"Just a Thought" Column runs in La Prensa of SA, 11-3
By Steve Walker
This past week I was fortunate to attend the 11th Annual American Sunrise Gala Celebrity Song Slam hosted by former Mayor Henry Cisneros and his wife, former Councilwoman Mary Alice Cisneros. I have participated for a few years by covering the event in photos as the Editor of the Walker Report photo blog like I do for La Prensa. This year was no exception.
While the La Prensa
Foundation Awards Gala raises money for college scholarships, American Sunrise’s
mission is to create a model of comprehensive educational and financial
literacy services that will transform the lives of disadvantaged communities.
By attempting to lift people
out of poverty, American Sunrise’s goal is to also break the cycle of illiteracy
by offering those services that will equip them to at some point apply for
those scholarships that are offered by the La Prensa Foundation. Since I think
like a teacher having been in the classroom for 26 years the connection makes
sense to me.
Unlike La Prensa which is
not limited to a designated area, American Sunrise concentrates on a one square
mile area in the poor section of the Westside and infuses all the energy
programs and funds into that targeted area to make measurable and visibly
significant differences and improvements. It includes Prospect Hill where the
former Mayor and Councilwoman reside.
The event was very
entertaining as four diverse community leaders who claimed they could sing a
song or two volunteered to perform in front of the crowd and put their
reputation on the line. It turned out to be a really competitive and entertaining
evening with the audience voting on their favorite singer.
Reminiscent of “America’s
Got Talent” and “The Voice” the contestants sang their hearts out in hope of
making the second round and compete for the prize of two plane tickets to
anywhere in the United States.
The four contestants
included San Antonio Express-News Columnist and past President of the San
Antonio Association of Hispanic Journalists Elaine Ayala, San Antonio City
Clerk Leticia Vacek, SABEResPODER CEO (Spanish Language Media) Raul
Lomeli-Azoubel, and SAMM Ministries CEO Navarra Williams.
Judges included: “America’s
Got Talent” semi finalist 13-year-old Sebastien de la Cuz, former news anchor
for KMOL-TV (now News-4 WOAI) Maria Elena Torralva (1st Latina to
anchor) and local singer Evelyn O’Leary who performs in local restaurants and
night clubs with local bands.
Raul Lomeli-Azoubel, and
Navarra Williams moved to the second round with Williams winning the
competition with his rendition of the Temptations song “Moving” with dance
moves and hitting high notes in a falsetto voice. It was an evening with great
entertainment and fundraising for literacy.
Anyway, as always, what I
write is “Just a Thought.”
Steve Walker is a Vietnam
Veteran and former Justice of the Peace and Journalist.
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