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7 So she turned to acting onstage and performed in London and
New York. It was one place where people of color could reach for
the stars and just maybe catch one. Television was another option—
The Muppets, The George Lopez Show. In the seventies she focused

her talents on children’s shows, appearing on Sesame Street and
The Electric Company. Rita’s mission was to inspire Hispanic
children. When interviewed at the time, she mentioned how alone

she had felt as a child because she was different, and she wanted
the new generations of children to feel positive about their
identities. Rita told the media proudly that she was Latina and

knew what it felt like to be different.

8 By the end of the ’70s Rita Moreno’s dream came true.
Measuring five feet and two and half inches, she became one of the
all-time great Puerto Rican entertainers—the only female artist to
win the four major entertainment awards: an Oscar, a Tony, a

Grammy, and two Emmys. When her star was unveiled on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame, Rita fell on it, weeping. “I had been
dreaming of this day since I was six.”

9 Rita Moreno’s life and career were not merely lists of outstanding
work and dazzling awards in the performing arts. Rita continued to
cross boundaries and to break borders—not for herself but for

others, young people in particular. For Latino children and youth,
she became a new positive figure, a multitalented, authentic model
of creative action.

10 In June of 2004, President George W. Bush awarded Rita Moreno
the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She was acknowledged as a

great artist and a pioneer in her ability to go beyond the early
discriminatory practices of Hollywood.

authentic A person who is authentic is real and true to himself or herself,
not fake or phony.
discriminatory Rules, laws, or practices are discriminatory if they leave out a
group of people or treat that group unfairly.

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