March 8, 2007

President's Message from Rafael Olmeda

NAHJ President Rafael Olmeda delivered the following remarks to the 18th Annual NAHJ Scholarship Banquet in New York City on March 1, 2007.

It's good to be home again! Before I moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1999, I was a New Yorker. Born and raised in the Bronx, I began my professional career at the New York Daily News. I came to several of these scholarship banquets and was always deeply moved by the passion of the people involved with the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

Back then, I had no idea that I would someday be addressing you, thanking our members, our sponsors, our guests, our staff, our volunteers and our students for making the NAHJ Scholarship and Education Fund a continuing success story.

All the great stories are about people. They are about struggles, overcoming adversity, rising to a challenge, facing it, defeating it, learning from it and growing because of it.

Our story is about 700 students who have received a combined 2.3 million dollars since we started giving out scholarships. It's about hundreds of other students who participate in student projects at NAHJ conventions across the country.

The NAHJ story is about 145 professionals now employed by our partners in the Parity Project, a groundbreaking program that actively seeks to correct years of neglect of Latinos in the nation's newsrooms.

It's a story about thousands of people, only a fraction of whom are in this room, who gained experience and opportunity at NAHJ conventions and regional events and have advanced their journalism careers.

Our story is about people rising to challenges. Among the biggest: a constantly evolving media industry landscape. Even as we engage our members in our fight for more diversity in media ownership and against further consolidation, we are planning our 25th Annual Convention in San Jose, California, a gathering that will help prepare our members for the jobs of the present, not to mention the future.

In the midst of it all, we cannot and must not forget the stories. The stories of our people, of our families, of our neighbors must not be ignored. The stories of Latinos who continue to help build America must not be ignored. The stories of Latinos who fought and died for America in war after war must not be ignored. The stories ofLatino police officers and firefighters, entertainers, politicians, entrepreneurs, educators, civil rights activists and journalists must not be ignored.

That is NAHJ's mission. The students whose educations we help fund are the ones who will ensure that mission comes to pass in the long run. I'm honored and humbled to be among you all tonight, as your support for NAHJ makes it possible for us to tell America and the world our story.