Juan Espinosa鈥檚 Journalism Legacy
By Anthony Albidrez
Photos by听Juan Espinosa (Jour鈥�74)
The clock hit 3 a.m., and only three men remained in the game. For the men stationed at Da Nang Air Base in Vietnam, payday meant a long, late night of poker. During this particular game in 1968, Juan Espinosa (Jour鈥�74) would cash out with more than just the winning pot.
鈥淭here were only about three of us still playing, and the pot was huge because we had all the money of everybody that already dropped out,鈥� Espinosa said, recalling his time in the U.S. Air Force.
During the final hand, Espinosa threw in $20.
鈥淥ne of the guys that was still in, he says, 鈥楲ook, I don鈥檛 have 20 bucks, but I got this camera. I鈥檒l throw it in the pot if you鈥檒l accept,鈥欌�� Espinosa recalled. 鈥淗e threw the camera in the pot. And I won the pot, and I won the camera.鈥�
For Espinosa, that camera, a 35 mm Canon rangefinder, and that early morning in 1968 marked the beginning of his photographic career. Now 74 years old, he has kept his finger on the shutter button ever since.
Espinosa鈥檚 decadeslong, illustrious career in Colorado journalism has been marked by leadership and deep roots in his community. At CU Boulder in the early 1970s, he launched El Diario de la Gente as a member of the campus group United Mexican American Students (UMAS), which aims to build cultural awareness of the Chicano community in Boulder.
He later moved to Pueblo, Colorado, where he co-founded the alternative community newspaper La Cucaracha and embarked on a 22-year journey in community journalism at The Pueblo Chieftain.
Through his journalism and photography, Espinosa has captured Colorado history, documenting Chicano movements and activism. His extensive photographic archive has been featured in museum exhibits, documentaries and news stories.
鈥淚 have always worked for my community, my whole journalistic career,鈥� Espinosa said. 鈥淚f I saw something wrong, I reported it just the way I saw it.鈥�
Juan Espinosa听captures a self-portrait with his
Pentax 35 mm camera, circa 1971鈥�74
"I have always worked for my community, my whole journalistic career. If I saw something wrong, I reported it just the way I saw it.
-Juan Espinosa
A new voice in Boulder听
After his time in the Air Force, Espinosa completed his associate degree at Mesa College in Grand Junction then enrolled as a journalism student at CU Boulder in 1971.
His arrival followed the swell of Chicano activism in the Southwest in the 1960s, known as the Chicano Movement or El Movimiento. At CU, Espinosa quickly deepened his involvement with UMAS and the growing Chicano community on campus.
By 1972, he and other students launched El Diario de la Gente, an independent Chicano newspaper on campus, to give the community its own platform. The newspaper covered a wide range of topics, such as boycotts, protests and tensions with CU Boulder administration.
鈥淲e felt we were being misrepresented in the mass media, that they didn鈥檛 know who Mexicans were. They didn鈥檛 know who Chicanos were,鈥� Espinosa said. 鈥淎nd we decided that we needed our own publication to tell our own story, in our own words, using our own vocabulary, and that was really one of the goals that I set for myself in starting El Diario.鈥�
That same year, he photographed students as they protested the firing of Ricardo Falc贸n, assistant director of UMAS Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), who was later killed in a racially motivated confrontation in New Mexico.
In 1973, Espinosa was covering a campaign stop by Chicano and workers rights leader C茅sar Ch谩vez in Denver when Ch谩vez recruited Espinosa to work for the United Farm Workers鈥� (UFW) newspaper, El Malcriado. There Espinosa photographed many pivotal moments during UFW鈥檚 struggle for farmworkers鈥� labor rights in California.
Back in Boulder, Espinosa covered increasing tensions between Chicano students and the CU Boulder administration over financial aid. When administrators lost financial aid files and issued late stipend checks, students enrolled in the EOP couldn鈥檛 pay tuition
or living expenses.
Many believed the issues were purposeful鈥攎eant to deter Chicano students from enrolling in the program.
鈥淢ost of us had never even aspired to go to the University of Colorado. And all of a sudden, the doors were open, and we could attend,鈥� said Espinosa, who both covered the events and joined student protests. 鈥淲e think it was an attempt on the part of the university to keep UMAS from growing so fast.鈥澨�
In May 1974, , a small, administrative building at 1715 Pleasant St., to urge negotiations and remedy the ongoing issues.
While TB-1 was occupied, loud blasts could be heard all over Boulder. Within two days, two cars were bombed, killing six activists and students who had been involved in the protests. The six people killed would come to be known as Los Seis de Boulder: Una Jaakola, Reyes Martinez,听 Neva Romero, Francisco Dougherty, Heriberto Teran and Florencio Granado.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 until cars started blowing up and students started dying from these car bombings that the university agreed to negotiate,鈥� Espinosa said.
After 18 days of occupation, the administration agreed to negotiate with the students. All demands were met, and the occupation of TB-1 ended.
Espinosa documented these events within the pages of El Diario. Based on Espinosa鈥檚 photography, CU Boulder alumna Jasmine Baetz in 2019 created images of each of the Los Seis de Boulder victims on a sculpture that is located in front of the Albert and Vera Ramirez Temporary Building 1 next to the CU Boulder Recreation Center. In September 2020, the University Libraries announced that it had acquired the sculpture as part of its Rare and Distinctive Collections.
鈥淚f students had power, student publications also had political power. My goal was to make a publication that had power,鈥� Espinosa said. 鈥淲hat we really were trying to do was tell our own story. We were not represented well in the media.鈥�
听
鈥楾he truth speaks for itself鈥�
When Espinosa moved to Pueblo after graduation, he found that Chicano communities also lacked media representation in the city.
Espinosa co-founded La Cucaracha in 1976 with his wife, Deborah Espinosa, and David Martinez, longtime friend and colleague. After his time at La Cucaracha, he began reporting at The Pueblo Chieftain in 1988. As a Chicano journalist, Espinosa reported for both publications on issues and challenges facing the Chicano community.
鈥淭he things that we wanted to accomplish with our own newspapers, I was trying to accomplish at a daily newspaper,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was trying to represent Chicanos and people of color accurately and let them speak for themselves as much as possible.鈥�
Espinosa began at The Chieftain on the police beat but would later cover the education and government beats. He wrote a popular column titled 鈥淛uan鈥檚 World鈥� for 17 years.
鈥淗e鈥檇 been publishing La Cucaracha, which was a wonderful protest newspaper. And it just really attacked wrongdoing in the district attorney鈥檚 office and other places, and his journalism was just exemplary,鈥� said Steve Henson, who reported alongside Espinosa before becoming managing editor of The Pueblo Chieftain.
Henson鈥檚 predecessor recruited Espinosa, saying the young journalist鈥檚 perspective was needed in their newsroom.
鈥淲e were all thrilled because we all admired Juan and what he had done,鈥� Henson recalled. 鈥淔or a young guy like Juan, who was in his 20s, to be taking on this kind of power was pretty courageous.鈥�
La Cucaracha published weekly until 1983, and special editions have been published thereafter. After his 22-year journey at The Pueblo Chieftain, Espinosa retired in 2009. While working at the daily newspaper, Espinosa also taught social studies from 1993 to 2007 at Centennial High School in Pueblo.
鈥淚 was trying to represent Chicanos and people of color accurately and let them speak for themselves as much as possible.
-Juan Espinosa
Espinosa鈥檚 journalism tells us the story of life, culture and society in Pueblo, which he calls home to this day.
鈥淭he truth speaks for itself, and Juan鈥檚 always been about that,鈥� Henson said.
Honoring a journalism legacy
In May 2022, CU regents awarded Espinosa an honorary doctorate for outstanding achievement in the field of journalism.
鈥淲e both look back in awe that we saw so much history. We have witnessed change. We changed ourselves, grew tremendously with all of the experiences,鈥� said his wife, Deborah Espinosa, who was the director of El Pueblo History Museum for 25 years and worked for History Colorado. 鈥淎nd now we鈥檙e considered elders often sought for our opinions, direction, research. We assist a lot of students who are wanting to know about that era鈥攁lthough it鈥檚 not an era to us, it鈥檚 our life.鈥�
Martinez was one of many friends, colleagues and supporters to nominate Espinosa for the honorary doctorate.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very notable punctuation as well as recognition for the good work that he has created and produced during his own journalistic career. He is also a role model for future journalists,鈥� Martinez said. 鈥淧robably the most important component of his work is the education that was brought to his audiences.鈥�
For Espinosa, his career in journalism was like having a front seat to history. Camera in hand, he captured significant moments in Boulder and around Colorado.
鈥淓very assignment, every story is important,鈥� Espinosa said. 鈥淎nd together, they create a knowledge about a community. I believe that my stories have helped define who we are as Chicanos in this country and in the part of the world that I鈥檝e interacted with. And I think that鈥檚 really important.鈥�