Cruisin The Barrio announces Chicano Fest 2022 is coming! The food, the music, the culture! It’s all here and we’ve got the details for you.
Welcome back to the ROX-TV website. As always, we thank the returning readers for coming back. Tonight, we have a special announcement about the upcoming Chicano Fest 2022, and I am honored to be the messenger. As you all know, last year’s event was great, and there is no stopping this train. I think that paying homage to one’s culture is a pretty heavy and honorable thing to do. Remembering who we are, where we all came from, will ensure that our future destination will be filled with rich traditions that honor the past while illuminating tomorrow’s path.
To come together and enjoy time is as old as the human race and there are people fighting to keep that ancient tradition alive. Why do this? Because when you stop using something it eventually disappears, this is true in many walks of life and the significance is not lost on me. These days, there are many forces that are trying to divide us, some appear harmless like social media (although I would beg to differ), while other pushes come from the politicians. In the end it’s all about control and to maintain that control requires division.
You ever heard of that saying that a “house divided will fall”? Never truer words have been spoken. I like the other version better though that states “a house UNITED can never fall”. If I ran the world, those words would be tattooed on everybody (ladies could use smaller font, but it would be a requirement). Now I know some of you are thinking “how does this all come together” in regards to the Chicano Fest 2022? Well…I will tell you.
When I was invited last year to the Chicano Fest, I couldn’t wait to be there because I was going to be with my brothers. The Fest was the brainchild of the infamous Rude Boy and his righteous son DJ Carlito. They told me that for years, they had been envisioning a Fest or gathering to celebrate their culture, which runs pretty deep in Southwest Detroit. If you’ve ever been there, then you will know that Detroit is very proud of its Southwest Side. Everyone’s heard of “Mexicantown” and the place is famous for the Chicano food and vibe. Well, it runs deeper than that. That strength and pride doesn’t come from one street in Detroit. It comes from generations of Immigrants looking for a better life in this country.
Sometimes we get lucky, and the traditions, thoughts, and ways of life are not quickly lost to the Blasé American Machine. No, sometimes when enough of one culture can stay together…that identity is not lost, the ways of old are passed down, and the “spirit” can live on. America is not new to immigration and every now and then, a large group of humans will make their way to this country in search of a better life. It’s been happening for as long as this place was a country, and before that even.
I’m Irish and as you all know, a great deal of my ancestors came to this country during the Potato Famine of the 1800’s. Detroit seen so many Irish relocating during the 1840’s and beyond, “Corktown” was called the neighborhood after County Cork, Ireland (Contae Chorcai’, Eire). That neighborhood in Detroit is the oldest existing neighborhood in the city. By the 1850’s, the Irish represented half of the 8th Ward. Following World War II, the city demolished 75 acres of homes in Corktown to make way for the coming industrialization. But the Irish are not why we have united today to speak. I only add this to give context to the story because I feel like we have more in common than people remember. Don’t believe me? Well, keep reading…
When auto manufacturing jobs started to become a big draw, the populations from Mexico and the Southwest started to come to Corktown looking for good paying work. This started in the 1920’s and I think that is worth remembering. The Mexican populations established a community on Vernor Street, which at the time was simply called “La Bagley”. The community expanded so much that by 1969, there was Mass being conducted entirely in Spanish.
In the coming years, waves of humanity (because that is the only real race on Earth) continued to come to the area from Mexico and beyond. During the 1970’s and 1980’s the immigration continued and swelled to such a point that by the late 1980’s the area was given the name “Mexicantown” and was used extensively in public relation events in Detroit. In fact, when other areas of Detroit saw decreases of people within the boarder, Mexicantown continued to grow.
It has been remarked that Mexican families came to Michigan to avoid violent racial discrimination of the American Southwest during the earlier part of the last century. Others came to flee the Mexican Revolution that existed between 1910 and 1920. I guess the reasons don’t really matter, when people come for the best reason of all and that is to make a better life for themselves and their families. It is in that spirit that we celebrate Chicano Fest 2022.
Having pride in one’s community and their own personal identity. Not a fucking color or a name made up by a clever politician but celebrating those characteristics that makes each group of humans unique.
That celebration doesn’t have to be a “separation” but instead can be a good-hearted education in learning who we are and who are neighbors are as well. That’s why I strongly encourage everyone to head over to the Michigan Squeeze Station on August 28th at noon, located at 6717 Michigan Avenue to celebrate Chicano food, music, and the love of their people. Every year on March 17th, we are all “Irish” for the day…well on August 28th, we are all “Chicano” for the day.
I spoke with Chicano Fest founders Rude Boy and DJ Carlito, and they have planned a full day’s worth of culture and good times for anyone with a good heart and even better intentions. I’ve been to the Michigan Squeeze Station on numerous occasions over the past couple of years for events and I can tell you that it’s nothing but glorious times. So what the hell do you have to lose?
You could spend a day staring at a fucking screen in the comforts of your own home, slowly looking and feeling like a blasted zombie…or you could get out into the street with the people to have a day of unity, music, love, a little smoke. Instead of complaining that nothing “ever happens”…a person could get out into the physical world for all the right reasons. I can promise you this, if you don’t use something…you will lose it and events like this are too important to lose.
Signing Off,
Mike Shepard
ROX-TV Head Writer
