Hispanic-American Culture & Heritage

May 19th, 1988. Live on set we have: Edward James Olmos, star of Stand & Deliver, Esai Morales of 'La Bamba', Rita Moreno star of the 'West Side Story', Cheech Marin and Paul Rodriquez recently starring together in 'Born in East L.A.'.

"You get films....where the Hispanic person is either a crook, or the porter, or the garbage man..."

The segment begins with comments from Mr. Olmos on why he did his latest movie, how did it feel to portray a Hispanic person doing the right thing to help others?

At the Ford Theatre in Hollywood, Geraldo Rivera continues his special program 'Hispanics in Hollywood' as we dive into the realities of Hispanics in American culture and the move industry specifically.

The stars talk about their roles and careers, recent films. At one time it may have been harder to get major roles, but the times are changing..

The segment following this was opened up for audience questions, and is available here:
https://youtu.be/kkMkFwt1tpE

This day, Geraldo's television history.

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1988. Geraldo Rivera's special program 'Hispanics in Hollywood' continues in this segment to the audience questions portion. On set we have Edward James Olmos, star of Stand & Deliver, Esai Morales of 'La Bamba', Rita Moreno star of the 'West Side Story', Cheech Marin and Paul Rodriquez recently starring together in 'Born in East L.A.' Some of the biggest fans get a chance to stand in the audience at the Ford theatre in Hollywood, asking direct questions to these legendary Hispanic performers. We finish with Iris Chacon leading everyone in a goodbye dance.

This is a continuation of the interview segment which is viewable here:
https://youtu.be/ZtgX-DsV_Rw

Thank you Geraldo and everyone in this clip !

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1979. Geraldo Rivera with a report for 20/20 Eyewitness News, this time traveling to Vieques, the beautiful Caribbean island off of Puerto Rico's east coast. We learn about the island's 9,000 Puerto Rican residents, mostly farmers and fishermen, making their way in this toxic paradise. The other major occupant is the U.S. Navy.

Speaking to Admirals and commanders, we learn about the operations taking place at Vieques, such as the Marines practicing amphibious assaults, and the results of these operations including unexploded ordinance underwater. We also hear from the head of the fisherman's union who has been leading protests, and see how some of these protests turn violent when the locals are dragged away. "We have to stay in our homes, waiting for the navy to do the war games. What will the family eat?"

After many protests over the decades, including national Navy-Vieques protests in 1999, military operations ceased in 2001, with the navy leaving the island in 2003. Many areas remain thoroughly contaminated, including with depleted uranium, with cleanup efforts continuing to this day.

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May 22nd, 1975. Geraldo Rivera hosts acclaimed actress Rita Moreno, not long after she won a Tony award for her role on Broadway in 'The Ritz'. After a brief clip of one of her early classics 'The King and I' we move on to discussion with Ms. Moreno, then 43.

We hear about her role playing as Googie Gomez, which started with West Side Story. The conversation moves to latinos on TV and Hollywood and the stereotypes involved. Later in the clip we see a clip from what Rita is working on at the moment, 'The Electric Company'.

"You really have to learn to savor those good moments, so that they'll see you through the bad moments later on."

Rita Moreno remains active in film with a role in 'Fast X', 2023.

This day in Geraldo Rivera's show history.

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"My late, great pop Cruz Rivera was one of 17 children. Everyone here at our Christmas celebration this week in Puerto Rico is either an aunt, uncle, cousin or married to one."

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