To tell the story of America is to also tell the story of immigrants, from the first waves who encountered Indigenous nations — more than 250 years ago — to the most recent caravans arriving in Chicago.
I grew up celebrating the Fourth of July in an immigrant neighborhood. We didn’t call it the Fourth of July or Independence Day. We called it “el día de los cohetes” — the “day of the fireworks.” That’s because, even though I and many of my neighbors were U.S.-born citizens, it has taken us till adulthood to understand the layers of our American identity.
Spanish was our first language. We interacted daily with our mixed-status families. We ate chile and tortillas every day. Summers, our neighborhood bustled with children playing, street vendors chiming bells, Mexican restaurants inviting you in and grocery stores advertising their imported products. We saw family members go to work at dawn, get home exhausted and overcome hurdle after hurdle.
But every Fourth of July, Latino neighborhoods like mine are the loudest.
While we grappled with ideas of belonging (or not belonging), of U.S. patriotism, of the things we left behind, of the things we brought with us and where our future might reside, we were familiar with one holiday tradition: blowing up fireworks.
Pyrotechnics are the norm at weddings, rodeos and other celebrations in rural towns in Mexico. That helps explain why we continue to see generations of families in communities like Pilsen, La Villita and Logan Square — whether or not people speak English — come out to their stoops to engage in the Independence Day festivities.
The Fourth of July is a holiday that old and new immigrants learn to embrace.
That’s why, on the country’s 250th anniversary, we are pleased to share the launch of a multi-newsroom effort to showcase news, stories and resources centering immigrants.
The Immigration Hub — an online landing page and special print edition — features reporting, investigations and first-person immigrant narratives from 15 newsrooms: Block Club Chicago, Borderless Magazine, Chicago Reader, the Chicago Sun-Times, Chinatown Spotlight, Cicero Independiente, Injustice Watch, La Raza, La Voz, Lumpen Radio, ProPublica, Reparations Media, South Side Weekly, The TRiiBE, and WBEZ.
The collaboration is led by Chicago Public Media (parent company of WBEZ, Chicago Sun-Times, and La Voz) with funding from Press Forward Chicago through a funder pool that includes the Democracy Fund, the Field Foundation, Illinois Immigration Funder Collaborative, the Joyce Foundation, the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, the Polk Bros. Foundation, Press Forward Chicago, Schreiber Philanthropy and the Walder Foundation.
This initiative is not possible without readers, newsrooms and funders supporting local news and investing in coverage of Chicago’s immigrant communities. With this support, we are able to reach people online and in print, distributing to more than 130 locations in immigrant-rich neighborhoods around Chicago — spots including libraries, food pantries and nonprofits — ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.
So I hope, when you find yourself enjoying the dazzling displays against the Chicago skyline this weekend, you’ll feel a sense of unity and solidarity with our immigrant neighbors.
To visit the Immigration Hub and browse the e-paper version of the print edition, go online to: suntimes.com/immigrationhub