Our dear friend and sister María Emilia Martin passed over the rainbow bridge early Saturday, December 2, 2023 in a peaceful and beautiful way. With barely a sound and as the “perfect” recording she would have wanted in a room full of peace and love surrounded by her family and all of you at every corner of the world holding her up. Thank you all for all your deep love you sent her way in all your messages, recordings, and more importantly for the important role you each played in her life here on earth.
María Emilia Martin was a founder and leader in both public and independent media, and media education in Spanish and English-- primarily covering issues related to LatinX people in the U.S. and Latin America as well as indigenous people.
She was a founder of KBBF in Santa Rosa, California, the first bi-lingual radio station in America.
She founded NPR's Latino USA based in Austin Texas, and the GraciasVida Center for Media based in Antigua Guatemala, among others.
For the last ten years, the Center has worked to improve the skills and working situation for rural and indigenous journalists in Guatemala, Bolivia, and Nicaragua, as well as to improve the coverage of Central America on U.S. public radio.
Martin was a tireless reporter and creative producer, dedicated to journalism at its highest level and its broadest reach. She taught journalism in university classrooms, and in small towns from West Virginia to Guatemala, Kyrgyzstan, and in Bolivia, where she literally went village to village teaching people how to report and publish about their conditions, passions and concerns. María was a leader in both news coverage and culture, as well as religion. In her book, "Crossing Bridges: A Journalist's Heart in Latin America ", Martin tells her story overcoming the many obstacles of racism and sexism, forging a path for the next generation of independent, and LatinX journalists, especially women. She will be terribly missed by her huge network of fans and friends, on both sides of the border and around the world. For the past 20 years she made her home in her beloved Antiqua, Guatemala with regular trips to Austin and San Antonio, Texas where she recently became affiliated with "The Esperanza, Peace and Justice Center."
