Saturday marks the 42nd anniversary of the taking of Chicano Park. The annual Chicano Park Day celebration this year will revolve around the central theme “Lowriders: Part of Chicano Park’s History, Culture, Pride & Future,” referring to the long history of community involvement of the local lowriders clubs.

Lowriders car club members will be honored during the midday flag-raising ceremony. They will be escorted by the Brown Berets de Aztlán.

“The lowrider community has been one of the strongest partners we’ve had since we started Chicano Park Day,” said Tommie Camarillo, president of the Chicano Park Steering Committee, who’s in charge of Chicano Park Day and the daily administration of the park.

“They are always willing to contribute to our events, to the causes and struggles of our community. This recognition the lowriders are getting this year is very well deserved.”

For Rigoberto Reyes, spokesperson for Amigos Car Club, which has been part of Chicano Park Day for more than 30 years, this recognition of the lowrider community “is a great honor.”

Reyes said there’s space for 325 lowrider cars, but that there’s a waiting list of many others who want to participate in the display. Also, he added that Amigos Car Club will be celebrating its 35th anniversary that day.

In Chicano Park there’s a mural dedicated to the lowrider car club council that was painted in the late 70’s, said Víctor Ochoa, one of the original Chicano Park muralists.

“Lowriders used to have a bad reputation, because it was a very misunderstood culture,” Ochoa said. “But now, people are learning that lowrider creators are some of the most hardworking, family-oriented men. They are always supporting our people in the community events, ever since the beginning.”

Besides celebrating one more year since the park’s founding, the community will also celebrate the restoration work on more than 15 of Chicano Park’s murals, thanks to the $1.6 million grant the park committee received from the state.
Chicano Park’s murals are the history textbooks of la raza, the informal means of communication among Mexicans, the monument to the past struggles of Chicanos in San Diego.

The almost 70 murals in the park are a testimony to events in the history of the United States, of Mexico and of the Chicano community, but above all, these murals emphasize the culture that residents of Mexican descent have forged in Barrio Logan, the heart of Mexican culture in San Diego.

On the park’s walls are represented such Mexican heroes as Benito Juárez, César Chá-vez, Frida Kahlo and the Virgin of Guadalupe. They also tell the story of the founding of Tenochtitlán and of the Mexican Revolution.

Other murals depict more recent events, including the takeover of the park by Barrio Logan’s residents on April 22, 1970.

“There is no censorship there. The murals are like weapons, tools, to help find a solution to the problems that our people face,” said Ochoa, one of the artists involved with the restoration of the murals.

The murals say “no” to racism, discrimination and sexism, he added, and “yes” to human rights, diversity and to being proud of our Mexican heritage.

The 42nd Annual Chicano Park Day will be held on Saturday, April 21, 2012, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., in historic Chicano Park, located in the Barrio Logan community, south of downtown San Diego. This family event is free and open to the public. For more information, please visit www.chicano-park.com.