FRESNO, California — For many Spanish speaking farmworkers in California, 'Radio Bilingue' was the future of Spanish radio. The station was founded in Fresno and now has listeners nationwide. It all came from humble beginnings.
"I began listening to it as a way to stay in touch with the issues in my community, to continue to learn. I just love it. I just enjoy it," said Jesus Cruz.
Ever since Cruz moved to Modesto in 1990, he's been a loyal listener of Radio Bilingüe.
"It's important to have Latino-owned radio stations, because when you own it, you can control the content and manage it," Cruz said.
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Radio Bilingüe was co-founded by Hugo Morales. Originally from Oaxaca, Mexico, Morales and his family came to California searching for a better life.
"When I came here, at the age of nine, I grew up picking prunes with migrant workers from Texas and migrant workers from Fresno in the San Joaquin Valley," Morales said.
Early on, Morales dreamed of more for his future.
"What I wanted was a radio system or radio service that gave the microphone to the listeners, to the common people, to the Latino community," he said.
Morales is a proud Mixteco, indigenous Mexican, and comes from a lineage of farmworkers. He wanted to be a trusted voice for the diverse community.
"Commercial Spanish language radio does not provide the platform for the voices of Latino people's lives. And that's what I wanted to do," Morales said.
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After starting the first Spanish radio station during his college years in Harvard, Morales came to Fresno to try and start his own radio service from scratch. By July 1980, Morales launched Radio Bilingüe with the broadcast reaching listeners across the San Joaquin Valley, staffed with volunteers from his own neighborhood and airing in Spanish, English and several indigenous languages. It's one of the first Latino controlled FM radio stations in the country.
"We train workers, women and men, and youth to come in and get training, and be on the air. We literally give the microphone to youth, to women, indigenous people, to farm workers," Morales said.
Even with plans to move in the next few years, Morales said it's still important to be visible to the people he's serving.
"Radio Bilingüe is a treasure, and it is by and for the community. It was led by Indigenous people, me. I'm Indígena from Oaxaca, Mixteco. It is the labor of immigrants that built it, and it is the contribution of listeners that contribute to it," he said.
Cruz was an early employee of Radio Bilingüe and is now a longtime listener. He reflects back on how important this programming was for his family.
"They listened to Radio Bilingüe while working in the fields, while picking tomatoes or picking grapes or picking oranges, you know? And that's how we made our living at that time," he said.
More than four decades after its first broadcast, Radio Bilingüe owns and operates 26 stations in California and other states in the Southwest, with an additional 75 affiliates nationwide. Topics currently airing include Spanish news, health, immigration and racial justice.
"Giving the opportunity to young people to first of all, to listen and hear those voices that are on the air and say, one day, I can be that," Cruz said.
Radio Bilingüe is currently planning on building a station in Williams, California that will also serve Sacramento.
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