A longtime Rockford community activist won an Excalibur award last Thursday evening. WNIJ’s Yvonne Boose spoke with Armando Cardenas a few days before the win. See below for the conversation.
Yvonne:
I did some research on you. And I see that you've been doing community service for a long time. Where did that passion come from?
Cardenas:
Well, since 1972, I was the first director of La Voz Latina, in 1972. But when I came to Rockford and like I said in 1963, it took maybe, I don't know, five or six years. But if you remember, in '63/64, there were the marches, right, for equal rights and civil rights by Martin Luther King, and Cesar Chavez regarding the farm workers’ rights. And I wasn't connecting with that. But when I got to Rockford, I started listening to what was going on in the news with the marches. And so, I got interested in that, and I started contacting family that were already involved in that. Like in Uvalde, Texas, I had a cousin over there that was really involved with the marches, or walking out of the schools, because it was separate but equal, and in 63/64. And so, I started talking to them, I said, ‘what are you guys doing down there?’ [he] says well, ‘listen to the to the news on what's going on.’ So, I did, I started researching, I started going to some of the meetings that were held in Chicago, by the movement. Now the people that were out and saying the equal rights. So, I went to meetings...they were the United Farm Workers, and African Americans who are also doing the same thing. So, when I went, I said, that's, what I want to do. I want to do more of that. That's one of the reasons. But the reason that I did that is afterwards when you hear the message of the discrimination that was going on, and the separate but equal and the history of what happened to the minorities in the United States. I started personalizing, ‘hey, that happened to me. I'm one of those and I said ‘my parents went through that. And my grandparents went through all that because of the separate but equal.’ My parents couldn't, when we went to Minnesota, I remember I told you, we're going to, to Minnesota to work in the fields and then I thought, wait a minute, we couldn't stop and eat at the in the same area where the white people ate. And my dad would say, ‘we can't stop there.’ You got to use this restroom, on the way to Minnesota and then back. And in the same way I thought wait a minute in Uvalde, Texas, I couldn't sit at the same theater area. I'd sit on top. And I went to school, then I thought, Gee, I thought [about] the history of what I had gone through. And I said, “That’s me. That's us.' My mother took me to my first day in school, and I'll remember that she told me, we have to go to the Mexican school. You can't go to the white school and the Black schools are over there. You know, but at that moment, it didn't hit you. OK. You know, you go when you see all your Mexican friends there. Hey, you don't think anything of it. But later you say something wrong. So that's what I did when I heard everything that that was going on, then you realize, wait a minute, that's me. That's me. So, I said I, I wanted to be part of that I want to be part of, of what's right for people and get into the spirit of equal rights. That was one and then when we came back, I started really reading more about la causa, which is, 'the cause,' and movimiento, which is 'the civil rights movement.' I read a book called Strangers in Our Own Land. And there I saw the history from the 60s to the present and everything that was going on. Then I thought ‘there needs to be something done.’ In 1966, because we came here '63, three years later, the Vietnam War was on. So, I was drafted. All my family, my brothers were all inducted into the army. So, I came back to Rockford in 1968. I was working at Chrysler, and I went back to work at Chrysler, but this was now '68. And I said what's going on in Rockford that I need to be involved with? Because there were still a lot of migrants coming like our family wanting to stay in Rockford for jobs. And I thought these individuals these are families that need help who's helping them? So, I started looking into it and there was St. Elizabeth center had a on South Main Street, I don’t know if you know that there is a center in Rockford has been there for years, St. Elizabeth center. It's on south Maine in Rockford. And I stopped by there and there were some sisters who were running the center. And I asked, ‘Is anybody helping the Hispanic community here with the resources that they need? When they come here, like for jobs or help or employment, or schools? They said, 'we’ll, we were trying but we have a group of people who are asking the same questions and we're thinking about forming an organization to deal with, to help the Hispanics when they get here to Rockford to connect them to the resources.' And that group of people were the ones that formed, La Voz Latina. And they asked for grant back then President Johnson, through the Office of Economic Opportunity, had funds for community organizations to, to help with Officer Equal Opportunity of Employment. So those monies were received by this group La Voz Latina board, and they asked, they got the grant to hire a director. And that's where I came in. And they hired me because I was the one that was asking the questions, but there [were] other people they interviewed.
Yvonne:
Now I want to talk about the Excalibur. How did you find out you were nominated?
Armando:
Well, it's a funny, Linda Zuba and Rudy Valdez submitted my name. But Linda Zuba — have you met Linda Zuba? Oh, she's an attorney. Because she's a great person. And she's very passionate about helping the Hispanic community. And she said, 'Armando want to talk to you? Would it be possible that you could write down a little bit about your history, what you've been doing and so forth?' I said, ‘what for, Linda, what do you want this for? And she said, 'well, I can't tell you right now, OK.' And this is about two months ago, So, [I said], 'okay, I'll do it for you.' So, I started writing about me, simply, you know, what should I write about me? So, I said, well, I started, like, where I was from and married, and my wife and my experiences, correct. And so, I had it all done for her. I called her [and] I said, 'Linda, I'm ready. I've got this information for you.' She said, 'So, can we meet now someplace so you can give it to me to share?' So, I did. And then she told me, 'This is for the Excalibur.' So, I said, 'OK,' so that's how I found out. She said, 'but it was Rudy Valdez and I, who recommended you for the Excalibur.'
Yvonne:
What would it mean, if you were to win?
Armando:
Oh, my gosh, oh, my gosh, it would mean that a lot of what I've been doing for the most of my life, right, my adult life it’s hard to explain to put into words. It's not recognized, not the word, you would ask me that. But what does it mean?
Yvonne:
What would it mean to you if you were to win that award?
Armando:
You know what, it's not about me. What it would mean to me. The way I see it, is that I feel thankful. Right? First, I thank the individuals who considered my name at least bring my name like Linda and Rudy who thought about that, well, I'm thankful for that. But then I started thinking of my history. And I said, ‘who are the players in my life for those 50 years?' And then I … it's a thankfulness that I feel, to the individuals that were, that have been part of my life for those 50 years, which would be my family. My wife, my children, who put up with me all those years, who were patient, supportive. I also would also be thankful to, to the Lord for giving me the health, the strength, the spiritual guidance. So, I think in terms of, of what it means, if I were to receive the award is an award of thankfulness.
Yvonne:
Now you're on the board of Rockford Area Arts Council. Why was it important to be on the board of an organization such as that?
Armando:
Extremely important. I knew of the Rockford Arts Council; I wasn't too involved with it. But when I was approached [about] if I want it to be a member — lady recommended me for it — I said ‘Yeah,’ I'm an artist, right? so it would be natural. I'm a musician. I write music. My children are musicians. All my brothers are musicians. We played in Rockford for many years since we got here in 1963. We've been doing music. So, I said, ‘Yeah, that would be a good organization for me to, to participate.’ So, I joined. But when I joined, I immediately connected the Rockford Arts Council with art. And I saw the idea of art is in many areas, right? Art, you can have poets, you can have songwriters, you can have musicians, what- paint, right? So, I thought, 'wow, that's me. I love art.' And I've been playing so yeah, that's what I saw. And then now, this effort of the Cultural Plan, which is something that's just started, like, maybe a year ago, or so, I see the opportunity for me to connect the Hispanic community –- artists, correct, whether it be musicians, whether it be artists — to the majority community, and find ways to include the Latino community, and the arts.
Yvonne:
Now you speak of your children, have they picked up the desire to be of service like you've done all these many years?
Armando:
Yes, in their own area, like in the music. They're into music completely. I mean, I have three sons. And a daughter. My three sons are all musicians. And they, of course, since they were little, we're playing in a band. They were nominated for a Grammy in a band they were with in Texas, it's called La Diferenzia. Like 'difference,' Diferenzia with a Z. If you look that up, they went there for three years. And so, they went to Texas, recorded, and then they came back. So, they were really into sharing the Latin music with the city, the people, the folks. So, we've been playing for years now. Recently, we haven't, because everybody’s busy in their work and so forth. But in the last, what, two or three months, we got the band together for specific projects, that highlighted the different types of music that we want to share with the community. So, they're, they're involved with the arts that way, not much into the social part of the movement. But they back me 100% You know, they're with me, if I say I'm having a meeting here, and I need you guys to come.
Yvonne:
Even your daughter?
Armando:
My daughter, all of them.
Yvonne:
You've done a whole bunch in Rockford. Tell me about this portion of it, the insurance.
Armando:
The business? In 1979. When I left La Voz Latina…. it was 1980. I exited from La Voz Latina in good standing. And I still support La Voz Latina, Luz Ramirez, he’s the director. We meet there for the coalition. But when I left, I realized that I needed to either -- in life --… this is [my] philosophy in life, I read books that say, 'life you only either work for yourself, or for somebody else.' Correct? There's no other way. And so, I saw myself working for Chrysler, I saw myself working for La Voz Latina. But when I started reading about business and success in life, I saw the other side of the story. When I came out of the army, I said -- because I wanted to take advantage of my GI benefits that they pay for college. So, I did go to school, I went to Rock Valley College, and I realized that I was working for someone else instead of working for myself. So, when I did, I decided I'm going to work for myself. So, I took the classes in college for business, sociology, and business. So that's my background, social work and business. So, I either said, 'do I stay with sociology, social work, or do I do with business?' And I realized I want to do business. I also want to do business but not forget sociology. So that's why I stayed in the social service. But at same time for my career in the future, I wanted to get into business. And I did. In 1980, I joined an insurance company out of Dallas, Texas Reserve Life. So, I sold life insurance, I sold health insurance. And my kids were young, and they were going to school and so forth. So, I started in 1980. Now, when my oldest son Raul was the agency and his wife, Christine, when he got out of the army, I was still selling insurance. I was working with Aflac the company. He said, ‘Dad, I want to, I want to do what you're doing.’
Yvonne:
How old are you now?
Armando:
I'm 79.
Yvonne:
Why was it important to keep on being a change agent for the community and helping the community thrive, especially the ones who are not the first to be looked at or the first to be given opportunities in the city?
Armando:
Well, what happened was, I saw this as a, it's a journey. When I read the book, Strangers in Our Own Land, I thought, you know, you can't just do this one time, because there were additional needs and issues that kept coming up during my time at La Voz Latina, the issues keep you going — the needs, and what's lacking? What are the services that are not being provided? And you say, 'how can I do something and stop?' You don't. You don't stop. So, it's a constant. journey, right? But it's a challenge. But the thing is that, let me give you an example. When you have set up the services, right, that you say 'OK, we got the bilingual program going,' you identify another issue, or another problem, or another challenge that Hispanic community is encountering. Like, for example, the lack of, of bilingual education for the kids, but what about the English classes? For the adults who don't speak English? For the most part, I can tell you this. We have gotten a great response from the local leaders when we addressed the issues. It's not like they don't listen. That's one of the things that I always want to always mention.
Yvonne:
Now. Is there anything else you'd like to share with me?
Armando:
No, not really. It's just that I'm excited about it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
