Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez is chiquita pero picosa, as Mexicans like to say, a petite but feisty Texas woman who challenges giants.

Rivas-Rodriguez, 51, took on the powerful Public Broadcasting System television network and Ken Burns, an often-lauded documentary filmmaker.

Both have been in Rivas-Rodriguez's gunsights for most of 2007. They probably will continue to be pestered by this dedicated warrior, who organized the Defend the Honor awareness campaign and worked to persuade Burns and PBS to include the experience of Hispanics in their World War II film.

Rivas-Rodriguez is a seasoned journalist and University of Texas at Austin associate professor of journalism. She has spent the past eight years documenting, publishing and archiving oral histories of Hispanics who served in World War II. An estimated 500,000-plus Hispanic men and women risked their lives in the war like other U.S. citizens and then encountered harsh discrimination after returning home.

Rivas-Rodriguez became concerned last fall when Burns previewed parts of

his upcoming documentary, "The War," around the country. Hispanic groups, taking Rivas-Rodriguez's lead, accused Burns of overlooking the role of Hispanic soldiers in the war.

PBS stations will air the first segments of the 15-hour, seven-part documentary, partly funded with a federal grant, starting Sept. 23.

Rivas-Rodriguez mobilized people across the United States, including scholars and political and civil rights leaders. Burns at first resisted changes to his completed documentary but agreed in April to devote at least 28 minutes to Native American and Hispanic soldiers.

Rivas-Rodriguez is not convinced the new material -- still not released to television critics -- is yet a meaningful part of "The War." She argues that Burns has tried to minimize the importance of Hispanics in the overall documentary.

"This was a train wreck and it had to be stopped," Rivas-Rodriguez said from Austin. "But I'm not feeling real confident."

Rivas contends PBS and Burns threw Latinos "a few crumbs" to pacify critics like her. In his defense, Burns told the Associated Press: "We listened as hard as we could and tried to hear beyond the rhetoric and the politics of it."

The documentary will be converted into a book and educational materials that will wind up in schools and libraries. Rivas-Rodriguez fears those materials will not fully acknowledge the history and contribution of Hispanics.

"They had every opportunity to do the right thing," she said. "Instead, they've tried to do what they can to make us shut up and go away."

Rivas-Rodriguez keeps hearing rumors that some Hispanics plan to boycott PBS, stop contributing to local stations and maybe boycott PBS sponsors. While she is not advocating such radical steps, she is hopeful all the noise generated by this issue will reduce ignorance and create more respect for Hispanics in the United States and their rich history, a story stretching back hundreds of years.

Rivas-Rodriguez posts regular updates on the PBS/Burns situation on www.DefendtheHonor.org. In October, she plans a town hall-type meeting to discuss lessons learned in this grassroots campaign.

Will she ever throw in the towel?

"We can't let this go until we're satisfied," Rivas-Rodriguez said.

So far, she's not satisfied or convinced that Ken Burns, PBS and a sizeable chunk of America gets it.

Hector P. Garcia, the late South Texas civil rights activist, once urged Rivas-Rodriguez and a banquet room of Hispanic journalists to never stop telling the stories of la raza. She carries that mandate in her heart like a blowtorch.

Ramón Rentería may be reached at rrenteria@elpasotimes.com; 546-6146.