Five to receive Hispanic Heritage Awards
Five “exemplary” residents will be honored with Hispanic Heritage Awards next week, Mayor Sylvester Turner announced Tuesday.
The award-winners — artists, educators and activists — were nominated by fellow Houstonians and selected by the mayor’s Hispanic Heritage Awards Committee, the mayor’s office said.
Ana María Martínez, Cecilia Ballí, Sergio Lira, Luis Angel Garcia-Alvarez and David Dzul will accept their awards during a virtual Hispanic Heritage Awards reception at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 14.
“These individuals’ unwavering commitment to the community truly captures the selfless spirit that all Houstonians should seek to emulate,” Turner said in a statement.
Martinez, a Grammy-winning opera singer, is the first ever artistic adviser for the Houston Grand Opera and artist in residence at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. The Puerto Rico native has released 24 albums and performed across the world, including at the White House and the World Cup in Rio De Janeiro.
Cecili Ballí will be honored with the mayor’s education award for her career researching issues affecting Latinos on both sides of the Texas-Mexico border.
Her work includes ethnographic research into politics along the border fence and on-the-ground investigations into sexual violence against women in Ciudad Juarez and the drug wars between rival cartels in Nuevo Laredo.
The Lifetime Achievement Award will be given to Sergio Lira, a graduate of the University of St. Thomas and the University of Houston-Clear Lake.
Lira founded what is now known as the Hispanic Student Organization at
the University of St. Thomas. In his retirement, the former Houston ISD school board trustee makes presentations to new teachers at the University of Houston College of Education each year and participates in organizations across Houston like the Texas Organizing Project and El Zócalo at the Alley Theatre.
Two community activists, Luis Angel Garcia-Alvarez and David Dzul, are being honored with Hispanic Heritage Awards for their advocacy work.
Garcia-Alvarez, who grew up in Mexico, is the president of the System for Education Empowerment and Success, which provides college and career readiness programs among many others. Since moving to Houston 16 years ago, he has also served on the boards of various government bodies in Houston and Harris County.
Dzul, a student at Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions, is receiving the mayor’s Youth Activist Award. He’s the co-president and co-founder of DeBakey Civics and a youth organizer with Mi Familia Vota, a group leading research into the voting restriction bills debated in Texas’ 87th legislative session. He is also a member of several youth research groups and serves on the Mayor’s Youth Council.
The award ceremony will be broadcast on the Houston Municipal Channel and the city’s social media platforms as well as on Comcast’s channel 16, Phonoscope’s channels 73 and 99, Suddenlink’s channel 14 and AT&T Uverse’s channel 99.
The 2021 recipients join a roster that includes prominent street artist Donkeeboy and his mother, Donkeemom; activist Estella Mireles Walters; and community leader Felix Fraga.
Hispanic Heritage Month stretches from Sept. 15, when Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua celebrate their independence, to Oct. 15.
At the beginning of the month, the Houston Chronicle announced its own 10 Latino community leaders making a difference in Houston.