SACRAMENTO -- For the seventh year in a row, the California Latino Caucus recognized the efforts and achievements of the most prominent personalities in the fields of politics, arts, media, economics and sports.
During the Assembly meeting Monday, the Caucus held the presentation of the Latino Spirit Awards, which this year honored 14 members of California's Latino community.
This year former Senator Richard Polanco, received the award for his leadership and community service over 30 years.
"It's an honor for me and I am so proud to receive this award which I share with many people that throughout my career have supported me, especially the Latino community which I have served the last 30 years," said Polanco.
He added that all his efforts and achievements would never have been possible without the help of many people who have supported him throughout his career. "This is an award that I receive on behalf of all my colleagues with whom I have worked in my career."
In addition to Polanco, other political figures were honored like Hermán Gallegos, an activist of the 50s and pioneer of Latino nonprofit organizations, and Vilma Martínez for their dedication toward the human rights of workers.
Within the arts and media the winners were: Gustavo Arellano, a newspaper editor in Orange County and creator of the column 'Ask a Mexican;' Nancy de los Santos, associate director and who worked as associate producer on the film 'Selena;' and Luis Valdez, considered the father of Chicano theater and creator of Teatro Campesino.
"For me this award is a double honor since it recognizes my work as a journalist and thereby be implied that I am a son of Mexican immigrants," Arellano said.
"The newspapers in English for many years did not pay attention but now we have seen that journalism in Spanish has been growing and we can see that with a lot of media that has emerged in recent years," Arellano said.
In the area of education, the personalities who were honored were Salvador Castro, Chicano activist of the movement Blowout, which in 1968 fought for equality in California schools; Jaime Escalante, an example of immigrant success and who in 1982 was recognized in the book 'The Best Teachers in America.'
"As an immigrant I am proud to be here and hopefully my example will serve to inspire others to seek to overcome and make our community a solid core and united for the common welfare of our people," said Escalante, who is originally from Bolivia.
Also entrepreneurs Jorge Castro, chief executive of Lombardia Capital Partners, a company that handles $1.7 billion in pension funds and charitable foundations, and Michael Torres, director of Adelante Capital Management, real estate business.
On the field of sports, the winners were the player Jim Plunkett and Daniel Villanueva, who was a player for Los Angeles Rams and Dallas Cowboys in the '60s and who is now a businessman.
Finally, Ramona Delgado and Jennie Hernández were awarded for being an example of women overcoming domestic violence. They are the creators of the group Women Escaping a Violent Environment (WEAVER), which helps women to get ahead after a bad experience.
Those politicians that presented the awards were Joe Coto, president of the California Latino Caucus; Assembly Speaker Fabián Núñez; and state Sen. Gil Cedillo.
"All these people have contributed their talents and leadership to help the Latino community of California and have inspired thousands of Latinos across the state to do something positive in their lives," said Cedillo.
He added that although the efforts of California's Latino community have not yet been fully recognized, much progress has been made and achieved by the above-mentioned personalities.