lle." i'm damian trujillo and today, the honors of the san jose musicians memorial, plus the legendary artist carlos perez right here in our studio. this is your "communidad del valle." male announcer: nbc bay area presents "communidad del valle" with damian trujillo. damian: we begin today with the magic of coding and getting more latinos and latinas into coding. with me here on "communidad del valle" is nancy urena reid on the show. and you're a teacher of mathematics and computer science at lincoln high school in san jose. nancy urena reid: that's correct. damian: now, when we talk about coding, we've--it's a relatively new term or is it not? what do we talk about when we talk about coding? i know it involves kids and--not necessarily kids, but people on computers. nancy: yeah, so coding gives students the opportunity to create something using a language such as, like java, or

some visual programming that's snap!, which is becoming more available to younger kids to expose them to technology or programming. and so, they're able to write some--it's a language. they write code, they have to understand what the fundamentals are, and then they're able to create things, whether a calculator or an animation or anything that they can think of to help them. damian: when you talk about coding, it sounds like you write code. it sounds like something secretive that the cia operatives are using. but no, this is something that we're using here in the engineering fields and the mathematics fields across silicon valley. nancy: yes, and not only is it just for those areas, but it is a good marriage with many fields. in fact, nowadays, technology or computing is used in medicine, education, science, research, agriculture,

so many--retail, so many different fields. and so, with that skill, you are better to create things, to--because nowadays, everything involves technology. damian: and so, we're not necessarily talking about web creation and web development. nancy: that is one section. that's just a subset, but there's many things. you collect data. you can make decisions, like businesses. like how many people are buying this product? and they can collect the data, filter it, organize it, and make some kind of decisions with that. damian: now, you emailed the show and saying that you feel that more latinos need to be aware of coding and be conscious and coherent, if you will, on coding. why is that important to you, and why the passion for it? nancy: okay, well, my first career was i was a programmer many years ago. and i was one of the few women, and even more so very few latinas in technology.

and the situation is still the same. twelve--no, eighteen percent of engineers are women. and only 2% of engineers are latinos. the numbers are very small. however, right now, half of our high school kids, more than half are latinos. and hispanics, latinos are now a majority and they should be represented in that because it opens opportunities for them. damian: how early or how young can our students start learning coding, or what do they need to take before they get into coding to prepare them for that? nancy: well, some--i have heard probably as maybe eight or nine or ten, start being introduced. a lot of kids like to play video games, but not just be a consumer of technology, but be a creator. so, kids are beginning to create, you know, games, stories, animations. damian: and are there programs that help them?

nancy: yes, there are. in fact, about 3 years ago, one of my students joined girls who code. and she started a computer club at her school because we didn't have any computing classes. well, after that, at the end of that year, she said--i asked her, "well, what do you need to support you?" "oh, we need an ap class." so, we have an ap class. last year was our first, with the support and partnership of teals, a microsoft program through youthspark. and now, we have ap computer science and also intro to computer science. so, we're trying to get more kids because, based on my research that i've done, because i completed my master's last year, i created my research on creating a coding pathway for ethnically diverse and low-income students at urban high schools. and what i saw based on the information that i discovered, or reached and found, is that most of the schools,

public schools, only offer computing science to mostly where latinos, hispanics, and african-americans are underrepresented. so, this is an access and equity issue. damian: so, maybe at some point, it'll become part of the ge courses and not something-- nancy: yes, i believe it's on their way. i've been collaborating with a professor at santa clara university, professor dan lewis, and he's trying to--he's a pioneer of trying to get computing access to all students. damian: all right, well, if you'd like more information, there is an agency. it's called hispanic heritage foundation. they are good at getting--promoting coding. there is their web address for more information, getting more latinos into coding. and also, you can take a class at lincoln high school with maestra here and learn more about coding and why it's important. thank you so much for what you're doing with our kids. nancy: thank you very much, damian. damian: thank you, and up next here on "communidad del valle, the legendary artist carlos perez. stay with us.

♪ ♪ turn around ♪ every now and then i get a little bit hungry ♪ ♪ and there's nothing really good around ♪ ♪ turn around ♪ every now and then i get a little bit tired ♪ ♪ of living off the taste of the air ♪ ♪ turn around, barry ♪ finally, i have a manly chocolatey snack ♪ ♪ and fiber so my wife won't give me any more flack ♪ ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ ♪

we're talking, of course, about the legendary artist down here in the south bay, carlos perez. carlos, welcome to the show. i haven't had you on the show in--have i ever had you? yeah, you've been on the show. it's been a long time. carlos perez: actually, for a variety of other types of projects that i'm involved with here in the valley. damian: well, and today, we're celebrating 45 years. is that what we're doing? carlos: forty-five years of my work. i basically arrived in stockton direct from jalisco. we arrived in stockton in 1960. damian: is that you here, 1960? no, this isn't 1960. carlos: no, no, this is a more current photograph. damian: and this is what--i mean, this is the big deal, one of the big deals about you, is the tissue, the tissue of the apple. tell us about that historic moment and what you did for apple. carlos: well, i was--i worked at an ad agency in palo alto at the time, regis mckenna advertising agency.

and i happened to be an illustrator because that's what i've been doing since i was 7 years old is drawing. and so, i became really good at it. and actually, i was even well-known within those circles as being a perfectionist that could really draw and meticulously sort of images. and so, they picked me up at the agency because of that trait that i had. damian: you were a young chicano back then. carlos: oh yeah, i was just--there was hardly any chicanos. no, there was hardly--no muchas chicanos or mexicanos. but in graphic design especialmente, there were very few of us. there was a couple, but not very many. but i was trained by a very famous graphic designer in palo alto by the name of frank rodriguez. and he took it upon himself to show me the ropes, and to show me how to get the job, and to do the good job, and to, you know,

get paid well at the time. it beat working on the fields because that's where i came from, like you. you know, i still have back problems because of it. but yeah, i mean, when we arrived here in stockton, it took basically till 1977--from 1960 to 1977, i was sitting at regis mckenna, drawing the apple logo. of the seven billion people on this planet, i happen to be that lucky to be not only mexicano and proud of it, but also the artist that drew the apple logo. and it took a mexicano to come here to the united states from jalisco to do it. damian: cómo que no se puede, sí se puede. carlos: yeah, cómo que no se puede, sí se puede. damian: well, you know, i mean, you probably had no idea back then how big of an apple you were drawing. carlos: no, no, it was just another project. and i was--

damian: you brought the tissues here with you. carlos: i've always been a pack rat. and you know, sometimes to no avail. but it's good because i was able to hold onto the tissues. and at least historically-- damian: you can't see them really good, but put-- carlos: we still have them. we still have these drawings. these are the original drawings that i created of the apple logo and the brand for it as well. we began to develop the brand from--this was the first product that they were going to announce called disk ii. and then this unfolded like that, and then that's the apple ii brand, part of the mechanical artwork. damian: you can't make it out on the screen, but boy, this is really old school. i mean, this is going way back. carlos: oh yeah, this is all pen and ink stuff. we would work in pen and ink. but i was a perfectionist. and i could draw that meticulously, and with pen and ink basically.

damian: did you ever think why did they take a bite out of the apple when you were doing the project? why not a full apple, why a bitten apple? carlos: yeah, the reason for the bite is that it gives the form balance. and it keeps it from rolling around, but it also defines it as an apple. because historically and culturally, we're sort of programmed that if you--especially the relationship of the bite to the circumference of the object, then automatically it tells you, "oh, that's probably an apple." and that's the genius behind it. the person that created the logo, his name is rob janoff. he was the originator of the idea of the concept of it. and then they handed it off to me to do the rest of the work that needed to be done on it. and that's where i stepped in. damian: well, congratulations, man. you've gone a long way. mira, you also brought "i am joaquin." why did you bring this book with you? carlos: well, because on the way from--i'm currently

having an exhibition. it's called "del valle de mexico al valle de silicon valley." pero, de primero llegamos al san jaoquin valley. y allí es donde llegamos en el sesenta. what's really interesting about this whole thing is that the bus station where we came directly from mexico to stockton, the bus station, the greyhound station is right here on one of the streets there. one block away is where we--my mom got an apartment for us to live in, one block away. and the exhibition i'm having is directly across the street. damian: you're giving me chills. carlos: now, talk about how lucky can you be? forty-five years later and i'm exhibiting in exactly where i came in? damian: that's incredible, now, what if one of the ranchers comes over, says, "hey, i need you for the pizca or for the next couple of days"?

carlos: i tell you, it's been a--i don't know. i'm blessed, whatever you want to call it. but i'm very, very, very proud. damian: no, it's been an honor. i know that when i started school at san jose state, you heard about this guy named carlos perez and you should see his artwork. and then you saw the images and you were fascinated. and all the mariachi festival portraits were done by you. and it's a pleasure to work with you over there. there's his exhibition over at the mexican heritage center gallery in the city of stockton. it runs through august 28th. it's called "from the valley of mexico to silicon valley." carlos, thank you for sharing your experience with us. congrats on your success. carlos: siempre ha sido muy amable con mi vida. thank you, i really appreciate it. damian: thank you very much, what an honor. the legendary carlos perez here on "communidad del valle." carlos: gracias, gracias. "i am joaquin." damian: "i am joaquin." and up next here on "communidad del valle, the san jose musicians memorial.

stay with us.

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damian: boy, speaking of legends, these guys are legends themselves. that's the jammin' band. we're here on "communidad del valle" with a couple of other musical legends, joe lopez and sal bravo. and you've seen them all over the bay area, performing with different bands. in fact, sal tells me he was with the original rudy and the cruisers. welcome to the show, man. sal bravo: gracias. damian: now joe, you and i talked a long time ago about you wanting to start this san jose musicians memorial. and so, you had this idea awhile back and it's taken off. joe lopez: it's taken off. what it is is we're trying to appreciate and recognize all the musicians who have created an impact in san jose within the past 50 years. and what i'm doing is i'm taking different venues, like the tejano scene and then like the salsa, and then we're going to take ten musicians from each venue and

then give them a recognition and remembrance of. damian: but why is that important, sal, to remember musicians that way and their contributions here? sal: music has been a big part of the area. and just like last week, you remember there was music, like, all over this city. and it's been like that for all the time. now, the thing is that these musicians a lot of times, you know, we spend all our--a lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of work, and we don't make a lot of money. it's just a contribution that we do to the community. and some--the guys we're talking about that were our heroes spent their whole life. and as they go away, all they did was give. so, this is a way for us to give back and to remember these people that were a big part of our community.

damian: and you played with one of the great ones, old brown eyes, rudy madrid. sal: yeah, rudy was--he was my role model. he's the one that taught me about the business and everything else. again, a good example of a guy that he was there for everything. you know this. anybody wanted to raise funds for this, for that, he was there all the time. when he passes away, all those years, all of that is kind of like gone, forgotten. so, the reason of the memorial is for us to remember the contributions and all the music. damian: and that's important, because i saw the list of the tejano musicians who you will be recognizing this year at this benefit that's coming up, i hear, in a couple of weeks. and a lot of them--or some of them i haven't heard of. i've heard of chavela, but i haven't heard of some of them. and so it's important to bring them up so that we can learn about them. joe: this guy here, nemencio carmona, i mean, he's got a long line of--he's from texas, but he's got a long line of musical history in his family.

they came in the 1960s to california, and that's where they started to make the impact. this is the father of chris carmona and ermencio carmona. and we just want to give out remembrance. and you know, don't forget all these people who, you know, donated their lives to music, like me and sal are doing. you know, i got 54 years already doing music, and i'm still here in south bay, still doing it and doing it. and this is my outcome. damian: and we remember chavela "y su grupo express." joe: oh yeah, chavela, alex gonzalez. and there's a lot of them, ricky fuentes sr. you know, just want to don't forget these people here not only in tejano, but like mystique and jammin', salseros and bernie fuentes, and the millennium band, all these people that i'm trying to give a little bit of-- damian: in fact, we have some bernie fuentes music coming up after the show here. yeah, but sal, i mean, you give up your friday nights and saturday nights because you love the music.

sal: we love music, yeah. and again, like in everything else, i think only 1% of the musicians make all the money, and the rest of us are just out working because we love music. and we do it for our fans, for the public. and it's a good--it's a good expression of our culture, and what we are, and what we feel, you know. el grito, you know, is something that hits us from all the way down to the inside of our heart. damian: you know, you think of chicano rock and latin oldies and you think of los angeles, you think of, you know, other forms of chicano--or i could think of the bay area, santa ana and the malos and whatnot. but san jose kind of has its own little niche here. sal: yeah, and talking about that, like for instance, ricky--richard fuentes is being inducted. he came from texas, brought his family. his son grew up here and then he picked up our onda, what we do here. and then grows up and goes back to texas,

and he changes music in texas. now, for this--on that weekend, he's coming back. and he made the whole circle. brought--the music came from texas, then he goes back to texas and takes the san jose-- damian: he's an importer-exporter. he imports it and exports it. there is the big event happening over at the st. john vianney hall over in east san jose off of alum rock avenue. there is a phone number for your information. hope it's okay we gave out that number, sal. and it's san jose musicians memorial on august 22nd. any final thoughts, joe, before we let you go? joe: well, i'd like everybody to show up and support what we're doing here. and it's a good thing, it's for the community. and also one more thing. we also have a lot at the historical park that was allocated to us, and all the proceeds that we're doing from this, what we want to do, we want to build a monument and hopefully a stage, a musical stage there

for all our functions. and we do functions for the musicians memorial. we'll have them there. damian: what a great venue. thank you guys for what you're doing in this community. all right, and up next here on "communidad del valle, bernie fuentes and some other musicians. stay with us. because 100% whole grain oats are incredibly good for you. because they're heart healthy because they're good for kids. and granddads and everyone else in the family. everything we do is because of what really matters most. the goodness of oats and the people we love.

on que pasa. [music] [music] [music] damian: and now saludos to those celebrating a special day. felicidades. [music] damian: and here's our address for next week's saludos.

you can follow me on twitter. my handle is @newsdamian. and also pick up a copy of el observador newspaper and support your bilingual weeklies online and in print all across the bay area. we thank you once again for sharing a part of your sunday with us on "communidad del valle." we leave you now with some sweet sounds of some local bands here on this show. [music] [music]

[music] [music]

♪ ♪ turn around ♪ every now and then i get a little bit hungry ♪ ♪ and there's nothing really good around ♪ ♪ turn around ♪ every now and then i get a little bit tired ♪ ♪ of living off the taste of the air ♪ ♪ turn around, barry ♪ finally, i have a manly chocolatey snack ♪ ♪ and fiber so my wife won't give me any more flack ♪

♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ ♪ american pharoah has won the triple crown! intercepted at the goal line! >> the following is a presentation of nbc sports. welcome to the "u.s. bank nbc sports report." here's your host, dave briggs. >> hi, everyone. swimming coming up in just a few minutes. the phillips 66 national championships featuring the most decorated olympian of all time, michael phelps back in competition, proving he plans to be a force next summer in rio. first, nfl preseason