damian trujillo: hello "comunidad del valle." i'm damian trujillo, and today, the monthly visit of the mexican consulate in san francisco. today, on your "comunidad del valle." male announcer: nbc bay area presents "comunidad del valle" with damian trujillo. damian: we begin today with flamenco. it is back with a great gala presentation. eddie diaz is here. he's with the flamenco society here in the south bay. welcome to the show. eddie diaz: thank you. thank you for having me. damian: thank you. well, tell us--i mean, it's back and you're putting on a big bash. tell us what you're doing. eddie: yeah, this is what we do once a year. we bring directly from spain. this time around, we bringing the great maestro of the flamenco guitar, antonio rey. along with him there'll be a fabulous singer, mara rey, and they're fabulous, some of the best flamenco artists.

antonio is the best flamenco guitarist of his generation. damian: and this is him. this is a video that you shared with us. eddie: that's a video of antonio, yeah, there. and that's with his sister, with mara. yeah, they're performing. very influential guitarist nowadays. he's the main artist of flamenco nowadays. and he's the one--you know, we have artists in the past in the flamenco, like the greats. the last one was paco de lucia, which we lost a few years back. then after that, we have people like vicente amigo, one of the greats. and now there is a new generation in this antonio rey, which is incredible on the guitar, and we're very, very excited to have him here. damian: now, when you have a new generation in every topic, some of them mix some of the old with the new. is that what he does, or is he traditional, or is there kinda just some new things that he testing out? eddie: it's both of 'em. he comes, of course he still have that sense of traditional flamenco, flamenco puro,

what they call it, which he is so great about it. but at the same time, he's bringing new frontiers to flamenco. the way he plays, his technique, incorporating other instruments. right now, in fact, he was just in new york just now playing with a jazz bass player. and so he does a little bit of jazz too, a little bit of jazzy sound, but he's still, you know, the pure flamenco traditionalist. at the same time, moving flamenco to the new--to the future of what flamenco is right now, into what people are gonna be listening of the flamenco of tomorrow. damian: so, he was in new york. he hasn't seen anything yet 'til he gets to san jose, right? this is where it's happening. eddie: yes, so he'll be here on march 1. that's where we're presenting him. he's doing two performances for us, for the flamenco society. these are small tours that the flamenco society's putting with him. it's starting in mountain view on march 1. from there, he's gonna be--on march 2, he'll be

in berkeley at la peña, a smaller theater. and then he'll be doing some flamenco guitar workshops. one of 'em, he's gonna go to fresno and be there doing a workshop. from there, he'll be going to portland, oregon and doing some flamenco guitar workshops and also a performance. and then he'll end up in new york where he's gonna do some performances, and right now maybe with-- and maybe some other performances. if not, they go back to spain. and he travels all over the world, but this is his premiere as a solo artist. i mean, even though he's not playing solo guitar, he's coming with his sister. and along with him, we'll have another dancer too. it's a local dancer, and then also a percussionist that'll be performing. so, it is a cuatro, but this is his performance. he's debuting his album, "two parts of me." incredible, makes him probably one of the best flamenco recordists that have come out in a long time. damian: i'm impressed whenever an artist, a band, musician has come into the area, 'cause a lot of them, they come,

they play, they take your money, and they leave town. the workshops aspect of it is what fascinates me, because it means that they stay and they get engaged with the community they're in. eddie: exactly right, and that's, you know, bringing that art to us here, right? we have a lot of flamenco in the bay area, but of course it's not the same thing as the spanish. the spanish are the ones who do it the best. they're the ones that have the most technique. they're the ones who are taking it to new frontiers. antonio and the guitar, in this case, antonio, and it's great that he can come here to the bay area, people can study with him, learn from him, and pass that great knowledge of this wonderful art to the local students here in the bay area. and also that he's performing with some of the local artists from us from the bay area. he's performing with a great dancer, bianca rodriguez, and also with a percussionist, marlo, he's a percussionist. so, we're fusioning or putting it together, those local musicians with--that get to perform with some of the greats of spain. damian: so, every show is different, i would imagine.

he's not doing that in new york, he's just doing that here. it's a fabulous opportunity for everybody to enjoy some flamenco music. there are the dates, march 1 and 2 in mountain view and at la peña in berkeley. any final thoughts before we let you go? eddie: it's a show not to many. this is something that you used to not see, to see the greatest flamenco maestro of the flamenco guitar, the guy who's carrying flamenco to the future. this is just a one time opportunity that you're used to not seeing. and it's debuted here in the bay area as a solo artist, promoting this great album, "two parts of me." it's a very unique experience. damian: all right, thank you for sharing with us. eddie: thank you very much. damian: thank you, and up next here on "comunidad del valle," the mexican consulate in san francisco. stay with us.

mexican consulate in san francisco. with me on "comunidad del valle" is the consul de asuntos culturales, or the cultural affairs consul, paula linares. welcome to the show. paula linares: thank you, damian, and thank you very much for having us here. damian: well, i thought everybody went to mexico during the holidays, but you're here.

you guys are working at the consulate. paula: we're always working. we only close for christmas and of course new years. but we were open and of course bringing all our services to the community. damian: the need is there. paula: yes, exactly, exactly. damian: so, we wanted to talk about something called [speaking foreign language] talk about what that means. paula: yeah, so, this last week, all the consulates and ambassadors of mexico got together in mexico with marcelo ebrard, who is the foreign affair minister. and they launched a very important and interesting platform that it's called cultural diplomacy. this platform has very interesting topics that it's gonna be developed in all the consulates around the world and in all the embassies. and i guess it's important for the community to know, you know, because the most important thing is that the community has to be part of it.

we are actually expecting to everybody to be part of it. if they have an idea, if they already have something that they want to develop, or if they have a community that it has, like, a cultural festival, or a cultural initiative, or something that they really want to promote, we are asking for them to get close to the consulate and let us know. so, this policy, right, has different issues that it's gonna be about. so, the first one is that we're gonna be working very close to all the essential american countries. so, this year, 2019 is the year of the indigenous languages. so, together with honduras, el salvador, guatemala, we are launching a caravan that is gonna be called "popol vuh caravan," and it's about promoting all the

indigenous languages, not only in mexico, but of course in the u.s. damian: wow, because i know that for centuries, the indigenous communities felt neglected. they didn't feel a part of the country that they lived in. this is kind of a way of saying, "no, we're one. we're together. we're one people and we're gonna work together." paula: yes, exactly, and i think it's very important for us as well as a latino community to be together, to know our roots, right? many people that is coming from the indigenous community directly to the u.s., some of them, they don't speak spanish. they really speak their-- damian: they don't speak spanish, they don't speak english, but they're here. paula: exactly, exactly, so--and it's very important, and actually it's very interesting, all the indigenous languages. and that's one of the issues that we're gonna be working on. another one, it's of course to promote all the different

contributions of the immigrant community in the u.s. we are actually open different channels by region, right, so all the artists and all the cultural users, they can use this platform and actually let know their work to the world. because as part of, of course, the integration of mexico and the u.s., there are many, many amazing art that is being created here in the u.s. that has a binational identity, and we really want to foster that specific characteristic. damian: this means more work for you personally because you're the consul of cultural affairs, but how excited are you that this is a new venture for your office? paula: so, i really am very excited personally because i've been working for more than ten years in international affairs

related to culture, and this is very, like, open program, you know, that it's focused on diversity. and i think it's one of the main characteristics of the mexican culture is that we are diverse culture, and we are very strong, and we are actually taking our leadership not only to promote the mexican culture, but as well to invite our neighbors and invite the essential american countries, you know, to join this venture with us and to present ourself as the powerful culture that we are. damian: what a concept. maybe this country can learn by what you're doing down south of the border, as it's been called. well, here is the information of the mexican consulate in san francisco. they're on folsom street. log on and find out more about this new venture with the consul de asuntos culturales and find out what they're doing to make sure that there's a collaboration between all latin american countries.

thank you so much for sharing that with us. paula: thank you, damian. damian: thank you; we'll be back here on "comunidad del valle." stay with us.

council of alameda county. with us is a board member of the council. hector topete is my guest on the show. welcome to the show. hector topete: thank you very much. damian: well, tell us first of all about the council, what you all do in alameda county. hector: so, we were founded in 1982, and since then we've awarded and fundraised over close to $2 million in scholarship to alameda county students. damian: and that's the goal is education and education access for-- hector: it's the education--our mission actually is to promote the value of education in our latino community. so, it's something that's very near and dear to me, because at one point when i was in high school applying to colleges, i applied to maybe 20 or 30 scholarships and everyone gave me a rejection letter except for one organization, which was hcac, and they said, "hey, welcome," and it said, "we want to honor you at our may luncheon."

and i remember bringing my mother, and for the first time, i was recognized for something, right, and it made me feel good. and i remember seeing my--the face with me and my mom taking the picture, and i could tell that she was very proud. and i said, "man, one day, i have to give back." i have to come back and i have to help because hcac was the only one that believed in me at that time. damian: and it sounds like it made a difference because it's easy when you're applying for a scholarship, when you get rejected a dozen times, to say, "to heck with it. nothing's gonna happen here." hector: right, so if they wouldn't have given me an opportunity, i probably would've never applied for scholarships and i probably would have just said, "you know what? i'm done. i'm not good enough." and it just was that one organization that said, "you know what? you are and we believe in you. and not only that, we're gonna give you this money, but we wanna recognize you at our annual luncheon," which we have, we have every may. we honor our students. damian: talk about the vibrancy of the students in alameda county and what you see when they're going up there, like you did, with their acceptance speeches, and the passion. and i can just imagine what they're writing on their essays. hector: right, so it's a beautiful thing because i also help with getting the--prepping the keynote speakers. so, you know, they're coming from a diverse background,

you know, and from a lot of barriers. and so when i interview them, you know, for a potential speaker, you know, i'm like, "man, you have a fantastic story that can resonate with a lot of people in this room." so, when they go up on the day in may and they're speaking, and sometimes i look in the crowd and i see there's tears because i know that people can connect and they're saying, "wow, this student has gone through all of this and is still doing this. they're still going to school. they're still chasing their dream." and even coming through single parent, former gang affiliation, you know, and the list goes on and on. so, it's a huge feeling, especially when i help out the students and when i help them with their speeches. damian: talk, if you will, about the responsibility of yourself and your other board members with the council, because, you know, there's a responsibility there to make sure that you recognize those who need to be recognized, who maybe go under the radar most of the time. hector: in regards to, like, how we select our students? damian: correct. hector: right, so our students, we look for multiple sections.

we look at gpa. we're looking at community service. we're looking at how they're carrying themselves on their personal essay, grammar. we're looking at income. and then from there, they go onto our next phase, which is if they're in--the next screening phase, which is they're invited to a one-on-one interview with one of our board members or our volunteer members. and then from there, then we select our final students, our final selection, which could be anywhere between 50 to 65 students in a given year. damian: the difference that you think you're making there in alameda county, it's gotta be huge. hector: i would say significant. we want to make it huge. you know, we wanna continue to grow our efforts. i think two years ago, we were around $72,000 in scholarship money. last year, or this--2018, we did about $84,000. but 2019, we wanna up that to $90,000, and that's only gonna be possible with just awareness of what we're doing, you know? we need more donors. we need more corporate donors, family contributions, individual contributions. and to make a huge impact like what you're saying, i think

that's gonna be the key is how can we get this word out that, you know, we're doing some good. you know, we're helping some students go to college and sometimes even to pay the books. but it's more than just the scholarship money. like i said with my story, it was more than just the money. it was this recognition, you know, that helped me motivate myself. damian: so, my family and i, we give a scholarship to the son or daughter of farmworkers in my hometown. and when you start reading the essays, there's no better feeling. i mean, you start getting inspired by what these kids are writing, and their struggles, and overcoming those struggles, and the fighting that comes within them, and the challenges that they're facing, and they're overcoming these challenges. i mean, those kids have a potential to even inspire professionals like you and me. hector: absolutely, and i think that's why i continue to do this, you know? 'cause in my profession outside of the hcac, i also help with at-risk youth, so it just--when i hear a story and i hear that someone wants, there's a spark in someone, even if it's a small one, like, "man, i gotta help you. how can i help you?" you know, and so when i joined hcac and i read these stories, and then when we have a chance to interview them in person,

i think, "oh, i remember your story," you know? "how can we help you additionally? you know, what else do you need? do you need a mentor? here's my business card." damian: i mean, that's how it works. i'd say it's a chain, and you're continuing that chain and that tradition. again, it's the council that's in alameda county. it's the hispanic community affairs council of alameda county, and there is their web address for more information. any final thoughts before we let you go? hector: well, one thing is that, so, we are fundraising more, but we also would like to recruit more board members. so, if there's any board members that are specialists in accounting or specialists in, like, sales, we would love to get some resumes and some cover letters through our website so we can do some interviews and hopefully be a part of our board in 2019. damian: all right, good luck to you. hector: thank you very much. damian: good work. damian: that's a great program. up next here on "comunidad del valle," the bravo band. stay with us.

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♪ ♪ ♪ damian: and our saludos for those celebrating a special day, felicidades. ♪ damian: and here's our contact information. happy 90th birthday to hilbert morales of "el observador." you can follow me on twitter. my handle is @newsdamian. also, pick up a copy of "el observador" newspaper and support your bilingual weeklies all across the bay area. we thank you once again for sharing a part of your sunday with us.

we leave you now with viva tirado and the bravo band. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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this weekend on "extra." "the san francisco months" red carpet reunion 20 years after we first met them. how they're honoring the late fwrams james began coal phony. bradley cooper and lady gaga reunited. badly revealing why he was dwlued to his grown at the globes. his surprise birthday party with arena shea. >> they're so much fun, oh my gsh all eyes on rami malek. >> look at you. >> we've gone it. >> the golden globe winner's night out with "extra." who's got him starstruck on the red carpet. rain 98's grilling bachelor colton after this week's triple hookup. >>