2024 marks the 26th year of my commentary to LaVozColorado. However, my memory of the excellent weekly goes back to 1973.
I was beginning my higher education career at what is now CSU-Pueblo when I met Jose and Wanda Padilla in one of our Chicano Movement conferences. They were presenting their plans for a newspaper and we were grateful for the addition of another voice for a community living in a very intense political period.
I had already moved to New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, New Mexico (NMHU) when La Voz began publication in 1974. Our research unit at NMHU kept track of publications across the country with particular emphasis on New Mexico and Colorado, a region rich in information.
1974 was also the year that we partnered with Felipe Ortego of the Denver-based La Luz Magazine to organize The First National Symposium on Chicano Literature and Critical Analysis where participants from across the continent established the notion that there was a unique body of knowledge known as Chicano Literature. La Voz was established in the middle of these activities that formed part of what we called the Chicano Renaissance.
By the time I arrived at MSU Denver, La Voz was an established voice in the Colorado community. It was represented in meetings of consequence and its span of distribution made it the largest Latino weekly in the State.
My relationship with La Voz was somewhat informal until one day in 1998 Metro President Sheila Kaplan called me into her office and asked me to meet with the owner and editor of the newspaper. The meeting at Tamayo Restaurant in Lower Downtown resulted in my joining as a commentator.
The 2008 acquisition of La Voz by Richard and Pauline Rivera resulted in a stronger newspaper with all of the technological advantages of the internet age. The publisher/editor, Pauline Rivera, has very few equals in media experience, connections to the community, and knows what it takes to be a leader in the area.
As for myself, writing commentary over the decades had given me the opportunity to interpret major changes in the Latino human condition that began as an oppressed and marginalized community and now has achieved a space as an emerging power in American politics.
The agenda I convey to the reader is that with the assistance of Latino immigrants who helped to restore history, identity and language, the community is poised to become a pluralistic majority, and faces the pressure to help America take the next step.
Latino Millennials have already begun that process by eliminating the dropout rate issue nationally and attending college at a higher rate than anyone else including Whites.
La Voz, (now LaVozColorado), with its bilingual approach is a strong voice for our present and future generations that are poised to lead. At the same time, they can not forget who they are and where they came from.
The views expressed by David Conde are not necessarily the views of laVozColorado. Comments and responses may be directed to news@lavozcolorado.com.
, with its bilingual approach is a strong voice for our present and future generations that are poised to lead.){kind=link}