Musician Jimenez is being honored at journalists’ gala

Flaco Jimenez, the fivetime Grammy Award winner who helped introduce Tejano music to a wider audience, is being honored by the San Antonio Association of Hispanic Journalists during its 24th annual scholarship and awards gala this summer.

“He is just legendary,” SAAHJ President Laura Garcia said. “We thought it's time that we honor someone like that.”

The SAAHJ Annual Scholarship and Awards Gala recognizes individuals and organizations that have made a significant contribution to the community in some way, shape or form.

This year's event, sponsored by health care company WellMed, will be held at 6 p.m. July 23 at the St. Anthony Hotel on East Travis Street. There, the association will distribute $40,000 in scholarships to 11 area students studying journalism and mass communications.

The scholarships include $5,000 for an “outstanding Latino student” interested in pursuing a career as a reporter or author, according to the SAAHJ. That scholarship is funded by Shea Serrano, a San Antonio native and New York Times bestselling author known for writing about sports, movies and music.

“The students we're aiming to help are, at many times, economically disadvantaged, and they really rely on things like scholarships and financial aid to help get through college,” Garcia, herself a former scholarship recipient, said, noting the association will be “giving out more per student than we ever have” this year. “It's so important for us to help our students, especially students of color, graduate and get their foot in the door to work in newsrooms.”

In addition to scholarships, SAAHJ also will be presenting its annual awards.

Jimenez will receive the Corazón de Oro Award, which “honors individuals and groups that have made significant contributions to the U.S. Latino landscape throughout their work and careers,” according to the SAAHJ. He was born on the South Side in 1939 and rose to fame for his mastery of the accordion.

Music journalist Ramón Hernández will receive the Henry Guerra Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Journalism for his coverage of Tejano music over more than three decades.

Hernández, a former freelancer for the Express-News, also built an enormous trove of Tejano music memorabilia, including instruments owned by famous names such as Isidro López, “Little Joe” Hernández, Sunny Ozuna and Selena, in that time. The Wittliff Collections at Texas State University acquired his collection in 2018.

Hernández and Jimenez “are so deserving,” Garcia said.

Also being recognized is the San Antonio Food Bank, which will receive the Community Service Award for “its inspiring response to the coronavirus pandemic and its work addressing hunger and poverty in the predominantly Mexican American seventh-largest city in the nation,” according to a news release from SAAHJ.

“Everybody knows that the food bank is amazing, but I think they really shone during the pandemic, when COVID-19

exposed these economic disparities in San Antonio,” Garcia said.

The gala is open to the public, though only a limited number of individual

tickets will be sold. Tables are available at prices ranging from $2,000 to $10,000. Garcia said she expects about 250 people to attend.

Marvin Pfeiffer/Staff file photo Flaco Jimenez, from left, Max Baca and Josh Baca with Los Texmaniacs play at a clinic last year.