Four years ago, a beloved newspaper todos aqui en San Antonio have grown up with or have heard of in one fashion or another, announced it’s end. Community leaders and organizers came together to ensure the survival of our gente’s news. Leonard Rodriguez, born and raised in San Antonio’s beautiful Westside, stepped in to assist when asked by Steve Duran, son of the ever-revered Tino Duran. Rodriguez, who was already a friend of la familia Duran, knew he had to help preserve this culturally iconic work.
“The city and these lands have always been part of who I am. The history is in my DNA and I care passionately about the city [of San Antonio],” Rodriguez, Interim Chairman of La Prensa Texas passionately states. A 10th generation Tejano, Rodriguez’s blood is puro San Anto as his familia was one of the 13 families who settled San Antonio. Like many in our city, he received a catholic education growing up, which he then took with him to Southern Methodist University where he studied business. He later published a page-a-day-calendar which “profiled the accomplishments of more than 300 successful Hispanic Latinos and Latinas…covering 500 years of our presence in this country.” Which then acted as a springboard into his career in politics, where Rodriguez was hired as former President George W. Bush’s National Hispanic Coalition Director. After working in DC and New York, Rodriguez made his way back to our beloved city.
“Being home in the community that I grew up in, around the people that I love…that’s what motivates me. That’s what moved me,” Rodriguez genuinely declared. Coming back to San Antonio, he worked at the City of San Antonio’s Westside Development Corporation. As President and CEO of the WDC for many years, Rodriguez was able to give back to his community and preserve cultura para todos.
“What makes San Antonio most unique and why people come here is the culture. I feel we’re entering an age where people want to whitewash that culture away. So holding on to it, preserving it, doing events and reporting on things that are important to who we are as a people is the way you can be involved,” Rodriguez comments. Now, with the sincere and diligent work of Rodriguez and our other Board Members, we can continue to be what our community needs.
“We’re about la gente, and we want to share the good news that we’re doing in the community. And there’s a lot of good news to share and still a lot of work to do,” states our Interim Chairman of La Prensa Texas.
So, if you have a story which needs to be shared, gente, do not forget that we are here. If we don’t tell our stories, someone else will, and that person will get it wrong. Aqui en La Prensa Texas, we are the People’s News.
