and welcome to "comunidad del valle." i'm damian trujillo. i've been saying that for 25 years. today, we're going to look back at 25 years of your "comunidad del valle." ♪♪♪ damian: i started working here at the kntv back on june 10th of 1996, and 2 months later my news director, terry mcelhatton, asked me if i would be willing to host a show called "comunidad del valle." now mind you, as a 12-year-old grow"comunidad del valle."ng at that time, the host was mario del castillo.

so for at least 40 years we don't even know here at nbc bay area how long this show has been on the air, but i'm so humbled that for 25 years you have at least allowed me into your home each and every sunday. we're going to take a look back on this show. we're going to start off with a little package i put together for my quinceañera 15 years on "comunidad." this is 10 years later, but here is a look back. damian: buenos días and welcome to "comunidad del valle." we have a surprise for you this morning. damian: for 15 years, you've allowed me into your homes every sunday on your "comunidad del valle." we've been fortunate to be joined in a decade and a half by grassroots community leaders, celebrities, and world leaders. some have been funny. male: do you know how you can tell latinos apart from each other? damian: the way they dance. male: that's right. ricardo is going to show us that. damian: we're going to close the show with ricardo then showing us how latinos or how mexicans dance the salsa-- ricardo: see, mexicans, they always flap their arms.

male: [speaking foreign language] ricardo: i see they look like little chickens. so do americanos. male: they shake their nalga. they shake their nalga. ricardo: now see, puerto ricans look like they're thinking. "did i leave the iron on?" male: how about white people, man? how do white people dance salsa? ricardo: they do the-- white people do the river dance. damian: we have about 30 seconds. is the website--do you guys have website? male: culture clash-- www.cultureclash.callme. no, .com. damian: a lot has changed since i first started my career in television, mainly my appearance, but today on my quinceañera hosting this great show i say thank you. thank you to my hundreds of guests, thank you to you, the viewer, for allowing me into your homes; and thank you to the management at kntv who put up with a man with very little patience, for putting the heavy weight of an iconic show on the shoulders of this your humble host, for believing in this former farm worker.

it is with great honor that i carry out the duties of hosting "comunidad del valle." thank you for celebrating my quinceañera with me, and here's to another 15 years. damian: and, again, that was a former quinceañera about 10 years ago. we're now at 25 years. thank you so much for being my guests, so many guests over the years. some people wanted to send some salutations. we asked the others to do the same, but here is the messages from all realms of life about 25 years on "comunidad." arturo rodriguez: hello. i'm arturo rodriguez, president emeritus of the united farm workers. damian, we just want to thank you in a very special way for all that you've done in the last 25 years to keep our community so well informed with your program, "comunidad del valle." continue on, and, sí se puede. alex padilla: congratulations, damian,

on 25 years of hosting "comunidad del valle." not bad for a kid from greenfield with big dreams. your show has helped inform and inspire the greater bay area community by sharing the many vibrant stories of latino leaders, advocates, and families. i'm proud to be your regular guest, due for my next appearance. congratulations again, and i wish you many more years of success. little joe: congratulations, damian trujillo, on your 25th anniversary of hosting "comunidad del valle" show. gracias for your commitment and dedication to inform, educate, and empower the community. many more blessings and years of success. tu amigo, little joe. laura garcia: congratulations, damian trujillo, on celebrating 25 years at kntv. thank you for your dedication in great storytelling over all the years with all of your news stories and, of course, your contributions to our culture with "comunidad." felicidades my friend.

jon pedigo: hi. i'm father jon pedigo. i'm with catholic charities. and i've known damian for a number of years, and he has always been an amazing supporter of the community. he has reported the stories accurately, and he has been able to lift up the--and center the voice of those who are in the east side and gilroy and all other communities that are often at the periphery at the margins of stories. i really thank damian for reporting the stories, and the life, and the drama of the people. it's very exciting to see damian spent-- having spent 25 years in this amazing work. so thanks, damian, for the work that you're doing. we're really looking forward to working with you moving forward. maryann dewan: dr. maryann dewan, county superintendent of schools. congratulations, damian trujillo, for 25 years of "comunidad del valle," bringing voice and heart to issues and events that matter most to our community. alejandra bologna: [speaking foreign language]

mark villarreal: damian, your compadre here, mark villarreal, congratulating you on 25 years here at nbc bay area at kntv. we've come a long ways from that tiny little studio on the campus of san jose state, ksjs radio aztlan, right? twenty-five years, that's an amazing number. i mean, think about the stories that you've covered, memories and people that you've been able to meet in that time, athletes, celebrities, presidents, but more importantly, the people from the community that truly make a difference. and what about all the stories that you filed, the wildfires, earthquakes?

and how about both giants or warriors parades, pope john paul, la familia awards, live shots from mexico and beyond? jeez, what haven't you covered? you know, only the best form those intimate ties with the community and earn that trust to become a storyteller. you've done that with honesty, compassion, and care. i'm proud of you as not only a co-worker in this crazy business, but as a friend and as a brother. the villarreal family sends all of its best wishes, from my parents all the way down to my youngest kids. we are all proud of your many accomplishments, and look forward to many, many more. salud. michael damian: congratulations, dad, on 25 years on "comunidad del valle." we are really proud of you. isela damian: congratulations, daddy. we love you so much, and we can't believe you've come this far. we can't wait to see how much more you accomplish. malyna damian: congratulations, daddy. ♪♪♪ damian: that makes it seem like the show has been about me,

but it's never been about me. it's been about my community. so thank you all. we'll be back and give you a more retrospective talk to re-air some of the old interviews that we've had here over the years on "comunidad del valle." stay with us.

this great show, "comunidad del valle." i want to thank danny garsa, yolanda paris, mario del castillo, and everybody else who came before me in hosting this great show. we're going to take a look back at some of the-- couple of the interviews that we've done here for this show, "comunidad del valle." luis valdez: it so happens that in cerro tepeyac, which is tepeyac hill, where she appeared to him was on the outskirts of mexico city and lateloko at the time. it was two nearby communities, mexico city and taterolko. so juan diego was outside of town. he was up in the hills, and so it was a miracle occurring in the wilderness. i accept that tepeyac hill was the site of ancient reverences

to the earth mother, to mother earth, to tonantzin, our mother. so some people in the church were skeptical. there were monks that were skeptical, that this hadn't happened, that this was the mother of christ, that this was really a form of witchcraft, which they called brujerias, and that juan diego was not actually a messenger of the virgen, but a witch doctor, you know, a brujo, who was in the hands of the devil and doing the devil's work. that may be one of the reasons that juan diego was not officially recognized from the start, although la virgen de guadalupe was. so there are all these historical coincidences, and yet the miracle is that the virgen was a forger of a nation and a forger of the americas. so she is known as the patron saint of the americas because she gave all of the native americans,

at least the one south of the border, an identity in this new america, in this new world, and gave them the opportunity to become christian. at the same time, it sort of charted a course for the church to allow a certain amount of syncretism, which is the merging of pre-columbian indigenous religions with the christian religion. and so you see that still alive in mexico city today. you have these [speaking foreign language] with the feathers, you know, coming out to sing and dance with la virgen de guadalupe every year between the 9th of december and the 12th of december, which are the 4 days in which that we can appear to juan diego. it is an intense part of mexican christianity and american christianity because it involves this fusion between the pre-columbian world and the european christian world

and has extended really beyond. i've seen shrines to la virgen de guadalupe. personally, i've visited them in the cathedral in manila because the spanish galleons used to sail from acapulco to manila in the china trade and they took with them la virgen de guadalupe, and la virgen de guadalupe made as much sense in the philippines as she did in méxico. so there's a great following and a great reverence for la virgen de guadalupe in manila as there is throughout europe. you go to the cathedral of notre-dame, and in one of the alcoves right in the main chapel of the notre-dame is again a shrine to la virgen de guadalupe. dolores huerta: we were both, you know, young, in our 30s, and i remember when caesar called me to his house. we were both working in los angeles at the time with the community service organization. and caesar called me to his house and darren helen, his wife, helen's kitchen, and he said to me, "you know, the farm workers will never have a union unless you and i do it."

and i thought he was kidding, right? i started laughing. and then he said, "no, i'm very serious." and then in the next breath he said, "but we will not see a national farm workers union in our lifetime." and i said, "why, caesar?" he said, "because the growers are too rich, they're too powerful, and they're too racist." and he was right. i mean, that prediction of his was right. i think that when we started the union, we were really focused on farm workers and just trying to get, you know, some benefits for them, trying to build a union. neither one of us even thought that it would, you know, grow into a movement, which is, of course, what happened. i mean, with the farm workers went on strike, and we had students that were coming to help us on the picket lines. and then they started looking at the injustices in the school system because at that time, as many of you know, there were very few latinos in the school system. when i went to college, i think there were five of us on the whole campus. and then they started--then the students started knocking down

the doors of the universities, literally, you know, doing sit-ins and whatever to demand a more admission of people of color into universities. and who knew that it was going to really grow into a national movement not only in california, but throughout the southwest. damian: and it's still a movement. it's still moving. dolores: it's still there, and none of us-- i mean, we didn't imagine or envision that. we were just trying to--and in fact, to caesar's credit, whenever people would say to cesar, "well, you're the leader of the chicano movement." and he would say, "no. i am the president of the farm workers union." you know, he didn't try to give himself any more credit or glory than what he deserved, and, well, he just said, "no. i am the president of farm workers union," because people would, you know, give him that title, which he really merited and deserved. but in his own humility he would say, "no. i'm the president of the farm workers union." damian: dolores huerta and luis valdez, alumni of "comunidad del valle."

up next on this show, a retrospective again. the interviews with some entertainers. stay with us.

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"comunidad del valle." that's today's show. we did interview quite a few, a number of grassroots people and a lot of entertainers. here's a couple of them. damian: here with the incomparable george lopez at the at&t pebble beach national pro-am. and this is your--what year running doing this? george lopez: this is my fourth year. i was invited by clint eastwood in 2004. you know, i didn't--really didn't know clint that well. and he saw me on "bob costas" on hbo, and he saw me talking about playing the cypress. you know, very prestigious, let's say. and he knew i was a fan of golf, and we worked right by each other warner brothers. and he sent me an invitation, and we become very close friends. and, you know, this is my fourth year. damian: 'cause you grabbed the golf club first when? george: i was probably 11 or 12, and i hit lemons in the backyard. we got a lemon tree. we were--we're like--

damian: with what? with the golf club? george: yeah, a three wood. i don't know how we got them. i think they were in case we heard a noise, you know. we didn't have a gun, but we had a seven iron and a three wood. and i don't know how we ended up with golf clubs. my grandfather didn't play golf, and then my grandfather ended up using the clubs to keep the dog in the yard. like, he would put it between the wall and the door so the dog would push the door, but he pushed against the club. so it wasn't like we had a bag or head covers or anything like that, so. damian: and i read somewhere that you're a 14-handicap and eddie garcia is a 12. i've seen both of you play, and something's a little fishy there. george: i don't know. you know, with us in handicaps, we're at the mercy of, you know, our own nerves and whether we're tired or hung over, you know. our handicaps aren't like-- the pros don't have a handicap. ours is weather, you know, circumstance, you know, emotional distress, you know. damian: how often do you use your foot-wedge 'cause i use mine a lot when i'm behind a tree? george: i don't use it here, but i use it in the bob hope

'cause they don't really keep score. here they're very efficient score wise. so you can get disqualified for doing that. damian: now, the bob hope, your name is all over that tournament. what an honor? george: yeah. i've taken over for bob hope as host, you know, and continuing what he was doing with the tournament, and this year we had a good time. we had a good time day and night. i think bob would have been very proud of what the stamp i put on that thing. and i got--clint eastwood played, and jimmy kimmel played, don cheadle played, de la jolla played right before we went in the training, and i played with sam, and cheech, and andy, and huey lewis. i mean, big guys. you know, guys like that i hadn't seen in a long time there. but, i mean, think about it, damian. you know, i hid lemons in my backyard when i was 12, and then at 45 i'm the only celebrity-- forget about what color i am. i'm the only celebrity who hosts a pga tour event. you know, color is inconsequential. watch out little big words. is when you're doing stuff, you know-- damian: five syllables. george: i don't put any limits on because of my color. i just did it because they did it. i didn't do it because i was latino or i wasn't latino.

i just did it because i was funny and the right person for the job. damian: you begin with lupe who really needs no introduction. so let's welcome now lupe ontiveros to "comunidad del valle" this morning here. lupe, buenos días. lupe ontiveros: buenos días de todo el valle. damian: oye mira, when you are at the market, is it-- the first thing that a fan asks, is it, "oh my god, you're the lady who shot selena." lupe: that's right. yeah, what can i say? i can't deny it. no, they say--they'll say, "you shot selena." i say, "no. i didn't shoot nobody. i did the movie." "well, you look like her." "yes, that was me. didn't you notice my name was up there?" but it's really funny because the children will stare at me, little girls or whatever. [speaking foreign language] and i say, "know where they are going." i went into a restaurant one time, restaurante méxicano allí in pico rivera, and i went in and there was this little baby on a highchair, right? i--she's in the highchair, right?

i come in and i sit down to make my order, and her parents are sitting in the booth. [speaking foreign language] turns around, proceeds to turn around, and look at me like... [speaking foreign language] but she was 3 or 2 or whatever, you know. and then--and i--you know, first of all, [speaking foreign language] and the father says, "you know, she knows who you are." that was awesome. damian: what's your reaction to that? lupe: well, i thought it was wonderful. i mean, you know, you-- we're in the public eye. like you're in the public eye, you know. so you better be good. no, what i don't like about the public eye is i can't be bad. i have to be nice to people all the time. i love being, "hey," you know. [speaking foreign language] damian: [speaking foreign language] lupe: [speaking foreign language] fundraiser. oh, yeah. damian: d it start with, "el norte" or what? i mean, is probably, sorry, way before that. lupe: my first film? no. [speaking foreign language]

when i started, my first film i played a prostitute, and then-- damian: i don't know how to respond. it's not that--so i'll let you proceed. lupe: well, i know what you're thinking. i know what you're thinking. but you do what you got to do. what can i tell you, you know. then i moved on. i started as an extra, really as an extra, and i was very-- i guess it must have been [speaking foreign language] and went study, and then i found an agent that was beating on doors. as a matter of fact, i was walking up and down hollywood boulevard and i got a proposition. i mean, i was just a normal person, you know, but because hollywood boulevard then is a dangerous territory. i mean, i am [speaking foreign language] you know, and somebody approached me and i said, "my god, what am i doing here?" this guy, i didn't know what he wanted. i didn't know what he meant, you know, and then later i said, "oh my god, he was propositioning me." but that's what i get for walking the streets in hollywood to become an actress. but eventually i did it, found an agent, and-- [speaking foreign language] lots of television.

and i've got to 20--the website says about 20 films. i have about maybe 24 now as we speak since the website. damian: incredible. with big names-- co-starring with big names. lupe: [speaking foreign language] i'm very proud of the people that i've worked with and for steven spielberg in "the goonies," woody allen, alfonso raul. my best buddy is cheech marin, and it's a wonderful family that we have created all through these years. damian: lupe ontiveros and george lopez. so musical entertainers. to be continued. stay with us.

of your sunday with us here on "comunidad del valle." it's been 25 years of just fun and meeting people and getting the views of the community out. so thank you so much. trio intimo wrote the theme song to "comunidad del valle" many, many years ago.

and so our musical tribute continues now. we begin with trio intimo. buenos días. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ [singing in spanish] ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪

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♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ - [announcer] the following is a paid presentation

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