The Chicano Park Documentary
The documentary chronicles a history of liberation, healing, preservation, self-determination, and perseverance. It tells the story of the Chicano people, a brave community that stood up to state and city officials to erase their dignity through the construction of bridges and freeways through the middle of their collective memories, businesses, homes, and families. The collective action was brought about after government officials decided to establish a patrol station just beneath the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge, disregarding the community’s requests to have a park constructed instead to preserve the community’s heritage.
Also referred to as the navel or el ombligo, the Barrio Logan is situated in Southeast San Diego. The area was referred to as the East End in the 1800s, but its name was changed in the early 1900s to Logan Heights. Mexican-Americans inhabited the area in the 1890s. The Barrio Logan formerly extended to the waterfront – where a community pier and a local beach were constructed. But when defense industries and the US Navy moved along the San Diego Bay shores, the Barrio lost access to its local businesses, housing, and even the waterfront. It, however, recovered from the losses when the US went to war; the jobs that the navel defense industries and the shipyards created were taken over by the Mexicans.
When the 2nd world war came to an end, physical changes began to be witnessed in the Barrio. In the 1950, the city of San Diego changed zoning laws from residential to industrial, a move that led to an influx of auto junkyards owned by the Anglos. The Barrio was also bisected by Interstate 5 in 1963. The Coronado Bay Bridge, which was opened in 1969, also pieced through the heart of the Barrio. This major construction not only dislocated the Chicano people but most businesses that they relied on were also closed, and their populations tremendously decreased. Change policies in the Barrio Logan were dictated by federal, state and city governments. At the time, however, the locals did not know that they could express their opinions through petitions; hence most changes in the Barrio were done without consulting the community members. As a result, the Chicano people were forced to accept the changes. But after some time (around 1967), their feelings of hopelessness and resignation changed to feelings of empowerment, and their leaders demanded a neighborhood park under the Pylon’s bridge.
Their demands for a community park were met after two years of waiting when a 1.8-acre piece of land in the Barrio Logan was leased to San Diego city by the state of California for the construction of a community park. However, the desired park was not created immediately because city officials had to wait for a law to be passed to allow for the site to be used for recreational activities. The Barrio Logan residents had fought for the neighborhood park in the hope that they would be able to expand it to the adjacent lands, and they informed the city officials of their intention to acquire the entire land under the bridge that was in the hearing of the Barrio. The community members waited for so long for the community park to be constructed, but the construction did not begin.
When Bulldozers appeared, in the end, to construct to lay the way for the construction of a patrol station, the Chicano people became so angry and believed that the state and city officials had deceived them about the construction of the park. The “deception” was followed by demonstrations. Chicano community members and Chicano students could appear at the construction site as early as 7 am, and they forced the construction works to stop. The community members themselves began work on the land; they planted flowers, magueys, and cactus, etc. they also raised a Chicano flag on a telephone pole that initiated the occupation of the park. A Message was later sent from the state department that no further construction would continue until state, city, and neighborhood representatives held a meeting.
During a meeting held between the protestors and state officials, community members vowed that the site would be a park because it was what the community people wanted. They informed the city officials that the only way they would take the community park was through their blood. They did not want a social system that turned them into beggars, and that makes then afraid of the police. During the meeting, the community representatives informed the city officials that they would no longer ask for the park because they had already tried, and they did not receive any feedback. The Chicano people transformed the park into a desert of grass and garden plants. Student organizations and Chicano students from Los Angeles and Santa Barbara traveled all the way to the Barrio to give their support. Others donated fertilizer, seeds, and trees while women prepared meals for demonstrators.
After a series of negotiations, another site was determined for the patrol station, and the works on the community park were approved. Celebrations to commemorate the community’s takeover were begun in 1971, and it was attended by about 1000 people. The first celebration included political speeches and cultural celebrations. The Chicano Park symbolizes the community’s fight to save its culture and its neighborhood. The painting of murals at the park is also part of its development.
Works Cited