Arkansas, Land of Opportunity
Roberto Martínez
También puedes leer este artículo en español, Arkansas, Tierra de Oportunidades.
Originally from the state of Zacatecas, Mexico, Roberto Martinez emigrated to the United States in August 1969, arriving in Los Angeles, California, where he worked for a short time before settling in Chicago. There, he met his wife Dina, originally from Lima, Peru, and together they had their daughter Carolina.
Martinez currently lives in a rural area between De Queen and the town of Horatio in Arkansas, in Sevier County, which borders the state of Oklahoma, very close to the northwest of the state of Texas, where his ranch is called “La Esperanza” (The Hope). He and his people are dedicated to raising cattle and chicken for commercial sale.
Martinez arrived in Arkansas in 1980, looking for a better place for his family and the tranquility that is often not available in big cities. He remembers that on one of his trips to Mexico, crossing through Arkansas, he read on the license plates that said “Arkansas, Land of Opportunity” which made him feel welcome. That is how he was encouraged to look for a place to settle with his family, finding a small ranch which he later called La Esperanza.
“From Mexico, I brought an illusion and a hope which dies last and that is why I decided to name our ranch Rancho La Esperanza,” he said.
Martinez’s family in Mexico was dedicated to cultivating the land and raising farm animals for their own support, so he always wanted to maintain that heritage.
Martinez remembers that adapting to life in the U.S. was not easy without family or close friends, on top of the language barrier.
His spirit of self-improvement led him to find a “little school” as he called it, where he studied basic English and obtained his general education diploma. Later, his employer in the chemical industry sent him to training workshops to better develop his skills.
“Each step I took improving my education gave me greater opportunities to communicate and relate better in the community, as well as better benefits in my work,” Martinez recalled.
By 1987, Martinez’s Arkansas family ranch was chosen by the Farm Association as Sevier County’s Farm Family of the Year, an award they’d go on to win at the district level, too.
At that time, Martinez received this recognition from Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton, which opened up more possibilities for him to learn more about livestock activities and interact with leaders in his community.
With the aim of continuing to prepare, Martinez registered at his county college to take an electrical workshop and improve his knowledge for the facilities of his ranch. The community college, years later, would invite him to collaborate in a program of conversational Spanish classes, once a week to help adults, mainly leaders and county authorities – such as the county judge and sheriff as well as other people in the private sector to learn basic Spanish so they can better communicate with the growing Spanish-speaking community. Martinez was later hired and would become one of the first interpreters for the county’s misdemeanor court helping the Spanish-speaking community.
Years later, Martinez was chosen by former Gov. Mike Huckabee to join the board of directors of the County Community College, an activity that he carried out for 22 years.
“My main objective was not only to represent the community of Latino students but also to contribute and promote education in our Spanish-speaking community,” Martinez commented.
He belongs to a few other organizations; as the Arkansas County and State Livestock Association as well as the National, is on the board of directors of the Farm Bureau, a member of the Knights of Columbus of his Catholic church and also served nine years on the board of directors for a Catholic hospital in Texarkana, Arkansas.
Sevier County has the largest number of Hispanic farmers and ranchers in the state of Arkansas and Martinez has had the opportunity to advise and support the majority of these Latino farmers in obtaining credit and meeting the main requirements. Another of his collaborations has been at the Federal Reserve Bank, traveling to Washington, New York, Chicago and South Carolina, mainly where he met former President Barack Obama.
Additionally, Martinez and a committee of Latinos in Arkansas, met with Huckabee to request the governor establish a Mexican consulate in Arkansas since the growing Mexican community did not have this diplomatic headquarters, a process that lasted just over five years. Finally, in 2007, it was established in Little Rock, the capital city.
Martinez said he was the first Latino to open the first Latin store in his area called La Mexicana in the town where he lives, a store that, although he no longer owns, is still open to the public.
“I would like to share with the Latin community that there is always an opportunity to do what you like and do not miss ‘la esperanza’ of one day achieving it. To progress, you have to work hard, save money and invest in addition to establishing good credit in this country,” Martinez said.
