Inflammatory Literature: The Legacy of American Journalist Ruben Salazar

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Join us for an evening of performance and conversation honoring the life and work of Ruben Salazar (1928–1970), a pioneering journalist of Mexican descent who was among the first to cover the burgeoning Chicano movement in the 1960s, opening doors for Latinx journalists, newspapers, and broadcast media in Los Angeles and across the United States. Celebrated actors Chastity Dotson (Young Valiant, Little Book of Battles), Marlene Forte (Knives Out, Fear the Walking Dead, Real Women Have Curves), Matthew Lillard (Good Girls, Bosch), Culture Clash co-founder Herbert Sigüenza (Coco), and David Zayas (Dexter, Gotham, Oz, Rounders) will perform in a short play written by USC professor Oliver Mayer (author of Blade to the Heat) and directed by USC lecturer Edgar Landa. The play is inspired by writings preserved in the Ruben Salazar Papers, donated by his family to the USC Libraries' Special Collections.

Presented on Salazar’s birthday, the performance will be followed by a conversation with the actors and USC professors Elda María Román and Roberto Suro about Salazar’s legacy, his untimely death 50 years ago during the Chicano Moratorium protests, and continuing struggles for social justice today. Ellas will also perform a musical program celebrating Salazar’s life.

Related Event:
Ruben Salazar: Man in the Middle 
Screening and Discussion with Director Phillip Rodriguez
Monday, August 31, 2020, at 7 p.m. PT
Live Webcast
For more info, click here.
 

Presented by USC Visions and Voices: The Arts and Humanities Initiative. Organized by Oliver Mayer (Dramatic Arts), Barbara Robinson (USC Libraries), and Carlos Parra (History). Co-sponsored by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, USC Dornsife College, the USC Libraries, the USC School of Dramatic Arts, and La CASA.