Destiny Introduction - Week 6

San Diego, California is home to the world-famous San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld, and dozens of beaches. However, to many Chicanos in San Diego, there is another landmark that represents the city’s character. Chicano Park is located in the heart of Barrio Logan, a historically Mexican-American working class neighborhood. In addition to being the largest outdoor display of murals in the world (citation needed), Chicano Park is unique in that it is located directly under a bridge. It was established in 1970, when a group of activists and community members "took over" land that was meant to become a highway patrol station. Today, it is a designated historic site and important cultural symbol.

Chicano Park represents the struggle to reclaim Chicano space in a city where neighborhoods of color have been under constant threat. Many of the activists viewed the takeover of Chicano Park as a way to resist the industrial zoning occurring in Barrio Logan, asserting Chicano identity in their neighborhood in the face of displacement.However, some activists viewed the takeover of Chicano Park as part of the larger goal of the Chicano Movement to reclaim Mexican and indigenous spaces in order to achieve self-determination for the Chicano community.  In this paper, I will demonstrate how the vision for Chicano Park drew on the Chicano Movement's concepts of self-determination and decolonization in order to reclaim Barrio Logan and the space underneath the bridge.