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09/27/2004 Archived Entry: "My Dad Wrote This..."

My dad sent this in to a newspaper in south Texas, my sister emailed it to me and so I'm posting it here...

Speak up for local conjunto
To the editor:
Now that the 6th Annual Conjunto of the Year Awards has happened, it is time
for us to speak up for conjunto music in South Texas.
The South Texas Conjunto Association, a non-profit, educational
organization, has had to fight hard to keep our local music alive and in the
minds of many, including U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, who made the opening
remarks in our event last month in Harlingen.
The congressman seemed surprised when he said he wasn’t aware of efforts and
events such as ours. Immediately following his opening statement, I spoke up
against these powerful corporations that are buying our radio stations and
eliminating all local programming and music, completely ignoring our needs.
For example, one major radio station that used to serve the needs of local
communities now has nothing to offer other than programming that originates
in Miami or Los Angeles. They have sex programs, political advice programs
and what have you, but nothing to serve the Rio Grande Valley.
To top it all off, even the stations that still play music play only one
genre — norteño, or Mexican cultural music — and very little, if any, local
conjunto music. South Texas conjuntos are ignored. Why?
With this note, I ask the congressman to look into our broadcasting giants
taking over and monopolizing the airwaves without regard to needs of the
local community. These giant radio stations have swallowed up the little
ones and destroyed our local music.
I ask the people of the Valley who still enjoy a good conjunto beat and love
the music to speak up and to write your congressman. Let him know how we
feel and what we need in South Texas. One thing for sure, we don’t need
another norteño radio station.
Que viva conjunto regional!
Lupe Saenz, Jr., president,
South Texas Conjunto Association,
Weslaco