One of my earliest treasured memories is the Sunday of the Mexican Independence Day parade in Little Village. I was around 5 years old, when my dad and I would walk from our apartment on Sawyer, past murals and eloteras, while he waved a five-foot-wide Mexican flag — looking to make our way to the front row of spectators on 26th street.
I didn’t fully grasp the significance of the occasion, but I knew that it was something to celebrate. And I remember that on this particular day, my dad would stand tall and proud and relaxed — which in turn made me proud.
Hispanic Heritage Month is a holiday that kicks off in mid-September and since 1988 recognizes the influence and contribution of Latinos in the country, both recently and over generations. In Chicago, this month has become almost synonymous with — and is long preceded by — Mexican Independence Day on Sept. 16 as a byproduct of Chicago’s second largest demographic group.
Oral history backed by newspaper archives show that Mexico’s independence from Spain has been celebrated in Chicago since at least the 1930s. Notably, this year, the South Chicago neighborhood observed the 85th anniversary of their parade. And I was even more intrigued to learn that downtown Chicago used to host a well-regarded Mexican parade as late as the 1980s. What ever happened to that?
I must say, car caravans waving Mexican flags and creating bottlenecks downtown at night is a relatively recent occurrence. I first noticed it as a spillover of stricter policing in Mexican neighborhoods like La Villita: growing up, it was normal to cruise within our neighborhoods after a parade or a festival had concluded.
But lately, the closure of multiple intersections at a time has become the norm–pushing traffic east and west into unsuspecting areas.
I’d argue that it’s unrealistic to attempt to suppress the cultural expressions of tens of thousands of people.
But it’s promising that city officials want to get more involved in celebratory preparations, as shown by the effort to organize El Grito in Grant Park this year. The Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has called for “working together to create an event that dignifies Mexican culture while ensuring the wellbeing of all Chicagoans. Culture is not a disruption–it is our identity.”
At La Voz, we want to give a nod to the Latin American diaspora that celebrates their heritage during this time, as well as those who celebrate their culture and independence movements here in Chicago year round.
¡Que viva nuestra cultura!
Jackie Serrato
Editor, La Voz Chicago