YOLANDA CHAVEZ LEYVA
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Walking through El Segundo Barrio

3/16/2017

2 Comments

 
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Above: Mural of Father Harold Rahm, the "bicycle priest." He came to El Segundo in the 1950s and did much to divert the energy of gang youth in a positive direction. He was a Jesuit priest at El Sagrado Corazon, an ex-boxer who, the elders of the barrio have told me, would challenge young men to fight him. If he won, they would leave the gang. He always won. He is in his 90s and now working in Brazil.

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El Segundo Barrio, El Paso's Second Ward, is one of the most important Mexican and Mexican American barrios in the United States. Thousands trace their family roots to this barrio because El Paso was the main port of entry for most of the twentieth century. My own family started its US history in El Segundo Barrio and the family stories live on of life there in the early twentieth century. This week, I spent a morning walking in El Segundo with my granddaughter and my partner, remembering my ancestors and their journey.

 

 Photo of my mother, Esther Chavez, in front of the presidio where she lived in El Segundo. It was here that her mother, Maria Lopez, died of pneumonia in 1927 and where her little brother Salvador, just a baby when his mother died, also passed away of a broken heart, missing his mama.

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Barbed wire around the Customs and Border Protection office in El Segundo. I don't know who they are trying to keep out or keep in.

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One of my favorite murals, Sister Cities by Los Dos. The sisters have their hair braided together. Like El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, the sisters are forever joined together. Despite the dividing line, the border fence (yes, we already have a border wall here), and the increasing fear of crossing, we are one community tied together by history, family and friends, culture, and economic interdependence.

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Walking through El Paso I saw barbed wire and beauty, reflecting la frontera where I live. Even amidst the barbed fire, the fences, the presence of the Border Patrol, people create beauty everywhere.









Entrance to an alley way.

2 Comments
Clavo
3/16/2017 10:17:20 am

Each time I walk through the streets of Segundo Barrio I find a new treasure within the walls or among the many miles of asphalt and sidewalks that wrap the streets. Almost always there is a story to be heard, whether it is by accident or being told by one of the residents who strut as they walk with pride. Residents of Segundo love speaking of their experiences and pasts. The city of El Paso has many corazón, and the heartbeat of El Segundo sings through the images you have captured.

Reply
Avery B link
1/11/2021 03:20:03 pm

I enjoyed reading thiss

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My father used to tell me about sneaking into this theater to watch movies as a kid in the 1910s. It showed Spanish language films. In the 1940s, it was transformed into a "whites only" theater but that didn't last long. By the 1950s, it was headquarters to the Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers Union, a radical labor organization. Before it closed, it housed the Mine and Mill Bar.
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This message is painted on the east side of the old Mission movie theater.
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The bell tower of Guardian Angel Catholic Church, built in the 1910s to serve the growing Mexican immigrant community in what was then the "east side" of El Paso.
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This pinata shop caught my attention as I was driving west on Alameda Street on my way to work.
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Hawaiian dancer, Alameda Street.
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Unicorn pinata on Alameda Street.
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Proud graduate pinata.
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Love message on the east side exterior wall of the old Mission Theater.

Segundo Barrio
Father Rahm Street
​July 2022

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Looking into Padre Pinto Plaza, Sagrado Corazon Catholic Church.
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Treasures on the window sill.
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La bici
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Tres vatos.
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Esperando el bus.
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Two generations.

 La Virgensita en la frontera
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Woman reflected on la Virgencita, Segundo Barrio, 2021.
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La Virgen de Guadalupe, 12 de diciembre 2017, Centro de Trabajadores Agricolas, El Paso
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Protecting Barrio Duranguito 2019

 Cd Juarez downtown
​December 2017
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Raramuri father and son musicians, downtown Juarez, 2017.
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The smell of copal, downtown Juarez, December 2017.
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Ciudad Juarez limpia, downtown, December 2017.
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Selling at the mercado, downtown Juarez, December 2017
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Telcel payaso, downtown Juarez, December 2017


 La Mariscal, Ciudad Juarez, 2017

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Dos perros, La Mariscal, December 2017
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Mujer con cabello verde, La Mariscal, Juarez, December 2017.
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Beautiful death, La Mariscal, Ciudad Juarez, December 2017.
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Tin Tan, La Mariscal, Ciudad Juarez, December 2017.
 
Montana Vista 2019
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Red high heels in the desert 2019
 El Centro July 2022
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A tree reaches out to Oscar Zeta Acosta (mural by Lxs Dos), El Paso, Texas July 2022
  • Home
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