OK, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m often very critical of mainstream news media sources. I frequently refer to them as channels of “infotainment,” a term loaded with pejorative connotations. I think these criticisms are mostly justified. But not always. CNN’s annual Hero series, which culminates in an award ceremony, is really great. I’ve chosen to blog a video that was prepared to honor Guadalupe Arizpe De La Vega, one of the 2010 nominees and an extraordinary woman from my home state of Texas.
This mini-documentary about Ms. Guadalupe and the work she does (and has been doing since 1973!) is filled with many wonderful, heart-warming moments. My favorite line comes early on, when one of the doctors at the hospital says, in that lovely Spanish-accented English he speaks, that Guadalupe comes up with “an idea every two seconds.” Of course, he is exaggerating, but watching our hero move around the hospital and interact with the patients, it is easy to believe that his declaration might not be much of an overstatement after all.
Elsewhere in the video Guadalupe says that seeing all the suffering going on in Juarez, Mexico, which lies just across the border from El Paso, her city of residence, makes her feel like she wants “to fight.” It occurs to me that she is fighting but in her own way. She opposes despair with hope and fear with courage.
The message of her work is that everyone can (and should) get involved. We can all make a difference, in whatever way we choose to do so. Guadalupe’s own life makes this perfectly clear.
