Ruben Martinez (born 1962, Los Angeles) is a journalist, author, and musician. He is the son of Rubén Martínez, a Mexican American who worked as a lithographer, and Vilma Angulo, a Salvadoran psychologist. Among the themes covered in his works are immigrant life and globalization, the cultural and political history of Los Angeles (Martinez's hometown), the civil wars of the 1980s in Central America (his mother is a native of El Salvador), and Mexican politics and culture (he is a second-generation Mexican-American on the father's side of his family.
From 1988 until 1993 he was a writer and editor at LA Weekly; becoming the first Latino on staff there. Subsequently, he became a contributing essayist to National Public Radio, and a TV host for the Los Angeles-based politics and culture series, Life & Times, for which he won an Emmy Award. His essays, opinions, and reportage have appeared in most of the country's major newspapers and magazines.
Martinez’ books include: Flesh Life: Sex in Mexico (with Joseph Rodriguez, Powerhouse Books, 2006), The New Americans (New Press, 2004), a companion volume to the PBS series of the same name, Crossing Over: A Mexican Family over the Migrant Trail (Metropolitan/Holt, 2001), East Side Stories (with Joseph Rodriguez, Powerhouse Books, 1998), and The Other Side: Notes from the New L.A., Mexico City & Beyond (Vintage, 1993).
As a political commentator, Martinez has made appearances on Nightline, Politically Incorrect, and FRONTLINE.
Ruben Martinez currently holds the Fletcher Jones Chair in Literature & Writing at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, previously having taught at the University of Houston’s Creative Writing Program, the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Claremont McKenna College.
As a musician he has recorded with Los Illegals, Concrete Blonde, and The Roches.
Martinez's major work, Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail appeared in 2001. Martinez followed a Mexican migrant clan, the Chavez family from the small Michoacán town of Cherán, Mexico into and across United States. Three of the Chavez's were killed in an accident resulting from a Border Patrol chase while they attempted to cross the border. Martinez also traced the migrations of other families from Cheran, including the Tapias, Enriquezes, and Guzmans. Martinez followed these families as their journeys took them to California, Wisconsin, Missouri and Arkansas in search of "la vida mejor," the better life. But Martinez found out that this is not what the immigrants necessarily find. Many faced racism and hardship.
The Other Side Notes from the New L.A., Mexico City, and Beyond
The Other Side was published in May 1993 by Vintage Books USA. It has 192 pages in it and illustrations throughout. It was written in English, but there are also copies available in Spanish. The Other Side is the former name that people in Mexico and Central America gave to California and other northern points. It designates many frontiers like graffiti writers in L.A., guerrillas in El Salvador, the gap between a mother and her dying son, or the tough young punkeros of Mexico City. It is an account of the new culture formed by the guerrillas of San Salvador, performance artists of Tijuana, young graffiti artists in Los Angeles, and rock and roll singers from Mexico City. It displays both the lifestyle of immigrants and new Latinos to Los Angeles and for the sadness and sympathy which he shows with those who struggle forward in bad times both in the North and down in Salvador and other Central American countries.
The New Americans
Ruben Martinez's book The New Americans was written in 2004. Martinez wrote the book in the wake of September 11, 2001 when America’s response to immigration changed immensely. Throughout the book he makes references to Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, and “The New Colossus”, the poem on the Statue of Liberty. Martinez wrote The New Americans to show not only how American’s view of immigration has changed but also how immigration is changing America.The book follows the story of seven families as they immigrate to the United States. One family is from Palestine. The daughter of this family is marrying a second generation immigrant from Palestine that lives in Chicago. Another family is in exile from Nigeria and has been granted permission by the United States to move to Chicago. Two other immigrants are from the Dominican Republic and have come to the United States to play professional baseball. Another family is from Mexico immigrating to California in order to make money. The last family immigrated from India to California to make more money they would be able to make in India.The New Americans also brings to light many of the difficulties the immigrants face in the process of leaving their homeland and arriving in America. The book shows that the immigrants face problems such as racism, difficulty finding a job, difficulty acculturating, and the overwhelming sadness of leaving the land that they have always known.The New Americans is based on a PBS documentary series also named The New Americans. The book received many positive reviews.
Ruben Martinez has been featured in many literary magazines for his work. His articles have shown up in various magazines, and his interviews have also been widely published. Below are a few of his articles selected for easy online viewing.
In his interview with Robert Birnbaum, Ruben Martinez tells of how he was nominated to work at Harvard in the field of urban studies. Birnbaum talks a bit about Martinez’s contract with PBS for his book The New Americans, and quickly moves on to his newest book Crossing Over. After the book was completed, Martinez says he was shocked to find that the Mexicans he encountered in Norwalk are largely gone. [1]
The Minutemen Project is a project in which volunteers show up on the border to help deal with Mexicans migrating into the United States. Martinez comments on the project in an interview with Julia Goldberg. [2]
"The Migrant Story” is an article written by Ruben Martinez in which he encourages the reader to envision an immigrant briefing the United States Congress on our current immigration policy. This article requires a free and easy membership to be read in its entirety. [3]
“The Undocumented Virgen” is another article written by Martinez. He spent December 12, the birthday of la Virgen de Guadalupe, at Our Lady Queen of Angels in downtown LA with many Mexican immigrants. He joins the celebration of la Virgen de Guadalupe’s birthday, and illustrates just how important she is to Mexican’s, even when they are many miles away from home. [4]
Another immigration interview with Ruben Martinez. This interview examines why exactly Ruben is so interested in writing about immigration, and why it is such a big deal in the United States. [5]
Benjamin Adair interviewed Ruben Martinez about his newest book Crossing Over on the radio. This webpage has a link to the actual radio interview, but also provides a textual overview of the important points throughout the conversation. It also contains some interesting photos of the accident scene from Crossing Over. [6]
In another free membership required article, Ruben Martinez describes immigration from the standpoint of someone whose father and grandfather were immigrants. He describes what life is like being of Mexican and Salvadoran heritage while living in the United States. He also talks of how the process of crossing the border affects immigrants sense of identity. [7]
Ruben Martinez has received multiple awards for his work. The awards he has received are the following: Lannan Foundation fellowship, the Loeb Fellowship from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, the “Freedom of Information Award” from the ACLU, the “Greater Press Club of Los Angeles Award of Excellence," and an Emmy Award. The Lannan Foundation fellowship is given to a person whose “work inspires communities domestic and international that are struggling to uphold and defend their right to cultural freedom and diversity,” (Lannan Foundation). Martinez won this award in 2002, for his nonfiction work, Crossing Over.
