Edward J. Olmos

He also has received honorary doctorate degrees and is active in many humanitarian efforts. He is the United States Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. On average, he speaks at one hundred fifty schools, charities and juvenile institutions throughout the country every year.

In the analysis of Olmos’ movies I will discuss only the ones that I believe hold or put forth a statement on cultural issues. These are American Me, Stand and Deliver, and My Family.

The movie American Me is about a young man that goes to prison only to be let out later in life in a world that he no longer understands.

Stand and Deliver is about a schoolteacher who goes into Garfield High in Los Angeles. The economy of this area is very depressed. It seems that because of this fact the teachers and school itself have given up on the students. When Olmos’ character comes onto the scene he decides that these are decent kids who, if m

My Family is a very nice story of a Mexican American family going through life in the United States. Olmos is the narrator of the family story. His father makes the trip to the U.S. on foot and it takes him the better part of a year. He meets a beautiful young woman and they are soon married. Early in the marriage, the deportation officers take her back to Mexico to allow more room for “Americans” to work. Not one to be beaten, she returns to America from central Mexico to be with her husband.

He is approved to teach advanced prepatory calculus. Because of his motivational effort and by believing in the students, they stay in the class and go on to pass the college placement test well above the national average. Due to the fact that the scores were so close and the Hispanic background of the students, the testing agency deems their efforts were the product of cheating. Only by having the students re-take the test are they able to prove that they did not cheat.

In his work with UNICEF, Olmos went to Central America to support their PROMAYA Initiative. He put in seventeen-hour days visiting indigenous Mayan villages and major cities. The PROMAYA program was put into effect to help the Maya with the basic necessities they require to survive. It will also help them to get over the rampant discrimination and injustices they have lived through.

For me personally, I have always liked him as a character on television. It has not been until this class that I have thought beyond the small picture to see what he must mean to people that we call Latino. Keeping your nos

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