In honor of trailblazing newsman Ruben Salazar's relentless efforts to chronicle the complexity of race relations in Los Angeles, the U.S. Postal Service in 2008 will issue a commemorative stamp of the former Los Angeles Times reporter and columnist.
"He was a groundbreaker for Latinos in this country, but his work spoke to all Americans," Postmaster Gen. John E. Potter said Monday. "By giving voice to those who didn't have one, Ruben Salazar worked to improve life for everybody. His reporting of the Latino experience in this country set a standard that's rarely met even today."
It was the way Salazar died that made him a martyr to many in the Mexican American community. His head was shattered by a heavy, torpedo-shaped tear gas projectile fired by a sheriff's deputy during a riot Salazar was covering in East Los Angeles on Aug. 29, 1970.
Salazar was 42.
"Ruben Salazar put an indelible stamp on the profession of journalism in Los Angeles," said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. "From the battlefields of Vietnam to the streets of East L.A., he reported the news with a rare combination of toughness and humanity. It's great to finally see his legacy honored on a national level with the issuance of this postage stamp."
Tens of millions of the first-class 41-cent stamps will be issued some time next year, Postal Service officials said. It will be among five stamps honoring U.S. journalists to be officially unveiled in Washington on Oct. 5.
"Ruben Salazar was a courageous and pioneering journalist, and we were honored to have him as a colleague at The Times," said Los Angeles Times Publisher David Hiller. "This commemorative stamp is a fine tribute to his legacy that lives on in the communities he served so resolutely."
Parks, schools, libraries and highways have been named after Salazar, and books, murals, plays and films have been inspired by his life.
Media and corporate foundations each year donate millions of dollars to honor Salazar through scholarships and awards.
Some Mexican Americans called him la voz de la Raza, the voice of the people, and his often blunt columns spoke to the desires and frustrations of a community. The year he died, he wrote:
"Chicanos feel cheated. They want to effect change. . . .
"That is why Mexican American activists flaunt the barrio word Chicano -- as an act of defiance and a badge of honor. Mexican Americans, though large in numbers, are so politically impotent that in Los Angeles, where the country's largest single concentration of Spanish-speaking live, they have no one of their own on the City Council."
