Those in the audience hearing Vázquez Portal’s appeal included some of the nation’s most respected journalists: ABC’s Jim Avila, The New York Daily News’ Juan Gonzalez, WNJU-TV Telemundo 47’s Jorge Ramos, and Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera.

WNJU/Telemundo 47 News Director Hugo Balta, Telemundo 47 Co-anchor Patsi Arias, Geraldo Rivera, Jorge Ramos, and Telemundo 47 General Manager Carlos Sanchez

CNN’s Soledad O’Brien and ABC’s John Quiñones served as the emcee and banquet chair, respectively, at the event to raise money for NAHJ’s Rubén Salazar Scholarship Fund and Educational Programs. Salazar, the Mexican American journalist considered a trailblazer for many colleagues in the ballroom, is being honored by the U.S. Postal Service with his own stamp to go on sale April 22 as part of the “American Journalists” series.

Salazar was killed August 29th, 1970 by a tear-gas projectile fired by a deputy sheriff into a bar in East Los Angeles. He had been interviewing people at a Chicano Anti-Vietnam War Moratorium rally. No one was ever charged with the crime. NAHJ decided to honor Salazar back in 1986 by naming the association’s scholarship fund after him.

Lisa Salazar Johnson

“It is so fitting because education was so important to my father,’’ said Salazar’s daughter Lisa Salazar Johnson, who spoke at the annual fundraiser. The March 13th event celebrating the release of the Rubén Salazar stamp was the first of more to come. Other celebrations of Salazar’s life and the stamp will take place in April in Washington, D.C., Tucson, and Los Angeles.

‘Something he would have never dreamed of’

“As you can imagine, my entire family is deeply moved that the U.S. Postal Service is honoring our father with a stamp,” Salazar Johnson said in her brief remarks. “I know that is something he would have never dreamed of. It’s just so grand. We are very, very proud of him and this is a fantastic honor.”

Salazar was a trailblazer. According to his alma mater, the University of Texas at El Paso, at the time known as Texas Western College, Salazar was the first Mexican American journalist to work for the El Paso Herald Post; to have a column at the Los Angeles Times; and to be a foreign correspondent, all in the 1950’s. After working in mainstream news media for 15 years, he became news director of Spanish-language television station KMEX in Los Angeles just months before he died in 1970 to speak to his people in their own language.

Representing the 33 students who received $125,000 in scholarships from NAHJ in 2007, University of North Carolina sophomore Jaime Zea presented Salazar Johnson with a framed quill with an engraving that read: “We salute Rubén Salazar’s pioneering work, which keeps opening doors for our young Latino journalists.”

State Farm’s Xochitl Yañez and CNN’s Soledad O’Brien at the cocktail reception

Zea urged NAHJ’s supporters to continue giving to the Rubén Salazar Scholarship Fund, which has helped hundreds of students achieve their dreams over the past 22 years. Thanks to the generosity of individuals, foundations and corporations, NAHJ has awarded more than $1.4 million in scholarships to 525 students and has spent another $2 million on training programs benefiting more than 1,000 students. “I want to be a journalist because I believe communication is essential for a well functioning society, and I think that as communicators we greatly serve our communities.” Zea said.

A changing, not dying industry

In between anecdotes relating to Salazar, University of Arizona Professor Olga Briseño, largely credited with making the Salazar stamp a reality, urged scholarship winners in the audience to turn the challenges they face into opportunities in a changing news industry.

Olga Briseño

“Hundreds of journalists are being laid off … consider a career in a dying industry, because it is not dying it is changing,” Briseño said to applause. “Don’t let anyone tell you that this industry is dying.”

She continued: “Our fight, los viejitos que estan aquí todavía, becomes yours. Join us in demanding the media include minorities, however this time, we need media owners to reflect who we are.”

Briseño said Salazar initially wanted to become an editorial cartoonist. But after writing an editorial about how the college team refused to play a visiting team because they had black players, he decided to focus on writing, believing it would have a greater impact.

While many associate Salazar with his death, she said his family wants him to be recognized for how he lived and his professional accomplishments. He interviewed presidents, introduced the world to César Chávez, talked with students about their protests, and opened the doors for others to follow him into journalism.

‘I had a dream’

Quiñones told the students his dream was to be a journalist, and his inspiration was sitting in the audience.

“Geraldo Rivera was on ABC on 20/20… he’s not much older than I am, but already he was kicking ass on 20/20, doing all kinds of incredible stories and I would look up to him and I would dream of someday working on 20/20 and guess what, the dream came true,” Quiñones said. “I now work for the news magazine at ABC. So it is possible.”