Film Screening of "From the Field: An American Journey" Story #3

Carolyn Brown, a journalism professor at American University in Washington D.C. and an award winning documentary filmmaker  answering questions after the screening of her film "From the Fields: An American Story" on May 2nd at  6:00pm-8:30pm at the Benton County Library in Corvallis

An American story of Damian Trujillo. Which began in the lettuce fields of Salinas Valley Calif., progressed to graduating from San Diego State University, and ended by reaching the pinnacle of his career as a reporter for NBC.

On May 2nd from 6:00pm-8:30pm at The Benton County Library in Corvallis There was a film screening of Carolyn E. Brown's documentary, "From the Fields: An American Journey".  This film about a latino NBC News reporter who came to this country from Mexico in 1972, when he was just two years old.

There were at least 20 people that showed up to view the second screening of the day. The Majority of people were very moved by not just the documentary but the true raw story of Trujillo's actual experiences growing up in Salinas Valley. One women in the audience raised her hand purely to say, "thank you for telling this story and helping the Latino community as a whole."

Trujillo started working in the lettuce fields at age 11 and decided he wanted much more out of life than most of the people he knew. So he went to San Diego State University to get a degree in journalism so he could fulfill his dream to be a T.V. journalist.

Brown chose Trujillo as her subject because she could initially relate to him in a lot of ways, and they worked together as well. More importantly she is the daughter too of a Venezuelan immigrant, and both her and Trujillo shared some of the same experiences and hardships being a Latino in America and not feeling accepted.

Brown described  the feelings she personally had. " It's hard not knowing where you fit as an American born Latino, you don't feel anymore accepted by the Latino community at times than you do by the American community.

Corvallis happened to be Brown's last stop on her film screening tour, that she has been on since February, while teaching full time as a Journalism professor at American University in Washington, DC I might add. When I asked, "as a professor of journalism, what is the one thing you would hope your students could learn from Trujillo?" she answered simply, "be yourself and work hard."

She hopes to be done with her hour long documentary called the "Salinas Project"  by the end of the year. which follows four current  Latino college students. And she hopes it shows a more contemporary view of Latinos from the Salinas Valley and there "American journey's".

Trujillo brings a whole new meaning to the Spanish saying "Si Se Puede", which translates to "Yes I Can" but truly means I can do anything I want to do.

At a Glance:
What: "From the Fields: An American Journey", a documentary on Damian Trujillo a NBC News journalist
Where: Benton County Library
When: May 2nd from 6:00pm-8:30pm
Who: Award winning documentary filmmaker, Carolyn Brown. Professor of Journalism at American University in Washington DC.
Want to get involved or donate to the Salinas project: go to http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-salinas-project and contribute what you can.