Growing up Mexi-Rican: Remembered snapshots of life in La Puente
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G r ow i n g up Me x i - R i c a n : Reme mbe re d sna pshots of l ife in La Puente* *According to the La Puente Valley Community History website, accessed 15 May 2009, ‘‘La Puente Valley was originally inhabited by Gabrielino Indians until 1769, when Spanish soldier and explorer Don Gaspar de Portola and his expedition arrived in the area y . According to legend, Portola named the region ‘Llana de la Puente’ – meaning ‘Plain of the Bridge’ – after making a bridge of poles so his party could cross San Jose Creek. Two years later, the San Gabriel Mission was established as the first European settlement, and with its fertile soil, ample water and abundant Native American population for a labor force, the mission soon became the richest in California. Following Mexico’s 1822 independence from Spain, however, the San Gabriel and other missions were secularized starting in
Angie Chabram-Dernerses ian University of California-Davis, Davis, California.
Latino Studies (2009) 7, 378–392. doi:10.1057/lst.2009.28
In memory of our collective struggles. In January of 1980, the Civil Rights Commission provided this rationale for a staff report from its Western Regional Office: Social scientists have studied the Puerto Rican community in places where this group has shown visibility because of high concentration. Yet, in areas where the Puerto Rican community is increasing, little is known y . This report was undertaken as an attempt to show some insight into the circumstances of California’s Puerto Ricans who are now only surfacing as a distinct Latino bloc within the State’s larger Hispanic population. (Montez and Pilla, 1980, iii) While my narrative does shed light on the circumstances of some Puerto Ricans living in California, it does so in a substantially different way. ‘‘Growing up Mexi-Rican’’ draws attention to the ‘‘multiple and uneven ways individuals of mixed Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage’’ from a specific region in California can ‘‘practice, experience and participate in everyday constructions of Latinidad’’ (Ru´a, 2001)1 This narrative provides documentation of identities that have largely gone unobserved, both within and outside of ‘‘Latino blocs,’’ census reports and history books. In addition, it provides evidence of r 2009 Palgrave Macmillan 1476-3435 Latino Studies www.palgrave-journals.com/lst/
Vol. 7, 3, 378–392
Growing up Mexi-Rican
inter-Latina/o connections often erased within collective narratives that assign ‘‘visibility’’ to minority groups. The site of these connections are the neighborhoods of my youth that come to readers through a series of autobiographical representations, social interactions and critical reflections. These elements constitute ‘‘lived regionalities’’ that guide readers through the tangible and intangible terrains of a city in California that originally formed part of the greater Rancho La Puente (Arredondo, 2008; Ruiz, 2008).2 The time frame for my situated narrative is the late 1950s through the late 1960s. This is the period when it is generally agreed that little is kn
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