BARRIO PILSEN CHICAGO Wall in Barrio Pilsen Muralista
BARRIO PILSEN CHICAGO
Wall in Barrio Pilsen….
Muralista Mexicano Héctor Duarte
Marcos Raya… From Guanajua to, México… painter of murals since the 1960 s in Barrio Pilsen….
Aztec Culture Preserved
NOT ALWAYS A GREAT NEIGHBORHOOD Ø Barrio Pilsen was a port of entry for Mexicans but…. Ø They inherited a SLUM district Ø The Mexicans were generally powerless at the times between the 1920 s through 1960 s Ø They underwent an existentialist rebellion in the 1960 s by Mexican youth, activists, and artists
DARK AND DANGEROUS…. Ø Chicago, seeing it as a slum threatened to demolish all the “tenements” or slum apartments Ø No one envisioned a future since all the factories and jobs were leaving the area Ø In the 1960 s, it was dark, dangerous, full of drugs and violence
PILSEN IN THE 1950 s
Taking pride in Pilsen
A CHANGE CAME ABOUT… Ø Although most were renters, a few Mexicans began to buy homes, and build up businesses, such as carnicerías, restaurants with barbacoas, birria, taquerías, etc. Ø Many latinos began moving into the neighborhood as it was changing for the better.
The 1970 s Ø In the early 1970 s to eat (over 100 restaurants), shop (over 60 grocery stores and supermarkets), drink (over 110 taverns), entertainment (one movie theatre and eight pool halls), and worship (eight Catholic parishes).
MURAL OF MEXICAN DANCERS
Chicago Barbeque Restaurant
Real Wood-Roasted Barbeque…
Restaurante Casa del Pueblo
Subway steps in Barrio Pilsen
National Museum of Mexican Art Since the Museum first opened its doors in Pilsen’s Harrison Park. Its the best place outside of Mexico to immerse yourself in 3, 000 years of authentic Mexican art and culture. It is the country’s largest Latino cultural institution and the only one fully accredited.
East Artist’s Open House for Artists and Tourists…Longest Running Artists’ Open House. .
TIRE SHOP IN BARRIO PILSEN
Influenced architecture This stunning architecture is not found in Europe but in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood. Czech-style facade, stained glass details.
POWERLESS BUT NOT APOLITICAL Ø Although powerless, the Mexicans felt an acute sense of the political scene Ø Their powerlessness manifested itself in many ways, including: the undocumented workers’ condition of illegality led to exploitation and abuses from employers, coupled with the reign of fear resulting from “la migra’s” raids in the workplace and neighborhood…. .
BEING CATHOLIC…. Ø they were devout Catholics but could not attend mass (until mid-1960 s) in the neighborhood parishes that “belonged” to older ethnics (St. Pious offered its first Spanish-language mass in 1963—in the parish’s basement. )…. .
St. Adalbert’s Church…Barrio Pilsen
SLUMLORDS… Ø Slumlords, violated city codes and ignored the housing needs of tenants; schools neglected the language and cultural needs of Spanish-speaking children; the City of Chicago disregarded public services; and elected officials, such Alderman Vito Marzullo, did not heed the needs of the community
GOING UNDERCOVER… • Take the case of a major newspaper that assigned two reporters in 1971 to “discover” the Mexican world of Pilsen. The reporters rented a room in Pilsen and went undercover for three weeks. Ignorant of the Spanish-language and all things Mexican (they reported that the jukeboxes at taverns played “bullfight music”), they wrote, “Pilsen is a community filled with suspicion of the Anglo word—a world of distrust and sometimes fear, and often a bad deal, a shakedown, or a put down. There are wetbacks in Pilsen, and it is the Anglo world that finds them and sends them back. ” In spite of the transparent racism involved in this reporting, they emphasized the insults, humiliations, and poor treatment that people, who are devoid of power, face on a regular basis.
DIFFERENT PATHS… Ø RESIDENTS TOOK DIFFERENT PATHS Ø SOME STAYED POWELESS, ACCEPTING THE CONDITIONS Ø OTHERS CONTINUED THE DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOR OF CONSUMING, BUYING AND SELLING MEXICAN “BROWN MUD” OR BROWN HEROIN Ø SOME OF THESE GANG MEMBERS CREATED THE “BROWN BERET” AND BECAME POLITICAL….
AFFORDABILITY Ø AND YET OTHERS WERE COMMITTED TO URBAN RENEWAL…FIGHTING TO REMOVE PILSEN FROM THE “BLIGHTED” LIST…PLAN 21 CAME ABOUT TO STOP THE WHITE FLIGHT AND DEVELOP THE AREA, BUT OTHERS WERE AFRAID TAXES AND RENT WOULD GO UP AND MEXICANS WOULD HAVE TO MOVE TO BE ABLE TO AFFORD THEIR MEAGER LIFESTYLE.
A STRUGGLE FROM OUTSIDE AS WELL AS FROM WITHIN Ø THE STRUGGLE TO IMPROVE THE SITUATION ALSO CAME WITH THE STRUGGLE OF THE MEXICANS QUESTIONING WHO THEY WERE, WHERE THEY WERE GOING, DID THEY BELONG THERE, ETC.
DIFFERENT GROUP CAUSES Ø RADICALS FOUGHT FOR UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS Ø PRAGMATIC LATINOS FOUGHT FOR EASIER ISSUES SUCH AS FIGHTING FOR BENITO JUÁREZ HIGH SCHOOL Ø OTHERS REMAINED WITHIN THE NARROW ELEMENTS OF BROWN PRIDE ENDORSED GROUPS SUCH AS CASA AZTLÁN
ALL GROUPS CREATED PILSEN ØALL GROUPS HELPED PILSEN BECOME WHAT IT IS TODAY! ØNo one seems to be sure just how the color riot began. Apparently the Latinos started it, and today the Mexican area of Pilsen is the most ingeniously colorful neighborhood in the city. . . Pilsen was built by the Bohemians and painted by the Latins. ”
Ø This was one of the ways Mexicans worked in making Pilsen their home and, at the same time, transforming Chicago’s appearance, what Mike Davis called “tropicalizing cold places. ”
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