Salas, Mario Marcel

Professor and political leader Mario Marcel Salas was born on July 30, 1949 in San Antonio, Texas. He attended Central Catholic High School, and graduated from Phyllis Wheatley High School in San Antonio in 1968. Salas earned his A.S. degree in applied science-engineering technology, and his A.A. degree in liberal arts from San Antonio College. Later, he received his B.A. degree in English in 1988 from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and his M.Ed. degree in 1999 from Our Lady of the Lake University. He received a second M.A. degree in political science from the University of Texas in 2004.

During the 1970s, Salas was a contributing writer to various activist newspapers and newsletters, including a regular column inThe San Antonio Register,The San Antonio Observer,San Antonio Community Journal/Inner City Journal. He was also field secretary at the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) chapter in San Antonio, which was the last SNCC-Black Panther Chapter in the Country, and ran for Texas State Representative on the La Raza Unida Ticket in 1972 under a SNCC-Raza Unida Coalition. In 1990, he became an educator for the San Antonio Independent School District, and was a co-founder of the Barbara Jordan Community Center in San Antonio and he also championed the establishment of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday as a Texas state holiday in 1991. Salas was elected to the San Antonio City Council, where he served two full terms from 1997 to 2001 as District 2 Representative. In 2004, he campaigned for the office of County Commissioner. Salas also served as professor of African American studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He was a candidate in the bid for the Democratic Primary for Texas State Representative, District 120, in San Antonio in 2016. He retired as an assistant professor of political science from the University of Texas.

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