Tune in Thursday night at 7pm (Pacific Time) 8 pm (Mountain Time) to listen in on what former Sec. of Energy Federico Pena (Clinton Administration) has to say about the Chicano and Latino get out the vote initiatives to combat anti-immigrant politicians, his views on (D) Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton taking a hard look at Julian Castro and more.  We then speak with Colorado Rep. Joe Salazar with regard to his introduction of a Chicano license plate, his fight for Indigenous Day and combating  the use of Native American names and/or symbols by non-native sports teams that is a harmful form of ethnic stereotyping and more..

Click here to tune in>>> http://tunein.com/station/?StationId=235787

Our 1st guest is Federico Pena. Federico is a #Chicano Mexican-American born in Laredo, Texas in 1947. He went to law school at the University of Texas Law and worked as a lawyer for many years in El Paso, Texas. In 1973, he moved to Denver. Federico worked for the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund. He worked very hard and was successful. This helped him get elected to the Colorado House of Representatives. In 1983, he decided to run for the mayor of Denver. His opponent, William H. McNichols, Jr., had been the mayor for fourteen years and was favored to win. But the underdog Federico won! He became the first Hispanic mayor of Denver. Federico had a lot of energy and ambition. He started many new projects as mayor. He funded the building of the Denver International Airport, a beautiful library in downtown, a large convention center, and a new baseball team for Denver, the Colorado Rockies. Federico was also interested in art and saving historic buildings. He created thirty-three historic districts and designated 350 individual landmarks. The people of Denver liked the work that Federico was doing for them and the city and reelected him to a second term as mayor in 1987. Federico decided not to run for a third term in 1992; he had other ambitions.

Peña served the White House when President Clinton named him Secretary of Transportation in 1993. Then in 1998, he returned to Denver. Peña Boulevard, leading to the airport, is named for him. On September 7, 2007, Peña endorsed Senator Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election. He served as Obama’s National Campaign Co-Chair. Pena continues to be active in the business sector, but is also active in speaking out for our community. Mr. Federico F. Peña, J.D. has been a Senior Advisor of Vestar Capital Partners since January 2009. Mr. Peña served as Managing Director of Vestar Capital Partners since January 2000 to 2009. He focuses on opportunities in the media and communications sector, with a particular emphasis on Latino-owned companies.

Our 2nd guest is Colorado Representative Joe Salazar who will be introducing a #Chicano license plate soon. Salazar is a representative in House District 31, which includes most of Thornton and parts of unincorporated Adams County. Rep. Salazar is vice-chair of the State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee and also serves on the Judiciary Committee.

Rep. Salazar has spent his entire career making sure the rights of hard-working Coloradans are protected, and has brought that same focus to the legislature. In the 2014 session Rep. Salazar passed legislation that reduced the fees an individual must pay when making a a request for public records under Colorado’s Open Records Act. He also sponsored legislation that prevents individuals with serious mental illnesses from being being placed in long term solitary confinement. Rep. Salazar also sponsored a bill to formally outlaw court-ordered jail time for being unable to pay court fines, a practice that in previous centuries was known as debtors prison.

During the 2013 legislative session, he was co-prime sponsor of a bill that updates Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act, allowing employees to seek damages and attorney’s fees in cases of intentional discrimination or harassment for factors including race, gender and sexual orientation.

Rep. Salazar is a Colorado native whose Spanish and indigenous roots in Colorado and New Mexico go back hundreds of years. He was a civil rights and criminal investigator for the State of Colorado, working for the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies in the civil rights division and division of insurance.

Rep. Salazar left the division of insurance in 2000 to attend law school at the University of Denver College of Law, where he became a founding member of the American Bar Association, Law Student Division, and a member of the Native American Law Student and Latino Law Student Associations. He continued to assist the civil rights division on cases, and in 2001 the State of Colorado awarded him a “Subject Matter Expert” certification in the area of civil rights.

After law school Rep. Salazar started his own firm focusing on cases involving employment law, civil rights, constitutional law and federal Indian law. He has successfully taken on many cases involving employment and constitutional issues, and in 2012 he was recognized by the publication Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in the area of civil rights and constitutional law.

Rep. Salazar’s family has owned farm and ranch land in Colorado’s San Luis Valley and in northern New Mexico for generations. He was four years old when he moved with his parents to Thornton, and grew up as the city grew, attending Woodglenn Elementary, Northeast Junior High School and Thornton High School, where he graduated in 1989.

Shout out to Rudolph Rudy Gonzales for highlighting the get out the vote event taking place next week in Boulder, Colorado!

By the way, Rep. Salazar gave Arizona Sen. Catherine Miranda and idea to introduce a Chicano license plate in ARizona, too. (More to come on this).