by Norma Burgos
Felix Elizalde
Castro Valley, California— On September 4, surrounded by loving family, friends and Hospice caregivers in his Castro Valley home, Chicano Activist Felix Elizalde silently surrendered in his 20-year courageous and miraculous fight against lymphomatic cancer. He was 79. Many of us, Latinos in the media and community leaders who were ever touched by this angel will remember his inspired leadership and tireless service to the Chicano/ Latino community that spanned over four decades.
I will most remember him as “a man for all causes,” a visionary and a humanitarian for whom diversity and social justice meant equality in all arenas and for all people. In the 1980s he was one of my sponsors at the Bay Area Broadcast Skills Bank, a civil rights initiative of the National Black Urban league promoting inclusion of minorities in broadcasting.
The son of migrant farmworkers from Stockton, California, this high-school dropout-turned-college professor, journalist, prominent civic leader and philanthropist, is most remembered for his pioneering quest to increase Latino access to the media, begun in the 1970s.
Through his brainchild, La Raza Media Scholarship Committee (spawned in partnership with then-Shamrock Broadcasting Company) he was able to advance the careers of many beginning Latino broadcasters and journalists, who as himself, would earn degrees in journalism and broadcasting. Felix was an undergraduate of the Journalism Department of San Jose State University and had a graduate degree in Broadcast Communication Arts from San Francisco State University. He also held teaching credentials for both the high school and community college levels and was a valued mentor to many aspiring Chicano-Latino youth.
A soft-spoken, charismatic, yet tenacious spokesperson for Latino equality and opportunity, Felix was the first Chicano to ever win the prestigious Robert C. Kirkwood Award of the SF Foundation, in recognition of his unequalled leadership not only in the media, but in the fields of education and business. He sat on the boards of the Alameda County Board of Education, Hispanic Community Affairs Council, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Hispanic Journalists. And received distinguished service awards from the California State Legislature, the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation, the Oakland Raiders, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Alameda County and NALEO (National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials), to name a few of his community affiliations.
The omnipresent Felix may have left behind his empty board seat, but for the rest of the Bay Area his legacy of commitment lives on. In 2006, in his honor as well, La Raza Media Scholarship Committee became the Felix Elizalde La Raza Media Education Fund of the San Francisco Foundation which today awards grants to both individuals and community projects increasing Latino access to the media and benefitting the Chicano Latino community as a whole.
“Winning the Kirkwood Award was the crowning glory in his professional life,” says Rose Guilbault, former Editorial Director, KGO-TV and a longtime friend and colleague.
The Oakland-based Hispanic Community Affairs Council (HCAC) will continue to honor his memory at their annual “Felix Elizalde La Raza Media Scholarship” luncheon benefitting deserving Alameda County youth. Says Bettina Flores, its President, “Felix will be missed but not forgotten.”
Felix is survived by his devoted wife of 49 years, Margaret; children Lynn and Michael; son-in-law Scott Leahy; and four grandchildren, Melissa, Daniel, Alex and Catie.
