Following Carlos Guerra’s Lead
One of the last conversations I had with Carlos was about my guelito, who died four years ago. “You know,” I told Carlos on the balcony of his condo, “I still miss my guelito all these years later. I still think of him, still wish I could call him, talk to him, it sucks,” I said.
“Not a day goes by when I don’t feel like I could ask my tías, my tíos, my father, my mother and my guelito something, or ask them for advice,” he replied. We both looked out into the Port Aransas sunset (this is what it looked like then) and the conversation kind of flickered out.
I didn’t realize that I would soon be forced to feel the same way about Carlos. It’s only been a few days, but I already feel funny that I haven’t heard from him, read a silly Facebook update or gotten a gentle nudge to have me post something for him on NewsTaco. But as my guelito used to say, “Recordar es vivir,” and so we must with Carlos. He was one of the most alive people I ever met, and I intend to keep him that way, if only in my memory.
Of the most important things Carlos taught me was that, in order to make your voice count, it has to be strong — and getting there as a writer is work. When Carlos first started out writing columns, he told me Hart Stillwell — author and then-columnist for a San Antonio paper — taught him a very important lesson: Writing isn’t art, it’s a craft. If you want to be a good writer, Stillwell told Carlos, then write! Recently, when I was groveling in self-doubt, Carlos said the same thing to me.
Carlos wanted NewsTaco to be a place where Latino issues and voices — of all kinds from all over the place — could find a platform and be heard. He wanted to be able to change the world for the better so that his daughter’s world would be better, because it was the right thing to do, and because I don’t really think he knew any other way to believe. Now that he’s gone, I personally feel more compelled than ever to see his dream to fruition, as do the rest of us at NewsTaco. Latinos must write because Latinos need to have a strong voice and NewsTaco is one place where we hope to make that happen.
It’s been a tough week and there’s likely more Carlos Guerra-related coverage to come, but in the meantime, please know that NewsTaco fully intends to keep pursuing Carlos’ dream. Just because we’ve lost his voice, doesn’t mean we’ve lost his spirit.
