Hugo Morales

Hugo Morales is a Mixtec Indian from the Mexican state of Oaxaca who, at the age of nine, immigrated to California with his family. He grew up picking grapes and attending public school in Sonoma County, CA, and then went on to graduate from Harvard College and Harvard Law School. In 1976, he was the galvanizing force behind a group of Latino farmworkers, artists, activists, and teachers that founded Radio Bilingüe in California’s San Joaquin Valley. Morales has led the organization ever since. His recognitions include the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, the Lannan Foundation Cultural Freedom Prize the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Edward R. Murrow Award, as was named National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellow in 2020. In 2023, Morales received an honorary doctorate from Harvard University in recognition of his decades of work in amplifying the voices of Latinos on the nation's airwaves.