Cantú, Janecek, Martínez, Silva recognized
The buzzing sound of chatter and the melodies of Tejano music filled the Memorial Student Union Ballroom at Texas A&M University – Kingsville (TAMUK) to celebrate the 15th annual Tejano Heritage Awards on Wednesday, Oct. 5.
Professor of Communication Dr. Manuel Flores began this banquet 15 years ago, to celebrate Tejano culture and individuals who have served this community.
Every year, the Tejano Banquet awards two to four people who have demonstrated exemplary service to the community of South Texas. This year, Dr. Norma Elia Cantú and César Martínez were awarded the Tejano Heritage Award and Dr. Rito Silva and Lily Flores Janecek received the Tejano Service Award.
“We believe in the Tejano culture and what it has done for South Texas,” Flores said. “Tejano culture is all over the place here in Texas, just look at all the river and town names: they are almost all Hispanic names.”
Each person has to be nominated by university faculty or staff, friends who know them or others. TAMUK has a Tejano Awards Committee which evaluates each nomination and narrows down candidates. There are typically 12 to 14 nominations each year, but only a maximum of four individuals are chosen to be awarded and recognized.
Cantú is a Chicana postmodernist writer and the Murchison Professor in the Humanities at Trinity University in San Antonio. She has several books published, including Canícula: Snapshots of a Girlhood en la Frontera and Cabañuelas: A Novel and was editor of the book Entre Guadalupe y Malinche: Tejanas in Literature and Art. Cantú is considered an expert in Chicana/Tejana literature and is one of today’s premier writers in that genre.
Martínez is one of the most prominent Chicano Latinx artists in the nation. While at Texas A&I, he became involved in the Chicano Movement for civil rights and became friends with several of the leaders. His work is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution, the Vero Beach Museum of Art and the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City and the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston. His work is currently in the Ben Bailey Art Gallery at TAMUK.
“I actually did not want to start out being an artist, but I always liked art as a child,” Martínez said. “But [to succeed,] you don’t have to have talent; you need to have desire. I liked to color and paint when I was young, but I wasn’t good. I did not get good [at art] until I had a lot to say as an artist.”
Dr. Silva is the vice president for enrollment services and student affairs at TAMUK. He has a passion for Tejano music and helped establish the Tejano R.O.O.T.S. Hall of Fame Music in 2000 in Alice. Silva has had a long academic career as a college administrator, working for Coastal Bend College, Lone Star College-CyFair and Del Mar College.
Janecek is a pioneer Hispanic journalist in newspaper and T.V. She was listed among the “Most Influential Women in South Texas History” by the Corpus Christi – Caller Times as a KIII – TV3 Anchor. Janecek was also a reporter for the Caller Times and a board member of the Corpus Christi Press.
During her time at Texas A&I, she was editor of The South Texan from 1975 to 1976.
“[My favorite part of journalism] is the stories people have. It’s fun interviewing politicians, stars and famous people, but I also enjoy getting to know ordinary people and finding out their stories,” she said.
As the banquet came to an end, the lively chatter calmed down and four individuals left the ballroom in good spirits with their awards.
