About Mario Salas

Mario Marcel Salas

Mario Marcel Salas, a political leader, was born in San Antonio, Texas on July 30, 1949 to an Afro-Mexican father and a mixed-race mother. He graduated from Phyllis Wheatley High School, an African American segregated school. It was soon after high school that he joined the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, and was an anti-Apartheid Activist. He became a civil rights activist for over 50 years. As a member of SNCC Mr. Salas co-organized all of the Black Student Unions in San Antonio and the first free breakfast program to feed school children in San Antonio. He was a leader of a San Antonio based movement that raised $10,000 for the freedom of Nelson Mandela in the 1980s.

Professor Mario Marcel Salas is a retired Assistant Professor of Political Science, having taught Texas Politics, Federal Politics, Political History, the Politics of Mexico, Political Theory, African American Studies, Civil Rights, and International Conflicts. He has served as a City Councilman for the City of San Antonio, and was very active in the Civil Rights Movement in SNCC for many years. He is also a life time member of the San Antonio NAACP. He has authored several editorials, op-eds, and writings.

Professor Salas helped to develop the first economic relationship with an African country for the City of San Antonio with Mafeking, South Africa. He championed the establishment of a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Texas state holiday and served as Vice-President for the Judson Independent School Board of Trustees. He is the President of San Antonio Community Radio (KROV) and is active in San Antonio Politics. He served as a 300-Year Tricentennial Commissioner for the City of San Antonio and is a member of the Bexar County Historical Commission and is considered an expert in African American History.

Professor Salas also helped to co-author the Amicus Brief that went before the U. S. Supreme Court in the case of Grutter vs. Bollinger as a veteran of the Civil Rights Movement. He has done extensive research on African Americans in San Antonio, Texas, Afro-Mexicans, and the Black Seminoles. Mr. Salas has archived material maintained by the Special Collections Department of the University of Texas. He helped to develop and present the essential elements for African American Studies courses for high school students across Texas which was passed by the State Board of Education. He has received many awards including the San Antonio Peace Laureate Award and an Honorary Doctorate of Humanity from the Baptist Association-Guadalupe College.