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Miranda, 29, who began writing the musical that won four Tony Awards when he was a sophomore at Wesleyan University, will address 300-plus journalists, media executives, students, and members of the Latino business, arts and grassroots communities, at one of NAHJ’s premiere fundraising events on Thursday, February 26, 2009 at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers in Manhattan. The annual gala benefits the Rubén Salazar Scholarship Fund and Educational Programs, which offers financial aid annually to about 20 aspiring journalists and helps bolster NAHJ’s training programs for more than 50 other students at its annual convention, scheduled this June in San Juan, Puerto Rico. “Lin-Manuel’s play and songs are a story about our communities, about our collective experience as Latinos, both immigrant and home grown, and that is what NAHJ’s mission is all about when it comes to news, telling our story,” said NAHJ Executive Director Iván Román. “And the fact that he was able to write this and succeed at such a young age is inspirational for our students and for all of us.” Infused with hip hop, rap, and vibrant salsa, merengue, and other Caribbean rhythms, In The Heights portrays the hopes and dreams of three generations of the tight-knit Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Cuban community of Washington Heights in Manhattan on the brink of transition. It broke box office records on Broadway this month and won four 2008 Tony Awards, including best musical and Miranda’s award for best music and lyrics. Miranda delivered his acceptance speech by rapping and his play is credited with bringing a whole new audience to Broadway.
Maggie Rodríguez, co-anchor of CBS’ The Early Show, will be the emcee for this special evening. One of the country’s best known and most respected Latino journalists, New York Daily News staff columnist and Democracy Now co-host Juan González will host the evening as the honorary banquet chair. Miranda joins a distinguished group of past keynote speakers at the annual banquet that includes New Mexico Governor and recent presidential candidate Bill Richardson, Puerto Rico Gov. Sila Calderón, NBC News Anchor Tom Brokaw, PBS Senior Correspondent Ray Suarez, ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero, CNN Senior International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour, and Manuel Vázquez Portal, an award-winning writer and journalist who was one of 23 journalists jailed in Cuba during a crackdown on press freedom in 2003. To date, NAHJ has awarded more than $1.5 million in scholarships to 550 promising students pursuing careers in journalism. The fund is named after Mexican-American journalism pioneer Rubén Salazar, killed in 1970 by a tear-gas projectile fired by a deputy sheriff while he was interviewing people who had just attended a Chicano Anti-Vietnam War Moratorium rally in East Los Angeles. A columnist for the Los Angeles Times and news director for the Spanish-language TV station KMEX, Salazar was the first Mexican-American journalist to have a major voice in the mainstream news media. For journalists of color, Salazar is a symbol of the need to push for diversity in the mainstream media and accurate coverage of Latino issues. In 2008, Salazar was honored by the U.S. Postal Service’s “American Journalists” series with a commemorative stamp.
This year’s banquet will be held at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers, 811 7th Avenue @ 53rd Street. The reception begins at 6:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 7:30 p.m. To date, the Banquet sponsors include: Continental Airlines, HBO, Hearst Newspapers, CBS News, CNN, Con Edison, FOX News Channel, NBC 4 Telemundo 47, Verizon, and The Walt Disney Company. To purchase tickets or become a sponsor, contact Iván Román, NAHJ Executive Director, at 202-662-7178 or iroman@nahj.org. To download the form to purchase tickets and for more details, click here.
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The National Association of Hispanic Journalists 1000 National Press Building 529 14th St., NW Washington, DC 20045-2001, USA E-mail: nahj@nahj.org Phone: 202.662.7145 Fax: 202.662.7144
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