New generation defends San Diego’s Barrio Logan, Chicano Park (video)


It’s been five decades since San Diego’s Barrio Logan activists (like POCHO fave Chunky Sanchez) fought for Chicano Park. Now a new generation is stepping up to make sure this vital community resource thrives. One of them is POCHO’s Chicano Punk Rock Artesano Joaquin “Junco” Canché who is concerned with the effects of gentrification. (His segment starts at 5:35.) [Video by Voice of San Diego.]

Chicano Park Autodefensa: ¡Victoria!

They came, on Saturday, they saw, and they were escorted out, as the home team chanted “fuera”… Once again.

Attempting to re- ignite the alt-right revolution with greasy pizza, local hater Roger Ogden and the Border Town Patriots, Inc. (sic) came down to San Diego’s Chicano Park to host “Patriot Picnic 2.0” promising to bring in a large number of supporters — all 25 of them — to stand up against the hundreds from the Chicano Park Autodefensa.

Unlike their response during the first confrontation last October, San Diego Police Department closed Logan Avenue and placed barricades, insuring that both “Patriots” and Autodefensa members remained separate (keeping the “Patriots” enclosed for a few hours until once again escorted out by SDPD).

Mas…Chicano Park Autodefensa: ¡Victoria!

RIP y QDEP: Ramón ‘Chunky’ Sanchez, pocho hero of San Diego

lalo_chunky_sanchezI was sad to hear that San Diego and Barrio Logan Chicano icon Ramón “Chunky” Sanchez passed away Friday at the age of 65.

Born in 1951 in Blythe, California, Chunky learned to play music from his family, and lived his childhood as a migrant farmworker. He left the farm he worked with his father soon after hearing the owner tell his dad that Chunky would make a great foreman when he was gone.

He decided to go to college, and eventually landed at San Diego State. Chunky and his brother Ricardo’s band Los Alacranes Mojados were a fixture when I was a MEChista at San Diego State; I can’t tell you how many events they played for us and for the entire movimiento.

Mas…RIP y QDEP: Ramón ‘Chunky’ Sanchez, pocho hero of San Diego

Students create gigantic portrait of Cesar Chavez from 5500 dominos

San Diego students used dominos to create a huge Cesar Chavez mural and installed it over the weekend in Chicano Park. NBC San Diego’s Gitzel Puente reports:

It took 5,500 domino pieces, 40 students and six weeks to create this piece of art. Students and staff from O’Farrell Community School started this mural using blueprints, and then they glued them to vinyl tiles [and]…dedicated this 10-foot mural to farm labor leader Cesar Chavez.

“About two months ago, we decided to do something for the community and what better thing to do than dedicate this to Cesar Chavez. We started telling the kids about it, letting them know what he did, his legacy and how he brought people together for a good cause,” says O’Farell’s Spanish instructor Jose Islas.

Puente uploaded a nice photo of the portrait to her Twitter account. We have it below:

Mas…Students create gigantic portrait of Cesar Chavez from 5500 dominos