There were no Latinos either in front of or behind the TV cameras, despite the fact that Philadelphia had a large and thriving Latino population. Latino news rarely got reported, either on the air or in the local newspapers.
Juan Antonio "Tony" Leon Jr. and a few other activists set about to change that. In the late '60s they protested outside television stations, charging employment discrimination, and negotiated with station officials for jobs.
"That small knock on their door opened the door for a few of us to be hired at WPVI," Tony wrote in a reminiscence last July.
He went on to become a highly regarded cameraman, documentarian, producer and editor - first for WPVI-TV, Channel 6, and later for KYW-TV, Channel 3 - as well as a dedicated activist in the Latino community.
He died Thursday after a long fight against cancer. He was 56 and lived in Fishtown.
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I am so grateful you have shared this information with us about such an important legacy we have had in the field of journalism as Mr. Juan Antonio Leon. You have a terrific blog: American Taino/The Vasquez Report and our community appreciates what you are doing to keep us inform of what our people are doing and the contributions they are making to make the world a better place for humanity. Gracias!
ReplyDeleteThanks after go through your article about such an important legacy we have had in the field of journalism.Just keep going and make several article like this.
ReplyDeleteThis is wonderful. A story about a true hero for our people.
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