SAN DIEGO – APRIL 22: Guillermo Rosette, a dancer with Toltecas en Aztlan(CQ) dance group, blows … [+]
On April 22, 1970, Chicano residents in the Logan Heights neighborhood south of downtown San Diego occupied the land beneath the San Diego-Coronado Bridge. They had finally been pushed too far.
In preceding decades, zoning restrictions in the area were loosened, allowing scrap yards, heavy industry, and environmentally polluting businesses to operate in their front yards.
In the mid-60s, city planners routed Interstate 5 directly through the neighborhood, cutting it in half. Homes and businesses were demolished, replaced by eight lanes of concrete, high speed traffic, exhaust, and noise.
Then came the bridge construction, completed in 1969, another massive scar tearing through the community.
More Chicano families forced out of the neighborhood they built, the neighborhood which nurtured them. The neighborhood they called home.
Segregation by design.
When heavy equipment showed up where citizens had been promised a public park and plans to turn that space into a California Highway Patrol substation were uncovered, enough was enough.
Inspired by the Chicano Movement, successful United Farm Workers strikes in California, anti-war protests nationally, and the Native American occupation of Alcatraz–all at their peak during this time–Logan Heights sprung to action.
Residents occupied the land under the bridge. Some chained themselves to construction equipment. They got loud. They were beaten by police and arrested. They camped overnight. Neighbors brought them food.
After 12 days of resistance, the city and state capitulated, Logan Heights would get its park: Chicano Park.
Every year since on the Saturday nearest April 22, the community holds a Chicano Park Day commemoration as it will for the 54th time on April 20, 2024, from 9 AM to 4 PM. The family event is free and open to the public.
Flag Raising
The highlight for many at each Chicano Park Day occurs at noon.
“We have the flag raising which commemorates the actual takeover of the park,” Lucas Cruz, chairman of the Chicano Park Steering Committee, told Forbes.com. “When the park was taken over, a young man climbed a light pole and tied the Mestizo flag–a symbol that shows Chicano identity–on a light pole when the takeover was occurring. Everybody who’s there and knows what the day is about gathers around. When that flag raises, it’s that sense of pride because this is a liberated place for us.”
Make no mistake, the Chicano Park Day commemoration is a good time, but also make no mistake in thinking its just a good time. It isn’t a festival.
“The whole point of the Chicano Park Day commemoration is to commemorate the takeover that occurred,” Cruz said. “We’re hoping to engage with people in the community and get them excited about volunteering in their neighborhoods. Sending that spirit of activism throughout Aztlán.”
Aztlán once referred to the southwestern states of the United States that were previously part of Mexico. It is believed the Aztec civilization originated from this region before migrating south.
“Aztlan has evolved since then,” Cruz explains. “Aztlán is more of a state of mind and a state of consciousness. Wherever there’s an educated Chicano, you’re in Aztlán.”
The event additionally features cultural performances including mariachi music, ballet folklórico dancing, and a Danza Azteca Chichimeca ceremony.
Commemoration Returns to Roots
SAN DIEGO – APRIL 22: Young ballet folklorico dancers prepare to go onstage during the Chicano Park … [+]
As the Chicano Park Day commemoration has grown, organizers recognized an evolution they didn’t like.
“We’ve seen a lot of commercialization happening, because of that, we feel it’s imperative that we made some changes,” Cruz said. “We’re taking it back to the roots this year. We’re not having a lot of outside vendors, we’re focusing on our local brothers and sisters here in the community. We’re not even going to have food vendors this year because of the price gouging that occurred over the years. People come to Chicano Park Day and vendors start selling tacos for 20 bucks, it’s ridiculous.”
Further demonstrating how serious they are about “taking it back to the roots,” organizers have even curtailed the wildly popular display of lowriders. For 2024, the Chicano Park Day commemoration will have a lowrider exhibition focusing on local clubs with history tied to the park, not a come-one, come-all lowrider show.
The point is keeping the event’s focus on the Park’s history.
“Over time, we start looking back at things through rose colored lenses,” Cruz said. “We start thinking, ‘oh, the city backed down and the takeover was this harmonious thing, but we’re really trying to tell these kids that people got beaten by the police, people went to jail to have this park. Like anything in life, it’s gonna’ take struggle, so if we can get that understanding now, you’ll understand that it’s not going to be an easy ride.”
In that way, Chicano Park is more than a place, it’s a lesson. A lesson Cruz summarizes in one word.
“It means resistance,” he said. “In this community, unfortunately, we still have issues with police brutality. Just recently, the police have been harassing our community, pulling people over, arresting them for nothing, releasing them, it’s a pain. No matter what, this place represents that we as a community can overcome these obstacles because when the takeover occurred, I don’t think the residents that took over the land thought they would beat the city of San Diego, the state of California, the Highway Patrol, and the police department, but they were able to.”
Chicano Park Beyond Chicano Park Day
Visitors to Chicano Park on any day can enjoy the largest single site installation of murals in America. The bridge supports are covered with dozens of vibrant murals one of the original artists described as an “open book of our culture, energy and determination as a people.”
“We’re trying to be one of the places you come to get your real history,” Cruz said. “Nothing was given to us, everything was fought for, we got to remind the youth and everybody that there’s a responsibility to be had when you call yourself a Chicano.”
The murals were designated a National Historic Landmark in 2016.
In 2022, the Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center opened for tours, special events, festivals, and exhibitions.
“When people come and they learn the history, they trip out,” Cruz added. “I meet a lot of people when we do tours and they’re like, ‘wow, I didn’t know this was right down the street from me.’ I tell them it’s probably by design because they don’t want you to learn that this park and this model can be duplicated in other places.”
The park remains an important gathering place for the community today.
“Any time there’s any type of action within the community, or in the neighborhood, everybody goes to Chicano Park,” Cruz said. “If there’s a need for us to fight against the city, people meet at Chicano Park. If you want to come and talk about Chicano culture and learn your roots, you go to Chicano Park. You go into the park and you talk to anybody, everyone has a sense of ownership. It’s ours. It’s ours. People respect this park.”
