1	The Story of John The man of a thousand movie personas discusses everything from his new favorite role, to his latest crusade to why he loves Obama. read more...
2	Two Decades of Growth As Hispanic magazine celebrates it’s 20th anniversary, we look back—and ahead. read more...
3	The Issues Over the course of the publication, Hispanic has covered many of the issues at the core of Latino life and some that have altered it. read more...
4	A People in Progress Much has changed in 20 years, from the size of our wallets to the size of our waistlines. We look at the impetuses for the evolution. read more...
5	Stamp of Approval A look at the life of the late Ruben Salazar, one of the first Chicano journalists in the country, and what it took to get his face on a new U.S. postage stamp. read more...
6	America’s Forgotten Children For a large number of Hispanic children languishing in foster care, the dream of a home where they can feel safe and loved remains elusive. read more...

the Issues

Over 20 years, news stories at the forefront of Latino American minds have chronicled not only the most important concerns of the day but today serve as a road map pinpointing moments in our collective history.

THROUGHOUT its two-decade lifespan, this magazine has sought to cover what mainstream media would not or could not: the inside stories of the Hispanic experience. Whether the issues were the lack of resources for higher education, the exploitation of a people in South America, or even the explosion of media aimed at Hispanics, each story has chronicled a new movement in the progress of a culture. At times the tone has been celebratory, at other times it’s been reflective, or even somber.
As the years have progressed, Hispanic has covered some of the most sensational, controversial and startling stories in the diaspora. Following in the footsteps of our 10th Anniversary Issue we again present excerpts from some of our magazine’s best.

“Living With AIDS,” January 1988

"Hispanics get AIDS, too. It’s not just an Anglo disease. All ethnic groups get it. In fact, Hispanics get it three times more than whites."

By the late 1980s AIDS had become a world health issue. Just under 44,000 cases had been recorded globally, World AIDS Day had been inaugurated and the mainstream press had been following the issue more and more closely as more people fell ill. However, the growing ethnic press had done little to follow in the footsteps of it’s mainstream counterparts. In a January 1988 special edition, a smaller issue that launched even before the premiere magazine, Hispanic tackled the issue and shed light on the fact that Hispanics were, as a whole, less informed about the deadly disease than other groups and were more likely to contract AIDS. It also provided a wealth of information on AIDS-related resources.

“engligh only, the language of
discrimination,” march 1990 By Sarah Henry

"i don’t know about your forefathers, but when mine came to america, the first thing they did was learn english."

English-only movements, which seek to make English the official language of the U.S., had been a part of American educational and governmental history since the incarnation of both systems. However, in the late 1980s and early 1990s the English-only agenda was again at the forefront of Hispanic minds as the movement was reinvigorated by the establishment of English-only or Official English organizations that were specifically concerned with the rise in Latin American immigrants and the proliferation of Spanish. In just a few years, more and more states had proclaimed English as their official language. Henry’s article chronicled the movement and what was really behind the push for policing language.

“Whose vote is it, anyway? how the religious right fights for hispanic votes” march 1995
By Ines Pinto Alicea

"we are not going to concede the minority community to the political left anymore."

By 1995 mega-churches were being constructed, televangelists had moved from having their own Sunday morning programs to operating their own international television networks and the Christian Right had begun a new wave of recruitment, their eyes planted firmly on the growing minority population. Organizations such as the Christian Coalition and Citizens for Excellence in Education previously had worked primarily in the Republican Party, but their need for a new and younger membership called for expansion to the Democratic Party as well, ensuring their ideology would be represented not only on both sides of the aisle, but among a cross section of Americans. Alicea reported on the religious right’s recruitment tactics and why more Hispanics responded to the call.

“the latino angle,” September 1995
By Valerie Menard

"that they are writing about a particular community doesn’t make it advocacy, nor does it make it unethical. it makes it professional journalism..."

It can be tricky when the media covers itself. Often journalists who report on their chosen profession tend to let it off a little easy. However, in the ethnic and minority press, a question has always dogged its journalists. Are they impartial reporters, or are they advocates pushing an agenda? Menard’s story explored whether there could be a place in the middle, one of impartial, unbiased accurate reporting, but also one that illuminates issues and ideas that would not be covered by the mainstream press and thus be ignored altogether. And she questioned where Latino news organizations find themselves now and whether it was even an issue to begin with.

“cashing in on selena,” june 1996 By Tony Cantu

"we got reports of pirating in hawaii, england, japan, new jersey, maine—places you wouldn’t dream of."

It had happened to Elvis, it had happened to John Lennon, but the death of Tejano superstar Selena Quintanilla Perez and the subsequent profiteering from her death marked the launch of such as industry in the Tejano music scene. In this eye-opening story, readers learned that mere hours after the queen of the genre was slain by the president of her fan club, Yolanda Saldívar, commemorative T-shirts began to appear on the street. The first book chronicling her life shot to the No. 1 spot on The New York Times best-seller list. Since the story appeared in 1996, the market has naturally cooled for Selena merchandise, however it is far from over. Since the publication of Cantu’s story, anniversary CDs have been released and annual television programs honoring her legacy continue to air.

“Critical Condition,” august 1996 By Roberto Santiago

"in recent years the definition of affirmative action has been deliberately twisted by its opponents to provoke racial hostilities ..."

Affirmative Action was a hot button issue in the late 1990s as the debate raged on whether it was appropriate to take race into consideration when weighing an applicant for college admission or a government position. Writer Roberto Santiago offered this insight from Hispanic experts: “Affirmative Action is under attack not because the majority of Americans are against it but because conservative critics have effectively distorted its definition.” Since the article appeared in 1996, more opponents and legal battles have arisen that center on Affirmative Action. Critics question whether the concept is still relevant in the modern age regardless of initial intention, and the law has come down on both sides of the issue. As states have increasingly passed legislation outlawing Affirmative Action, the Supreme Court rendered a decision stating that universities may indeed consider race as a factor in admissions in a 2000 University of Michigan case.

“taken for a ride,” june 1997
By Alex Avila

"the fact that latino audiences don’t spend money on a latino film’s initial release is the reason hollywood doesn’t make more latino-themed projects."

The number of Hispanic films is on a steady rise. Latino directors and writers no longer have to look only for independent studios to produce their works. Now, attracted by the Hispanic population growth, movie attendance and purchasing power, even the largest companies are looking for the next big Hispanic story. But that wasn’t always the case. In 1997, when reporter Alex Avila explored the frustrations of Hispanic filmmakers, who despite their accomplishments (such as Selena, a film that grossed $12 million on opening weekend) still were finding it difficult to break into the mainstream. The experience left them wondering if change would ever come.

“profit motives,” june 1997
By Armando P. Moreno

"one of the reasons [time warner] probably became involved in the hispanic market is because they knew they could use their muscle to push their product. "

“With the bravado of Columbus ‘discovering’ America, Time Warner has entered the Hispanic market,” writes Armando Moreno. In 1997, Time Warner company had boldly gone where few national glossies had gone before: into the homes of Spanish-speaking Americans with the launch and distribution of People en Español. What would become a hugely popular magazine in current years had a rocky start, Moreno explains. While the magazine was a welcome sign in terms of the recognition of this growing market, the magazine had some difficulties navigating the complex Hispanic culture. A bonus of the launch was that it helped herald in a Hispanic magazine renaissance as Latina and other magazines soon appeared on newsstands.

“Under attack: bilingual education faces an uphill fight,” September 2000
By Holly Ocasio Rizzo

we’re concerned with these initiatives that we feel are not related to the best interests of the education of the children...

Since the public school system was established in the country, education and politics have been inextricably linked. Governing the teaching establishment has led to some wonderful advancements and innovations, but it has also led the way to making learning issues into political ones. And that ushers in the possibility of losing the sense of the core of the issue, suggests Holly Ocasio Rizzo’s piece. While bilingual education has long-been controversial, the late 1990s saw a wave of legislation aimed at barring schools from offering bilingual classes in favor of English-immersion classes. The worry was that a rise in the number of immigrants was lowering standards. However the other side was concerned that the issue on barring this type of education had less to do with children and learning than with an underlying paranoia about immigrant students.

“e-mail from mexico: The Little Pueblo
that could,” november 2001
By Tessie Borden

"Tulcingo may not have a web server, but it now has a website that keeps its far-flung population in touch with each other."

As Americans were fully immersed in an online culture by 2001, there remained sizable sectors of the world that had little or no access to the World Wide Web. Tessie Borden reported that remittances, funds sent to home countries by immigrants in the United States, had a hand in helping some of these countries develop Internet capabilities. One small corner of Mexico, Tulcingo de Valle, with a population of 8,000, had seen many of its inhabitants emigrate to the U.S. The result was a newly wired township and an example of well-invested remittance funds, which in current days help establish more and more tech advancements and small businesses.

“the dropouts,” december 2002
By Mayra Rodriguez Valladares

"the percentage of hispanics who drop out of high school is and has been higher than that of African americans and Caucasians each and every year for the last three decades."

In the first in a series of stories detailing the crisis in education facing Hispanic young people, writer Mayra Rodríguez Valladares explored the realities of students who leave school before graduating. In 2002, almost half of Hispanic students did not graduate from high school or were below grade level. And this deficit restricted career choices, making menial jobs often their only option for the future.
The U.S. Census Bureau had reported that the number of young school-age Hispanics was expected to surge in coming years, increasing the concern. If past problems were any indication, this new crop of students would face an uphill battle. Because these kids would eventually enter the workforce, the risk existed for a negative effect on the country as a whole. The article outlined the need to educate parents on the American school system and for more community resources that encourage school attendance and good grades. It also suggested preventing students from dropping out by nipping truancy in the bud, preventing students from falling behind, and instilling a love of school early in the educational career, such as attending preschool.

“diamonds of the amazon,” Dec/January 2007
By Daniel Eilemberg

"most of the economy in brazil is illegal ... timber, diamonds, mining, slavery and contraband make up for most of it."

Film such as Blood Diamond, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou, have raised awareness of the dangerous and sometimes deadly practice of illegally mining diamonds in war-torn areas of Africa. But little had been reported on the same practice occurring in Latin America. In 2006, PBS’ Frontline reported on the ravaging of the Brazilian Amazon, only not by timber companies, but by renegade diamond miners who illegally enter indigenous lands to search for stones. It’s a frighteningly dangerous operation as native people have been known to slaughter miners on sight and gut them in search of natural diamonds (also called blood diamonds or conflict diamonds) the miners swallowed to smuggle them out of the area. Diamond industry leaders have been accused of arming the indigenous people to scare rogue miners away, and indigenous people are not safe away from the reserve as miners intent on retaliation seek them out. Yet the pull of the black market diamond trade is too strong for some poor miners to resist, and the battle continues. However, the Kimberley process, established to monitor and regulate mining and the stones it produces, has helped to quell the violence in these desperate regions. The system isn’t fool-proof, but it has helped to reduce the effects of the deadly trade.