportunity for herself,” Salazar said.
The high school senior stressed she simply took advantage of her given opportunities. Salazar has been involved in both the speech and debate team along with the STEM program as well during her high school career.
from : KSAT 12
River City Rockfest May 27th AT&T CENTER
18-year old girl graduates college before getting high school diploma
Think your 18-year-old who has just picked their college is some kind of brainiac?
Then consider Indiana’s Raven Osborne.
Osborne, who has been taking college classes part-time, is about to graduate from college — before she gets her high school diploma.
And now she is going to be a teacher at the same high school.
Osborne, a senior at the 895-student 21st Century Charter School in Gary, will earn a bachelor’s degree in sociology with a minor in early childhood education from Purdue University Northwest on May 5, then graduate from high school on May 22.
“Yeah, they think I’m lying,” Raven told CBS News.
It’s true. According to the Big Ten Network (BTN), Osborne began taking classes at a local community college as a freshman and soon earned an associate’s degree in general studies. Then, encouraged by her mother, Hazel Osborne, and 21st Century’s president and superintendent, Kevin Teasley, she decided to become the first in the school’s history to earn a bachelor’s degree while still enrolled.
“When I was a younger, I was labeled with a learning disability,” Osborne told the Northwest Indiana Post-Tribune in 2016.
Osborne told the Post-Tribune it was tough taking both high school and college classes and that there were times when she wanted to quit, but her mother constantly encouraged her.
“My mother always told me I could do whatever I wanted to do in life,” she told the paper.
While at Purdue Northwest, which is in nearby Hammond, Osborne stood out to faculty and staff, BTN reported.
“She not only is academically gifted, but has demonstrated amazing intellectual maturity in her pursuit of a baccalaureate degree at Purdue Northwest,” Purdue Northwest spokesman Wes Lukoshus told the Northwest Indiana Times.
Meanwhile, Purdue associate professor of sociology Ralph Cherry, who had Osborne last spring in a class on research methods, said he did not realize that she was a high school student
“Research methods is the most demanding class that I teach,” he told the Times.
If all that wasn’t enough, Osborne, who will turn 19 in August, was also striving to earn money.
“At one point, I also tried to work a job,” she told the Times. “I was working a midnight shift at a day care center. I just had to watch the children while they were sleeping, then feed them breakfast when they woke up. It was a daycare for parents who worked a night shift. It just got to be too stressful, and I had to resign.”
But now she will be pulling down a salary: She has been hired by the school and will be an early interventionist with elementary-age children, earning more than $30,000 a year, the paper reported.
Not a bad paycheck for a recent college graduate and an even better one for a just-graduated high-schooler
by Matthew Diebel: USA Today
“IMMIGRATION” ,an open letter to the Archbishop Diocese of San Antonio
OPEN LETTER TO GUSTAVO SILLER, ARCHBISHOP, DIOCESE OF SAN ANTONIO
Your Excellency, very public pronouncements in support of keeping together undocumented families have been made by secular institutions, civic and public agencies, ordinary clubs and organizations. Even our Chief of Police has stated that our police will distance itself from ICE, unless necessary. Our schools have advised their parents that their children will be safe. An admirable list of entities and persons speaking out in support of these families; It continues to grow!
And, we await the active moral leadership and public voice of our Archbishop.
Your silence is sad! Many other American Bishops are leading and speaking out in support of “these voiceless families” from bigotry and anti-immigrant fervor today. So we ask, where is our religious leader? Where is your hopeful guidance when it is desperately needed? This critical issue hurts your flock deeply.
Our Gospels gives us direction! If secular institutions can stand up for justice, why have we not heard our Archbishop’s voice? What will it take for you to act as a “the good shepherd”? This issue demands your leadership. I pray you will guide and lead us to act Christ-like, and declare to us to love and serve the persecuted.
Your pastors and lay ministers are waiting on your leadership and public support to remind us all of Christ’s call to “love our neighbor”. This is an extraordinary Christian teachable moment— a time for the Gospel to come alive! Archbishop Siller, I yearn for my Church to lead all of us on this humanitarian issue. Your annual campaign for money “to do the Church’s work” appears void when you neglect to advocate for, defend and help immigrant families in crisis. United our churches and families of faith should provide sanctuary for these families.
Bishop SiIler, the Gospel of Jesus that teaches and calls us to action must overcome this silence. Your honorable and forceful moral voice is urged.
I do pray, Paul F. Ruiz: Phd S A, TX Member St Paul’s Church
Paul F. Ruiz, PhD, Emeritus
The Education Trust, Inc.; and
Co-founder, Alamo Area Democracy Project