Honoring Ruben Salazar

A plaque highlighting the legacy of slain journalists Ruben Salazar was unveiled at Salazar Park in East Los Angeles on Friday, Aug. 29. Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, who organized the event with the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation,  said she was 21 when she attended the Chicano Moratorium march in East Los Angeles, where Salazar was killed while covering the demonstration. At the time, she said, Latinos were being treated like second-class citizens at the same time that many of them, such as some of her former high school classmates, were being killed in the Vietnam War. “Ruben Salazar was a gifted chronicler and advocate who dedicated his talents to sharing with the world what it meant to be Mexican American in a transformative time and place,” said Molina in a written statement. “His contributions made him an icon in the community — and although his life was cut tragically short, his legacy lives on in the people influenced, inspired and touched by his work.”