
José Manuel Martínez Martínez Lifetime Achievement Award
Emilio Aragón.
Although Emilio Aragón is better known for his artistic side, this award seeks to recognize his humanitarian side, for his support of social organizations fighting hunger and poverty, for promoting inclusive education and using music to bring about social inclusion.
This multifaceted creator, born in Havana, Cuba in 1959, defines himself as a storyteller and musician above all else, but with this award we wanted to showcase his profound humanity and the way in which he conveys important values to society such as generosity, humility and the capacity for hard work. Aragón is also a strong proponent of the power of culture, and particularly music, as tools of social integration.
Throughout his career, Emilio Aragón has always been involved with social organizations: he is a member of the board of trustees of the Dales la Palabra Foundation. For the last 15 years he has been a trustee and vice chair of Acción contra el Hambre (Action against Hunger), with whom he has traveled to several countries in order to film awareness-raising documentaries such as “Guatemala mil colores y una esperanza”, “Mali, en el corazón del Sahel” and “Armenio”. He also devised the Lucha de Gigantes campaign for this NGO which, paraphrasing Antonio Vega's song, highlighted the 820 million people struggling daily to find something to eat and to survive.
With this award we want to show the side of him which is permanently involved in social projects. Thanks to people like Emilio Aragón, who put all their skill into serving others, our society is a little bit better.