Rueben Martinez (born April 26, 1940 in
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
,
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
) is an American
activist and businessman. He is active in Democratic party politics and runs a barbershop and a
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
-focused bookstore in Santa Ana, California.
Early life
Seeing no future for himself in the small mining town where he grew up, at the age of seventeen Martinez left Arizona for
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...
.
He found a job at the massive Bethlehem Steel plant in Maywood, East Los Angeles, attended night school at Santa Ana College, married and began raising a family. By the standards of his community he was a success, but as the years went by Martinez began to feel that he hadn't yet found an occupation which was 'the right fit.' He quit Bethlehem Steel to explore a series of other jobs in Southern California until finally in the late 1970s he used his savings to open a barbershop in downtown Santa Ana and proceeded to cut hair full-time for over twenty years.
Professional life
His barber shop in downtown
Santa Ana,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
was a gathering place in
Orange County
Orange County most commonly refers to:
*Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Orange County may also refer to:
U.S. counties
*Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando
*Orange County, Indiana
*Orange County, New ...
. His interest in the community and in the needs of small businessmen led him to be active in California
Democratic politics, especially among
Latinos
Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spaniards, Spanish and/or Latin Americans, Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include a ...
. He has been a
delegate
Delegate or delegates may refer to:
* Delegate, New South Wales, a town in Australia
* Delegate (CLI), a computer programming technique
* Delegate (American politics), a representative in any of various political organizations
* Delegate (Unit ...
to several nominating conventions.
In 1993, Martinez got an idea that grew from a customer novelty to a national business. Martinez realized that the Latino community in California did not have bookshops that focused on their culture. His small collection of books featuring imported books and Latino and
Chicano
Chicano or Chicana is a chosen identity for many Mexican Americans in the United States. The label ''Chicano'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''Mexican American'', although the terms have different meanings. While Mexican-American ident ...
artists soon outgrew his barbershop. He moved his business around the corner to an empty storefront and turned his attention to the books.
''Librería Martinez Books & Art Gallery'' and ''Libros Para Niños'', a children’s bookstore, are recognized nationwide for showcasing Latino authors and artists. He seeks to make Latino books available to children, and has promoted reading among children of all ages.
MacArthur Fellows Program
In 2004, Martinez was the recipient of a
MacArthur Fellowship
The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...
. The selection committee cited Martinez for "fusing the roles of marketplace and community center to inspire appreciation of literature and preserve Latino literary heritage."
See also
*
Mexican American writers
The following is a list of Mexican-American writers.
A-C
* Oscar Zeta Acosta
* José Acosta Torres, author of collection ''Cachito Mía'' (1973)Marc Zimmerman, ''U.S. Latino Literature: An Essay and Annotated Bibliography'', MARCH/Abrazo, 1992. ...
External links
*
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Rueben
Living people
1940 births
Activists for Hispanic and Latino American civil rights
MacArthur Fellows
American people of Mexican descent
People from Santa Ana, California
People from Miami, Arizona
Activists from California