Mary alice cisneros biography of barack

Opening Doors

It’s seven on a Tuesday night in San Antonio, and Henry Cisneros–the city’s most recognizable political figure and its former mayor–has gathered a group of Latino leaders in a tiny auditorium.

Sitting in the audience are several of the city’s movers and shakers, including Latino bank executives, members of the city council, the president of the Hispanic chamber, and Mary Alice, his wife of thirty-nine years and herself a councilwoman.

They’re holding glasses of wine and longnecks and waiting for Cisneros to address them.

Had a television camera been there, it might have looked like Cisneros, the charismatic politician who was considered for vice president by Walter Mondale and later served on Bill Clinton’s Cabinet, was about to make a big announcement.

Instead, he had gathered them to watch a new independent movie, August Evening, by a young South Texas filmmaker with a Latino cast.

Thirty years ago, Cisneros probably would have never have ventured so ou