By Tom Siebert
Pioneering actor Edward James Olmos shared his intriguing takes on God and country, in addition to giving a well-received shout-out to Chicago’s baseball teams at the Inspirational Series of the World Leaders Forum at Judson University in Elgin on Monday, Aug. 22.
“Everyone knows God is a woman,” Olmos told the Christian college audience of approximately 400, many of whom smiled, laughed, and even clapped. “And Jesus is not white. He is from the Mediterranean.”
The Miami Vice and Stand and Deliver star did not shy away from another taboo topic, politics, saying that the United States is deeply divided over the false claim that president Joe Biden was not duly elected in November 2020.
“When the civil war comes, it will pass, so just go inside like you did during the pandemic––get some food and watch Battlestar Gallactica,” he said jokingly while referring to the rebooted television series in which he played Commander William Adama from 2003 to 2009.
The charismatic actor talked about the heavy subjects with a light touch. But most of his hour-long storytelling traced his life from boyhood baseball player to teenage rock singer to actor, director, and producer, who shattered stereotypes of Mexican Americans in plays, movies, and TV shows.
Olmos became famous portraying El Pachuco, narrator of the musical play and later movie Zoot Suit in 1981. From 1984 to 1989, he was the somber Lieutenant Marty Castillo in the mega-hit Miami Vice, winning both an Emmy and Golden Globe for the complex role.
In 1989, Olmos became the first and only American-born Latino to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, after starring in Stand and Deliver as Jaime Escalante, an East Los Angeles high school teacher who successfully taught advanced calculus to at-risk Hispanic students.
“There’s no one more important than a teacher,” Olmos told the diverse crowd of staff, students, elected officials, and community members at Judson’s Herrick Chapel.
Wearing a matching black shirt and suit, he pulled up his pant legs, only to reveal socks bearing the blue and white logo of the Los Angeles Dodgers, in whose farm system he once played. “I know that here I should be saying Chicago Cubs! White Sox!”
Olmos, 75, long has been a peace and social justice advocate. In 1988 he joined United Farm Workers leader Cesar Chavez to protest the poisonous effects of pesticides on California grape pickers and their families.
And in the aftermath of Rodney King’s brutal beating by Los Angeles police officers in 1992, Olmos took a broom to help clean up riot-ravaged neighborhoods in the South Central section of the city.
At Judson, the actor/activist lamented the lack of jobs for Latinos in Hollywood and the overall increase of prejudice toward Mexicans in the United States.
“The last five years have been very difficult for us,” Olmos told the hushed audience, which was well-represented by those of Hispanic heritage. “We have to do better.”
Later joining host Jacqueline Ruiz and Olmos on the stage was Rick Najera, an award-winning sketch comedian and playwright.
Najera, a protégé of Olmos who was recovering from his third brain surgery, was presented with the 2022 Communion Champion award for “igniting the flame of inspiration.”
The event marked the resumption of the Inspirational Series part of Judson’s globally known World Leaders Forum after a five-year break.
Previous speakers in the series have been magician Jim Munroe in 2017; Olympic gymnast champion Mary Lou Retton in 2016; and in 2015, evangelist Nick Vujicic, who was born without limbs.
In northwest suburban Elgin since 1963, Judson University offers a Christian, liberal arts and sciences education through its Bachelor of Arts degrees for more than 60 majors, minors, graduate, and online programs, as well as certification and accelerated adult degrees. For more information, visit www.JudsonU.edu.
The World Leaders Forum funds entrepreneurship, diversity programs, and RISE scholarships for developmentally challenged students at Judson.
Following the event, P.J. Nkalang’ango, a Judson senior from Tanzania and majoring in computer science, said he was most impressed with Olmos’ emphasis on simple disciplines, such as making one’s bed in the morning, as integral to success.
“I realized that I need more discipline in both the small things and the big things in my life,” said Nkalang’ango.
Abigail Belsan, a junior from southwest suburban Lemont who majors in architecture, enjoyed Olmos’ “lighthearted discussion.”
Asked whether she was okay with the actor’s vision of God as female, Belsan replied, “Everyone has their own beliefs.”