Synopses & Reviews
This first major collection of former
Los Angeles Times reporter and columnist Ruben Salazar's writings, is a testament to his pioneering role in the Mexican American community, in journalism, and in the evolution of race relations in the U.S. Taken together, the articles serve as a documentary history of the Chicano Movement of the 1960s and of the changing perspective of the nation as a whole.
Since his tragic death while covering the massive Chicano antiwar moratorium in Los Angeles on August 29, 1970, Ruben Salazar has become a legend in the Chicano community. As a reporter and later as a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, Salazar was the first journalist of Mexican American background to cross over into the mainstream English-language press. He wrote extensively on the Mexican American community and served as a foreign correspondent in Latin America and Vietnam. This first major collection of Salazar's writing is a testament to his pioneering role in the Mexican American community, in journalism, and in the evolution of race relations in the United States. Taken together, the articles serve as a documentary history of the Chicano Movement of the 1960s and of the changing perspective of the nation as a whole.
Border Correspondent presents selections from each period of Salazar's career. The stories and columns document a growing frustration with the Kennedy administration, a young César Chávez beginning to organize farm workers, the Vietnam War, and conflict between police and community in East Los Angeles. One of the first to take investigative journalism into the streets and jails, Salazar's first-hand accounts of his experiences with drug users and police, ordinary people and criminals, make compelling reading.
Mario García's introduction provides a biographical sketch of Salazar and situates him in the context of American journalism and Chicano history.
Synopsis
Since his tragic death while covering the massive 1970 Chicano andwar moratorium in Los Angeles, Ruben Salazar has become a legend in the Chicano community. As a reporter and later as a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, Salazar was the first journalist of Mexican American background to cross over into the mainstream English-language press. This first major collection of Salazar's writing is a testament to his pioneering role in the Mexican American community, journalism, and the evolution of race relations in the United States. Taken together, the stories and columns serve as a documentary history of the Chicano Movement of the 1960s and of the changing perspective of the nation as a whole.
"Garcia has offered Latinos the finest tribute imaginable: a captivating and overdue selection of Salazar's journalism, exploring the many political, cultural, professional, and geographic borders he crossed". -- Claudia Milian Arias, The Nation
"This fascinating collection of Salazar's journalism, along with Garcia's lucid introduction, will ... help resurrect this unjustly forgotten figure". -- Ruben Martinez, Los Angeles Times Book Review
Synopsis
"Ruben Salazar, who never sought martyrdom and who was appalled by hero worship, was a hero nonetheless, and the first great Mexican-American reporter of the Chicano political and social movement of the 60's and 70's. Salazar is a precursor of the emerging bomb in Latin American journalism embodied by Ruben Martinez and Richard Rodriguez, among many others. . . . The manuscript is fresh and speaks to our time. He had a dispassionate eye. No airs at all. He wanted to be more than a professional journalist, he wanted to remain a Latino."Victor Perera, author of Unfinished Conquest
About the Author
Ruben Salazar was a reporter and correspondent for the Los Angeles Times from 1959 until his death in 1970. Mario T. García is Professor of History at the University of California at Santa Barbara. His most recent book is Memories of Chicano History: The Life and Narrative of Bert Corona (California, 1994).