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Photojournalist A. Dennis Gaxiola
Exhibit - Latino Role Models
Home
Page | Galeria-Photojournalists
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• See part
1 of this exhibit with the first of six exciting photographs
and biographies.
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Adriana
Ocampo
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The answer to why dinosaurs became extinct after dominating the earth for hundreds of millions of years may be in the Chicxalub crater off the coast of Yucatan, and geologist Adriana Ocampo is part of the Mexico/USA scientific consortium looking for clues. What Adriana and her associates find could have a profound effect on our knowledge of how certain species become extinct, and the implications this may hold for human kind. Adriana born in Colombia, became associated with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, beginning as a high school student in 1973. She has worked on some of NASA's exploratory probes to the planets. During the Viking mission, she helped plan observations of the moons of Mars, and she was on the navigation and planning team for the Voyager mission to the outer planets of our solar system. Adriana continues her scientific work while recognizing the value of lifelong learning through her post-graduate education.
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Orlando Agudelo-Botero's self-taught ability to capture his deepest emotions on canvas has earned him international critical acclaim. Using as major themes education, family, spirituality, and his Latino heritage, Orlando says that his art listens to these who "need to be heard" and speaks for those who cannot speak for themselves. Orlando, who believes art is a universal language which is understandable to anyone with an open mind, is one of 11 children raised in the mountains of Columbia. There, in a Jesuit boarding school, he showed an early aptitude for art-a talent for which no formal training was provided. Orlando had within him the desire to develop his talent, a desire fueled by the encouragement of his mother, who told her children no dream is too distant. With a good education, they could rule the Vatican, Buckingham Palace, or the White House with their heads held high. Orlando did just that in 1989 when he received the White House Hispanic Heritage Award for the visual arts. Art, Orlando explains, encourages our quest for "light and understanding." Above all, he stresses," We must educate our children."
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Dr.
Aliza Lifshitz
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In 1992, the American Medical Association selected Dr. Aliza Lifshitz to help kick off its Medical Ethics Consumer Information campaign. The appointment is one of many important tasks taken on by the Mexico City native. Aliza is not only President of the California Hispanic American Medical Association, but a health reporter for various Hispanic television news programs nationwide and the editor of Hispanic Physician magazine. Aliza also a charter member of the National Association of Physician Broadcasters. Aliza has taught medicine at Tulane University and earned fellow-ships at both the Ochsner Medical Foundation and at the University of California at San Diego. She has conducted clinical research in Endocrinology, and serves on numerous key medical advisory committees. Now in private practice, Aliza is a specialist in internal medicine, clinical pharmacology, and endocrinology. She says if her work inspires Latino youths to pursue studies beyond high school, that will be her greatest success. |
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Victor
Villaseñor
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When best-selling author Victor Villaseñor was a student in the third grade, a teacher told him that because he was Mexican, he did not have enough white cells in his head, and was destined to do poorly in school. Since he always got poor grades, Victor believed her, and grew up thinking that his heritage and people were inferior. As it turned out, it wasn't Victor's heritage that held him back in school. He was dyslexic. As fate would have it, Victor's father sent him to Mexico, where he developed an awareness and appreciation for his culture. He saw beautiful cathedrals and painting by such Mexican masters as Diego Rivera, and learned that others like him could do wonderful things. Instead of giving in to rage for being misled as a child, Victor listened instead to his father's advice: Fools have rage while the courageous do something. With only fifth grade reading and writing ability, Victor slowly began teaching himself to become a writer. The man, who as a child was convinced that he was mentally inferior because he is Mexican, is now a great American novelist.
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Lydia
Villarreal
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As Deputy District Attorney in California's famed Monterey County, Lydia Villarreal is charged with providing consumer and environmental protection for an area that ranges from an environmentally sensitive coastline to the fertile agribusiness farmlands of the Salinas Valley. As a proud Mexican American, Lydia says that she is an agent of Latino efforts to gain appropriate social, economic, and political power. A University of California at Santa Cruz honors graduate, Lydia gained national recognition as a student for her work in creating classes about Chicano History, Labor History, and self-esteem for potential Hispanic dropouts at a local high school. She gravitated towards a career in law after spending a year as a volunteer with the United Farm Workers Union legal department. She studied law at the University of California at Berkeley, worked as a clerk for the California Supreme Court, and earned her law degree in 1980. Lydia made a reputation for herself as a champion of migrant farmworkers and founded the Center for Community Advocacy to aid those in need. Her most famous case involved her successful litigation on behalf of farmworkers who were living in caves and being charged rent.
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Eduardo
"Lalo" Guerrero
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Called "the most uniquely innovative composer-performer of his time," Lalo Guerrero, since the 1930s, has captured the essence of the Mexican-American experience through his music. The recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, Lalo is a master of traditional Mexican “canciones tipicas” and of the ranchera style. Beyond that, Lalo has often produced songs that, while traditional in style, are in reality commentaries on current issues. His work is often bilingual, bicultural, and enriching. Lalo is one of eight surviving children of a large Tucson family. He learned music from his mother, an excellent singer and guitarist herself. As a youth during the Depression, he moved to Southern California to make his living as a musician and became immensely popular in the Mexican-American community. His Pachuco songs from the 1940s captured the era so well they were used in both the play and film by Luis Valdez, “Zoot Suit.” With his popular parodies, he has poked fun at stereotypes of Latinos, and at Latinos' stereotypes of themselves. Through his corridos, he tells of the triumphs and tragedies of our times from a Mexican American perspective.
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