Vanessa Marquez(1968-2018)

When Jaime Esalante, the real-life teacher who inspired the movie Stand and Deliver (1988), developed cancer, Vanessa Marquez helped raise money for his treatment. She was later one of the pallbearers at his funeral.

Any film that not only allows you to dream, but LIVE the dream, is worthy of every accolade. Thirty something years later, the body may be weak but the heart and mind and soul are just as inspired perhaps even more so. You see, for some of us, it's not just a movie. It's become a way of life, a way of thinking, living and dealing with the world around us in the most hopeful, inspired and spiritual of ways.