We all know that we are not taught our true history growing up. Unfortunately, we do not always see ourselves represented in a positive light in mainstream movies, stories, books, newspapers, etc. Former President of University of Texas at San Antonio, current La Prensa Texas Board Member, and distinguished Historian, San Antonio’s very own Dr. Ricardo Romo continues to teach us about who we are and where we come from with his weekly well-researched contributions to La Prensa Texas.
Born and raised in San Antonio, Dr. Romo attended the University of Texas at Austin on a track scholarship. He obtained his PhD in American History from UCLA. While writing a book about East Los Angeles, Dr. Romo came across la familia Lozano in his research where he learned Ignacio Eugenio Lozano, Sr. founded La Prensa in 1913 who later moved his operation to Los Angeles in 1926 where he began publishing La Opinion. Lozano would then become the Latino publisher of the two most important Latino newspapers in America, an important feat in any time period.
After retiring as President of UTSA in 2017 where he accomplished a multitude of great things, our urban historian wanted to get back to his History roots. Thus, he planted himself in the culturally rich soils of La Prensa after contacting la familia Duran, where he writes articulate authentic pieces which are just as deeply rooted in cultural history.
While other mediums may not offer cultural community content, our Board Members such as Dr. Romo continue to work to ensure that La Prensa Texas is a space to highlight the arts of our gente, including art shows, poets, singers, and the like. “Those are the things we have to cover. That’s our obligation. It’s well understood, and that’s what we need to do,” Romo comments.
“I want people to know that La Prensa is a newspaper that they should know about. That they should read. That they should distribute. There are stories there that are not available to us through other mediums. And if they do that, then I think our community will be better informed. But also, our community is going to learn about individuals that have made a difference in terms of making a contribution to society. Whether they be educators, whether they be writers, whether they be politicians, these are the folks that we feel like if they made a difference, then we’re going to write about them,” Romo concludes, with genuine honesty, as he continues to work to preserve the true history of our gente.
Knowing where we come from will lead us to where we need to be.
