Samuel Rodriguez Jr. is an American Evangelical Christian leader born to Puerto Rican parents in the United States.
[8] You Are Next, released in 2019, reached the fourteenth position Publishers Weekly's hardcover nonfiction frontlist sales chart.
[22][23][24][25] He participated in President Obama’s 2009 inaugural prayer service at Saint Johns Episcopal Church, reading from the Gospel of Luke.
[33][34] Also in 2017, Rodriguez was involved in a conversation at the White House with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump that led to the creation of the First Step Act, which helps to prevent individuals who have served time from returning to prison.
[23][24] At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rodriguez was a member of the Heritage Foundation's National Coronavirus Recovery Commission.
[37] Presented by the Congress of Racial Equality in 2011, Rodriguez was awarded the Martin Luther King Jr.
[49] Rodriguez regularly comments for publications and media outlets such as CNN, Fox News, PBS, Telemundo, NBC and others.
[50][51] In 2015, Rodriguez and his wife, Eva, received The Rosa Parks Courage Award for their civil rights work from the Southern Youth Leadership Development Institute (SYLDI) and the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA).
Deseret Magazine named Rodriguez one of their 20 "New Reformers", referring to faith leaders "challenging the conservative movement to change", citing his advocacy for granting immigrants immediate citizenship.
[55] In October, 2024, the Sacramento Bee ran a front-page feature on Rodriguez, telling his journey from a childhood in the Rust Belt city of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to becoming a voice in the Latino community.