by Marvin J. ramirez
Marvin J. Ramirez
How does it feel when the dream project turns 17 long years? I can tell you, wonderful! Many predicted it wouldn’t last too long.
But because I am one with the believe that everyone of us is a creator, what we create with our mind and resolution, it just becomes by operation of law.
I never saw a failure. Every week I would begin, and continue starting the next edition, as soon as the current one is being printed. Whether I have the budget or not. I just keep working and working, I guess because is the best job I ever had J.
It was 17 years ago, in March 1991, when San Francisco and the Bay Area communities saw the first edition of The Reporter, as it was called then (see the image here).
It was all in English, and at that time it had not occurred to me yet, to produce a bilingual publication.
However, because my journalist father didn’t speak English, he
suggested that I should make it bilingual. Without telling me why, I kind of thought what was his reason: he wanted his elderly friends at Centro Latino – where he ate lunch and socialized everyday – and himself, be able to read his son’s journalistic work. He was very proud of me. Unfortunately he passed on June 12, 2004, having given the greatest inspiration in my life.
Prior to that, when I went to pick up the first edition at the printer – on 16th Street, and was driving in route to SF State University to distribute it there, I stopped at the intersection of Mission and 26th streets’ traffic light. I saw a group of old friends standing at the door of Barnes Gómez’ Golden Gate Liquors (R.I.P.).
There was Gómez and a few of his personal friends chatting. At that moment it occurred to me I should give them a copy of the paper.
I got out of the car and brought them a few copies of The Reporter, which, after doing so, I thought of it as a community
newspaper. My first idea had been to make it a campus paper.
The first edition, as you can see in the graphic, was poorly laid out. I was barely learning my first steps in newspaper design. I was almost two years short from graduating with my Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism.
I saw a new horizon in my life. I gave my entire life to my new project, to chronicle much of the life of the Latino community within my limitations, of course.
Today, I want to thank everyone of my advertisers for still being with us for these long years. Some have been faithfully supporting this endeavor, which has been a labor of love serving you all.
Every year we ask you all our readers and merchants to place your business card or an ad of your business to congratulate this effort. And we ask you again to help us bring in the funds we need to continue serving you, and we hope to do it better this year.
