From Carlos Munoz, Jr:

Dear Friends: It is with sadness that I inform you that Tony Salazar passed away yesterday morning in San Francisco. Tony served as chair of MEChA at UCLA in 1969. After graduation, he published what I believe was the first magazine devoted to Chicano/a music and Latin Jazz and Salsa. He also had his own radio program on KPFK in Los Angeles where he combined music and discussion of issues facing the Latino/a community. When he moved to San Francisco, he continued to make important contributions to the betterment of the Latino/a community. He was the publisher and editor of the Teleguia spanish language magazine.

There will be a rosary for him on Friday @6 pm at the C. Duggans Mortuary Home in the San Francisco Mission district. The address is 3434 17th Street @Valencia. The mortuary's phone number is 415-431-4900.

The funeral will be held on Saturday morning @9:30 at St. Paul's Catholic Church at the intersection of Valley and Church Streets in the Noe Valley San Francisco neighborhood.

—Carlos Munoz, Jr

From Dorinda Moreno:

Estimables companeros, Antonio Salazar, Presente!

Comadre Georgia Bowen Quinones, called early this morning to inform that our hermano, Tony Salazar, had passed away yesterday, followed soon after by emails, first from Juana Montgomery in Wash DC, and then Dr. Carlos Munoz, Jr. from Berkeley.

Also, I called and spoke to niece Felicia, who advised that following the San Francisco services, there would be announced a memorial at Tony's home turf, Los Angeles, when details are confirmed.

Though we exchanged many momentous experiences through the years, our favorite thing was to talk about the 70's and 'El Movimiento', The Chicano Moratorium, of Oscar "Zeta" Acosta, (Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo, The Revolt of the Cockroach People), and the companeros of Los Four/Con Safos... the most poignant remembranza is always the last... when I saw him at Mission Dolores Park, fitting at a Chicano Moratorium, standing under a tree at mi barrio 'La Mision' that Tony adopted as his. There we both stood and reflected over how quickly time passed, how many of our compas also had passed... there on the hill, at my too brief visit it seemed our 3 decades plus passed before our eyes though he had already lost much of his vision, he embraced the moment... whether on stage, organizing back of the stage, or at the information tables... on the grass with the familia... El Tecolote... Tony, embraced by the sun, by Danza Azteca, Music, Poetry, political presentations, Dolores Huerta/Eva Royale... honoring our Chicano familia of Resistance... Also, I read the prose I wrote at the original Moratorium in l971, 'La Nina Lina', of the child I found, separated from her parents, whose memory never fades... yet, the rambunctious young HipHop rapper, abruptly ended my 3-minute presentation before the poem was over, giving the stage over to their more (they thought) 'Revolutionary rhetoric, 'asi son los jovenes, sometimes, that think they invented, 'El Movimiento, relevancy sometimes in the eye of the beholder... sharing under the sky with companeros presentes y no presentes: Antonio Salazar, Eva Royale, Francisco Herrera, Mesha Monge Irizarry, Mary Jane Robertson, Alfonso Texidor, Pinguino/Hector 'El Indio', Peace and Dignity Journeys runner, and other gente - pleased that in a brief moment at nuestro querido barrio, 'La Mision,' he was adopted as a native son, nuestra historia like moving murals of a blessed kaliedascope of memories... Adios, Companero, Antonio Salazar, Presente!

—Dorinda Moreno

from Juana Montgomery-Kleiman:

My adopted brother Tony Salazar, President of Salazar Communications and Teleguia Magazine died yesterday morning. He was a very loving, talented, and a unique person. Passionate about family and passionate about the needs and services to the Hispanic community. He will be remembered and missed by many--family, friends, the Hispanic community, and the media community.

I am sharing with family and friends that the Vigil-Rosary will be held Friday, June 1, 6:00 pm, at Duggan's Funeral Services, 3434-17th Street near Valencia St. ( 415) 431-4900; the Mass will be held Saturday, June 2, 9:30 am, at St. Paul's Catholic Church, 221- Valley St. @ Church Street, (415) 648-7538; and cards and remembrances can be sent to the Family of Antonio (Tony) Salazar, 3505 -19th Street, #207, San Francisco, CA. 94110.

I am leaving Washington, DC tomorrow, and will remain in San Francisco until Tuesday, June 5, lodging at [lodging info and numbers edited].

My thoughts and prayers are with you all,
Juana

Juana Montgomery-Kleiman
Sr. Communications Specialist & EEO Programs Advisor
Federal Reserve Board - EEO Programs Office - MS 156

—Juana Montgomery-Kleiman

From Juan Felipe Herrera:

I remember Tony very well. In the late 60's, there were only 64 Chican@s at UCLA and we were bringing in more through the High Potential Program. And Tony Salazar was one of those exhuberant, devoted and big-mind youngsters rollin' in from East La, from Hazard Barrio. I was Tony's assigned mentor in HPotential. He gave all he had to all he met and for many he never saw.

Gracias, mi hermano - may the light escort you and may all your great deeds flourish in all lives now and forever.

—Juan Felipe Herrera

From Maria Medina:

Como duele el alma cuando se nos va un hermano tan querido. Tony fue una fuerza positiva y ha dejado un vacio grande en las comunidades de Los Angeles y en nuestros corazones.

Que descanse en paz...mojuba gbogbo Egun m'belese Olodumare iba aye arun Tony Salazar.

Gracias por avisarnos y nos vemos el viernes.

Maria Medina Serafin

—Maria Medina Serafin

From Tomas Gonzales:

It is with heavy heart that I remember my friend Tony. He lived a few blocks from Cal State LA with his kids. I was a member of Cal State MECHA. My friend Frank Miranda and I had started a community group in East LA called the Maravilla Association for Progressive Community Action or MAPCA. We organized Maravilla. We were young and full of vinegar. Tony let us come on his radio program and we sometimes said things that should not be said on the air. We were very "revolutionary," or so we thought.

Over the many years since then, it was in 1970, I have often looked back to relive the past days of the Movimeinto, when everything was fresh and alive and the Chicano spirit was full. I have often thought about Tony and wondered what he was up to. I knew he was doing something to organize, but I just didn't know what. I last visited him when I was living in the Bay Area in the late 80's. He had suffered a huge tragedy and he was so very sad. I could not perk him up, and I never did see him again. I am sad to hear that he has passed on and that I never got another chance to see him enjoying himself. But he was a fighter, and a true Chicano.

All the youth should listen to the sister who reflects on how the chavos of today sometimes disrespect the elders, mostly out of ignorance. For we once built a beautiful home where we could all feel safe and where for a time everyone in our sphere seemed to be on the same page. We had Santana and Malo and El Chicano and Los Peludos. We had Willie Herron and Patsy Valdez with Los Four and Carlos Callejo. Mechicano Art Center and Floricanto Art Center and David Sanchez and the Brown Berets. We had Ruben Salazar and Tony Rios and Cesar. We had Ursala Gutierrez and Delfino Varela! We had Bert Corona, Ed Roybal and Natividad Cisneros! El Teatro Campesino and Teatros Urbano and A La Brava and TENAZ. We had Casa de Carnalismo and MAPA, and ATM and countless other individuals and groups that I do not mean to disrespect by not naming. We had statewide meetings at Alvacado Lake in Fresno. We read Con Safos and went to El Consilio de Arte Popular meetings all over California. We marched everywhere including up and down the state and into Arizona and Texas, Nueva Mexico and Colorado. We marched in the Moratorium. We marched to free Los Tres. We occupied Catalina Island and Alcatraz. We boycotted grapes and Gallo and Coors. We all joined the Raza Unida Party!

And there was Tony, talking about police brutality on the radio, and bringing young people to KPFK to talk about our political views. But he also brought others, like the police to discuss the issues, and it was from him that I learned the most important lesson of my life. I learned that in order to make things right, we all have to work together. We have to learn to respect others, not just our own in East LA. And so I always felt that I should go back to San Francisco and look him up one more time to tell him how important he was to my growth as a person and how I respect what he taught me and many others fighting for our civil rights while attending East LA College and Cal State LA and becoming adults.

I want everyone to know how very lucky we were to have him and the others in the right place at the right time. I want people to know that for a brief but significant period, we were the luckiest Chicanos and Chicanas in the world. Maybe we should take time to write it all down before we all disappear and no one remembers. I will miss Tony Salazar, but I will never forget what he once meant to a whole generation of vital youth finding our way into the world.

Antonio Salazar? Presente!

—Tomas Gonzales, Civil Rights Advocate

From Roberto Vargas:

Honoring Tony Salazar Reflections from Roberto Vargas, former Chair, Latino Advisory Committee, Oakland Museum of California - May 30, 2007

Tony Salazar, veteran community activist and publisher of the Bay Area's Teleguia, is one of my heroes and in his memory I recommit to the vision we shared to create a better society for all people.

I met Tony eight years ago when he volunteered to serve as a member of the Latino Advisory Committee of the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA). I was struck by the presence he emanated-a community statesman and business entrepreneur with the heart of a veteran Chicano activist. He joined us to support our efforts to educate Latinos and all people as to the value that the Mexican-American community brings to Californian and to our nation.

Activists are not just people working on a political agenda, they are people who deeply care about others and do their part to create joy and justice in the world. Tony was such an activist. He advocated for justice for Latinos and all other victims of oppression. He modeled our ability to be respectful and caring of people of all cultures. He reminded us how music and culture can inspire all us to appreciate and enjoy life. When, I recently asked him, what he felt was his greatest accomplishment, he said that it was contributing his part to raise his children to be self-confident, caring, and successful persons.

We all owe Tony gratitude for being a person who walked his talk. In addition, those of us who are part of the OMCA community owe him special thanks for the leadership he brought. Tony was the radical and conscientious doer on our Latino Advisory Committee. He was the person to argue that we assume ethical positions and take protest actions which he urged us to do when the Museum accepted donations from a winery unsupportive of the United Farm Workers Union. He was also the person who every year for our Days of the Dead celebration and other activities would mentor others on how to walk the streets of Oakland to do the person-to-person outreach required to educate our community about the good work of the Museum.

I already miss our brother Tony. Given the care I am now providing my mother in Southern California I may not be able to attend his memorial, yet I ask all that knew Tony to participate in an honoring circle for him. Reach out to others who knew him and share what Tony's gifts were to you. Maybe, it was his strategic thinking, his humor, or love of life. Because Tony lived and worked in so many circles, we will hear of the various gifts he leaves us. Then reflecting on the best that he gave us, recommit to do your part to continue Tony's legacy-making the world better one person, statement, and interaction at a time.

Gracias Hermano Tony for all your giving and remember to send us your wisdom from the spirit side because we will be listening.

--- Tu hermano, Roberto Vargas

Tony Salazar died May 28, 2007. His viewing and rosary will be at Dugans Mortuary Home in the San Francisco Mission District (3434 17th Street) at 6 o'clock on Friday, June 1st. The funeral will be Saturday at 9:30 am, at St Paul's, 29th & Church Streets in San Francisco.

—Roberto Vargas, DrPH

From Carmencristina Moreno:

Tony Salazar

And so it begins!
Our veteranos and veteranas begin to die off!
But others, younger ones, educated in this country, learned in the ways of the grand laws of these United States, step up to take their place, to continue the fight for the fulfillment of those promises made to all of us in the United States Constitution. For after all, is that not why our forefathers came to this country in the first place, seeking refuge from the injustices and tyrannies in the old countries?

And is that not, why they lived, and all of us continue to live, under the vara, the rigid laws of this country? To later be able to enjoy the safety that these so-called ‘rigid laws’ provide, as per the promises?

So it is, that as a veterano or a veterana falls, another younger one, steps up to take their place to continue the struggle for the fulfillment of these promises.
And so may it always be.

Meanwhile, to our fallen compadre, …the godchild being the well-being of ALL us Latinos, … so it is that we now bid you farewell and say to you: ……….

“You done good, Tony Salazar. You done good!”

—Carmencristina Moreno

From Sylvia Ramirez:

Con la tristesa de perder a Tony, la vida sigue adelante. My daughter, Malin Alegria, will be book-signing and reading from her new book at The Hair Place & More Barbershop (Debby's Place) next Sunday, the 10th, from 4-6pm. Her barbershop is on 22nd Street-between Mission and Capp, across from the Bayview Bldg. parking lot.

It's a small world in San Francisco. Debby Santiago, owner of the Hair Place is a long time family friend/hairdresser and was also Tony's hairdresser, so Tony and I met there once in a while, sin planearlo, to gossip and get our hair cut. Sometimes we'd also walk over to Josie's restaurant, Los Jarritos, to continue our stories from the Chicano movement or to debate "otra vez" "El barullo con La Chicanas de San Diego" over freshly made tortillas. I couldn't have asked for a better lunch partner-we laughed at how serious we were back then and were also struck with fondness for the dreams we continued to share. In the time and space that I knew Tony, the most important women in his life were-Josie who fed him and Debby who made him look super trim. At the funeral, other people gave stories of their love and affection for Tony-I wanted to share with you how important these two women were to him, because they are great women and too humble to share it themselves.

Te cuidas, Sylvia R. Ramirez

—Sylvia R. Ramirez

If you have any fotos of Tony, please email them to me and I will add them. Gracias.

update, June 5, 12:47 Noon:

Estimados Colegas of the Oakland Museum of California Latino Advisory Council & others - I thought that you might like to know that on Tuesday, June 5 sometime after 7:00 PM, I will be taking part on Crónicas de la Raza/La Raza Chronicles, KPFA, 91.4 on the FM dial, on a segment on Tony Salazar's passing. —sendos abrazos - Rafael