Anita N. Martinez, the first Hispanic person to serve on the Dallas City Council and the founder of the oldest arts organization in the city, has died at the age of 100.
Martinez, who served on the Dallas City Council from 1969-1973, opened the door for future city council members and for other Mexican Americans in Dallas, Hispanic leaders say.
Laura Cadena, who represents council district 6, which includes West Dallas, called Martinez a trailblazer. "She paved the way for me and other Latinas to serve our city," Cadena said.
In a social media post Dallas County Commissioner Elba Garcia said Martinez “paved the way for greater representation and opportunity, leaving a legacy of courage, leadership and service.”
Born in 1925, Martinez was a fifth generation Texan. Her civic engagement began at age 14 when she gathered signatures to pave Pearl Street.
As city council member, she advocated for the West Dallas community she represented, eventually helping to open the recreation center that bears her name. She later went on to found the Anita N. Martinez Ballet Folklorico.
She never forgot her roots, or where she came from, said Lisa Mesa-Rogers, who has served as executive director of the organization since 2011.
She called Martinez’s tenacity in her approach to politics and as an arts leader as a “birthright.”
“I don't feel like she felt because we were Latina, that our voice should be at a different volume," Mesa-Rogers said. “It was rare to see someone be that candid about the reality of being a woman in fundraising and in business. ...I think it was because she probably had to make some very tough decisions and she had to do it at a time where maybe having an opinion about certain topics wasn't really popular,”
The arts organization celebrated its 50th anniversary in December – the same month Martinez turned 100.
“Lots of differences between when we started in 1975 and now,” Martinez said in a 2017 Ballet Folklorico video. “When we first started, a lot of people couldn't even pronounce the word folklorico.”
In the video, Martinez said her program was about “teaching confidence and teaching leadership and being proud of who you are.”
Mesa-Rogers said beyond Martinez’s role as a business and community leader, she also had a vibrant side. She wore colorful flowers in her hair and a Mexican rebozo, or shawl --and would drop by dance practices to see the students of the folklorico group she founded.
Everyone in the organization called Martinez's signature color of hot pink “Anita pink.”
It stemmed from a dance teacher Martinez had as a child growing up in the area of Dallas once known as Little Mexico. Martinez had asked a woman in her neighborhood named Rosita, who had been a folklorico dancer in Mexico, to teach her and other kids. They made dance skirts out of hot pink crepe paper.
One of Martinez’s favorite songs was “El Son de la Negra,” a staple in folklorico groups. The song comes from the state of Jalisco, the birthplace of mariachi music.
She had a way of approaching people that Mesa-Rogers said had a lasting effect on her.
“She always called me ‘precious angel,’ and then she would see the kids and she would say ‘oh, precious angel, come here,’ and I do that now, even with my boys,” Mesa-Rogers said. “That was just how she endeared herself, and it was always very sincere.”
Martinez’s impact was felt throughout the city’s arts community. Cathy Hernandez, the executive director of the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, began her arts administration career as the executive director of Anita N. Martinez Ballet Folklorico in the late 1990s. She remembered the way Martinez cared for the students.
“She’d come and help them with their hair, all the way down to helping them with their resumes, if needed,” Hernandez said.
She stayed in touch with Martinez and her family throughout the years.
"I remember going over to her house for pool parties, and she would often bring me into her closet, and we would compare fashion sense,” Hernandez said. “I would always leave her house with just a few things from her closet. It was more than mentorship. It was genuine friendship.”
Juan José López Rodríguez, the artistic director of Anita N. Martinez Ballet Folklorico, said he has been receiving messages nonstop from community members who knew Martinez – from former dancers to arts supporters.
“She had an incredible light," Rodriguez told KERA in Spanish. “She had peace in every word she said, and everything she said made you feel good. She would always give you a smile. She would receive you with a hug. She always had the ability to return everything you said to her with gratitude.”
Rodriguez has witnessed the impact Martinez has had on generations of families.
“If the grandmother started dancing, she would pass it on to the mother and the mother would pass it on to her daughter so on,” Rodriguez said. “That's so wonderful to see the transformations and the evolution of our culture through families, more than on the stage, but more like in people's lives."
Priscilla Rice is KERA’s communities reporter. Got a tip? Email her at price@kera.org.
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