FELIX: First of all, I want to thank my ancestors, uh, who lived the lives they lived, uh, to get me to where I am right now.

In Mexico and beyond.

Thank them for what they did, where they lived, what they did to get me here tonight.

Including my mom.

(applause).

And I want to thank the Hispanic Heritage Foundation for this amazing honor and recognition.

Very special thanks to my good friend, Toni Tijerino, president and CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, for nominating me and celebrating my work tonight and always.

And, thank you to my family, my sons Alessandro and Joaquin, and their mom Barbara, None of this would be possible without their love, and support, encouragement, and patience, for all those times I was out of town chasing down a story or glued to a computer editing audio.

Barbara and Ale are here tonight, hey guys.

And Joaquin is starting his senior year at CU Boulder, and is watching on PBS, Hi mijo!

I love you all more than life itself... I also want to thank my friends, my old friends, at KSEE in Fresno and... (audience cheering) You guys.

(woman yelling inaudibly) Órale!

(woman yelling inaudibly) There you go, alright, California, calm down.

It's okay, it's okay.

And to everyone at NPR, it’s been an honor and privilege for the last 24 years to work at one of the best news organizations in the world.

No, the best news organization in the world.

Okay, let’s make that clear.

And to everyone who has been part of the Alt.Latino story for the last 15 years, I barely have the words to express how much you all have contributed to my life, it's a joy to see some of you are here tonight, my second family, thank you so much!

Jasmine Garsd and Anamaria Sayre, my Alt.Latino co-hosts, every time we sat behind a mic and turn on that red light, our souls intertwined, we laughed, we cried, we explored ideas, we celebrated Latino arts, culture, and music, I like to think we made a difference... A ti, a ti, amor.

And I can't imagine doing it with anyone else but you two, las amo...tanto.

And to every single musician that has been, either on the podcast, or on a Tiny Desk Concert, thank you for trusting me with your most precious commodity: your words and your music... And I hope I did it justice, okay?

And I want to go back to the theme of family, just for a second before I wrap up, because one of the things I discovered in doing this work is that we are, as people have said already before tonight, we are one big, loud, loving, boisterous family, Latinos.

Okay?

And I want you to remember that because I want to remind you the idea that my joy is your joy, your struggle is my struggle.

And that's how we're going to get through what we're experiencing right now.

One more thing, one more thing real quick.

I work for NPR if you're watching this on a screen, you're watching PBS.

Do me a favor... find your local public media outlets, and donate, because we need public media now more than ever.

Garcias, thank you, thank you!