Paseo Boricua
Encyclopedia
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. It is located on Division Street
Division Street (Chicago)
Division Street is a major east-west street in Chicago, Illinois, located at 1200 North . Division Street begins in the Gold Coast neighborhood near Lake Shore Drive, passes through Polonia Triangle at Milwaukee Avenue into Wicker Park and continues to Chicago's city limits and into the city's...
, between Western Avenue
Western Avenue (Chicago)
Western Avenue is the longest continuous street within the city of Chicago at in length. Western Avenue extends south as a continuous road to the Dixie Highway at Sibley Boulevard in Dixmoor, giving the road a total length of . However, Western Avenue extends intermittently through the...
and California Avenue, in the neighborhood of Humboldt Park
Humboldt Park, Chicago
Humboldt Park is one of 77 officially designated community areas located on the northwest side of Chicago, Illinois. The Humboldt Park neighborhood is widely known for its large Puerto Rican presence...
, more commonly known as little Puerto Rico. Paseo Boricua is microcosm of the Puerto Rican
Puerto Rican people
A Puerto Rican is a person who was born in Puerto Rico.Puerto Ricans born and raised in the continental United States are also sometimes referred to as Puerto Ricans, although they were not born in Puerto Rico...
community.
Flanking this very flavorful strip on both sides are these fifty-nine feet tall Puerto Rican flags
Flag of Puerto Rico
The flags of Puerto Rico represent and symbolize the island and people of Puerto Rico. The most commonly used flags of Puerto Rico are the current flag, which represents the people of the commonwealth of Puerto Rico; municipal flags, which represent the different regions of the island; political...
made of steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
, 2 gate
Gate
A gate is a point of entry to a space enclosed by walls, or a moderately sized opening in a fence. Gates may prevent or control entry or exit, or they may be merely decorative. Other terms for gate include yett and port...
ways that are the bookends of Paseo Boricua.
Driving down this strip is like taking a trip to the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
"Island of the Sun" without paying for a plane ticket. Many businesses are named after Puerto Rican towns. The façades of some buildings look like they belong in old San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
with its Spanish Colonial architecture.
This street is dedicated to Puerto Rican pride including a walk of fame with the names of many outstanding Puerto Ricans.
The Humboldt Park
Humboldt Park, Chicago
Humboldt Park is one of 77 officially designated community areas located on the northwest side of Chicago, Illinois. The Humboldt Park neighborhood is widely known for its large Puerto Rican presence...
Paseo Boricua neighborhood is the flagship of all Puerto Rican enclaves, This neighborhood is the economic political and cultural capital of the Puerto Rican community in the Midwest and some say in the Puerto Rican Diaspora.
History
Throughout the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and early 90s Humboldt Park was considered an economic dead zone by city planners and developers and became motherland to gangs like the Latin Kings, Maniac Latin Disciples (MLDs), Young LordsYoung Lords
The Young Lords, later Young Lords Organization and in New York , Young Lords Party, was a Puerto Rican nationalist group in several United States cities, notably New York City and Chicago.-Founding:...
, and the Insane Spanish Cobras. Despite the fact that there was a vital community of families, property owners, and businesses, many people from both the inside and out saw little opportunity.
But in 1995, Division Street found new life when city officials and Latino leaders offered a symbolic gesture to recognize the neighborhood and the residents' roots. They christened it "Paseo Boricua" and installed two metal Puerto Rican flags—each weighing 45 tons, measuring 59 feet (18 m) vertically and stretching across the street—at each end of the strip.
Over time, Paseo Boricua became a place where Puerto Ricans could go to learn about their heritage. A culture center was established, and the offices of local Puerto Rican politicians relocated their offices to Division Street. Recently, the City of Chicago has set aside money for Paseo Boricua property owners who want to restore their buildings' facades.
Visitors can hear salsa
Salsa music
Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
, reggaeton
Reggaeton
Reggaeton is a form of Puerto Rican and Latin American urban and Caribbean music. After its mainstream exposure in 2004, it spread to North American, European and Asian audiences. Reggaeton originated in Puerto Rico but is also has roots from Reggae en Español from Panama and Puerto Rico and...
, bomba
Bomba
Bomba is one of the traditional musical styles of Puerto Rico. it is a largely African-derived music. The rhythm and beat are played by a set of floor drums, cuá and a maraca. Dance is an integral part of the music: the dancers move their bodies to every beat of the drum, making bomba a very...
, plena
Plena
Plena is a folkloric genre native to Puerto Rico. Its creation was influenced by African and Spanish music.-History:The music is generally folkloric. The music's beat and rhythm are usually played using hand drums called panderetas, but also known as panderos or pleneras. The music is accompanied...
, and merengue
Merengue music
Merengue is a type of music and dance from the Dominican Republic. It is popular in the Dominican Republic and all over Latin America. Its name is Spanish, taken from the name of the meringue, a dessert made from whipped egg whites and sugar...
music pulsating through the streets and smell the mouth-watering carne guisada puertorriqueña. A couple of grocers have set up shop to help buyers find those hard-to-acquire products from home, such as gandules verde, sazón, and naranja agria.
The area is visually stunning, having many colorful and historically important murals as well as two affordable housing buildings with facades and colors mimicking the Spanish colonial styles of Old San Juan. A tile mosaic of Puerto Rican baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
slugger Roberto Clemente
Roberto Clemente
Roberto Clemente Walker was a Puerto Rican Major League Baseball right fielder. He was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, the youngest of seven children. Clemente played his entire 18-year baseball career with the Pittsburgh Pirates . He was awarded the National League's Most Valuable Player Award in...
greets visitors at one end of the street, near the high school that bears his name.
Several times a year, Paseo Boricua is fashioned in gala to celebrate important Puerto Rican holidays, such as the Three Kings Day, the Puerto Rican People's Parade, Haunted Paseo Boricua, and Fiesta Boricua with an estimated 650,000 attendees.
It is the only officially recognized Puerto Rican neighborhood in the nation. New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, with its vast Puerto Rican population
Puerto Rican migration to New York
Puerto Ricans have both immigrated and migrated to New York. The first group of Puerto Ricans moved to New York in the mid-19th century when Puerto Rico was a Spanish Colony and its people Spanish subjects and therefore they were immigrants. The following wave of Puerto Ricans to move to New York...
, does not have an officially designated Puerto Rican neighborhood.
The strength of the Puerto Rican Community is so Prevalent that they have recently created their own Humboldt Park, Paseo Boricua flag as a show of their strength and dominance in the Puerto rican enclave of Humboldt Park.
Paseo Boricua Flag
Paseo Boricua is the first location outside the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to be granted the right to fly an official “Municipal Flag of Puerto Rico.Red Color Background: This flag is symbolic of Paseo Boricua, Which is located in Chicago's historic Humboldt Park. red represents The blood of those who fought and, for some, who died in the collective struggle to be recognized and treated as a human beings and as people.
Blue Color Background: The blue color background represents the efforts of our community to build tolerance and understanding between people of all socio-economic and cultural backgrounds so that together we may develop a truly enriched and prosperous community.
White Color Background: The white color represents our desire that peace and unity rein among all the members of this dynamic community regardless of gender, ethnicity, class, sexuality and religion.
The Palm Trees: The palm trees represent the contribution people of the Caribbean have made and continue to make to the rich diversity in our community.
The Paseo Boricua Flag: The Puerto Rican flag that drapes the City of Chicago marks a geographic and symbolic space as the heart of the city's Puerto Rican community.
The Shield: The shield represents the Spanish Fort in Viejo San Juan, El Morro, and the Spanish legacy, which together with the West African and Taino cultures from the roots of modern day Puerto Rican identity and culture.
Taino Indian and African: The taino Indians and African woman point toward their mutual destination and migration towards the Chicago skyline back-dropped against the historic Humboldt Park boathouse, a familiar landmark in our community.
The creator of the flag is a Puerto Rican artist by the name of John Vergara.
Chicago's Puerto Rican community
The Puerto Rican community in Chicago has a history that stretches back more than 70 years. The first Puerto Rican migration in the 1930s to Chicago was not from the island but from New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Only a small number of people joined this migration. The first large wave of migration to Chicago came in the late 1940s.
Starting in 1946, many people were recruited by Castle Barton Associates as low-wage non-union foundry workers and domestic workers. As soon as they were established in Chicago, many were joined by their spouses and families.
By the 1950s, Chicago's Puerto Rican community was centered in West Town
West Town
-United Kingdom:*West Town, Peterborough in Cambridgeshire*West Town, Hampshire on Hayling Island*West Town, Backwell in North Somerset-United States:*West Town, Chicago in Illinois*West Town Mall in Knoxville, Tennessee*West Towne Mall in Madison, Wisconsin...
and Humboldt Park
Humboldt Park
Humboldt Park may refer to:*Humboldt Park, Chicago, a neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, US**Humboldt Park , a park adjacent to that neighborhood*Humboldt Park, a working title for the 2008 film Nothing Like the Holidays...
on the city's Northwest Side as well as in nearby Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park, Chicago
Lincoln Park, is one of the 77 community areas on Chicago, Illinois North Side, USA. Named after Lincoln Park, a vast park bordering Lake Michigan, the community area is anchored by the Lincoln Park Zoo and DePaul University...
on the North Side. Puerto Rican settlement also occurred in Lawndale
North Lawndale, Chicago
North Lawndale located on the west side of Chicago, Illinois, is one of the well-defined community areas in the city of Chicago.-History:...
on the city's West Side. Gentrification
Gentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
in Lincoln Park which would begin in the late 1960s displace its Puerto Rican populace, forcing people to move to the west.
The events of June 12 through 14, 1966, constituted the first major Puerto Rican urban rebellion
Rebellion
Rebellion, uprising or insurrection, is a refusal of obedience or order. It may, therefore, be seen as encompassing a range of behaviors aimed at destroying or replacing an established authority such as a government or a head of state...
. The uprising happened at precisely the point when the Chicago Police Department
Chicago Police Department
The Chicago Police Department, also known as the CPD, is the principal law enforcement agency of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States, under the jurisdiction of the Mayor of Chicago. It is the largest police department in the Midwest and the second largest local law enforcement agency in the...
began taking "precautionary measures" to head off potential rebellions of the type that had already occurred in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
, Watts
Watts, Los Angeles, California
Watts is a mostly residential neighborhood in South Los Angeles, California.-History:The area now known as Watts is located on the Rancho La Tajauta Mexican land grant...
and Philadelphia by the Black masses.
The 1966 Division Street Riots
On June 12, 1966, Aracelis Cruz was shot on the corner of Damen Avenue and Division StreetDivision Street (Chicago)
Division Street is a major east-west street in Chicago, Illinois, located at 1200 North . Division Street begins in the Gold Coast neighborhood near Lake Shore Drive, passes through Polonia Triangle at Milwaukee Avenue into Wicker Park and continues to Chicago's city limits and into the city's...
after officer said he was carrying a gun. The shooting set off a series of confrontations between Puerto Ricans and police officers that many people said had been festering for years due to poor housing conditions, educational opportunities, racism, and feelings of neglect.
At the time, police said, the shooting was justified due to extreme gang
Gang
A gang is a group of people who, through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage, share a common identity. In current usage it typically denotes a criminal organization or else a criminal affiliation. In early usage, the word gang referred to a group of workmen...
activity in the area, but witnesses said it was an unprovoked reaction by police—something that was commonplace at the time. Eighty-one policeman with 58 squad cars were called in to respond to the riots. They used tear gas and night sticks to try to quell the disturbance. The National Guard was also called in, along with six K-9 units.
After a few weeks of rioting, peace was restored.
The Rev. Dan Headley was in the crowd during the riots. He believes the disturbance has had a long-lasting effect. It is said that the 1966 Division Street Riots marked the beginning of a Puerto Rican political consciousness in Humboldt Park and Chicago. Many social, political, economic, and educational institutions were founded after the riots, including the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School, The Young Lords
Young Lords
The Young Lords, later Young Lords Organization and in New York , Young Lords Party, was a Puerto Rican nationalist group in several United States cities, notably New York City and Chicago.-Founding:...
, Aspira
Aspira
Aspira is a 400 ft tall skyscraper in the Denny Triangle neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. It has 37 floors, and mostly consists of apartments. Construction ended in late 2009....
, among many others. Also after the riots, Puerto Ricans began to be elected to governmental offices, such as the State Legislature, City Council, and even the U.S. Congress.
Eleven years later, similar riots in Humboldt Park killed three people and injured hundreds more, Sambolin reported.
Placing blame for the 1966 riots remains unclear, but Chicago Police Superintendent Phil Cline said that today there is a greater representation of Hispanics in the department.
Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture
Resurgence
Resurgence is a British bi-monthly magazine which has been described as the artistic and spiritual voice of the green movement in Great Britain. Resurgence was founded in the 1960s by John Papworth....
is also being viewed as an important step in teaching the next generation of Chicago Puerto Ricans about the area's past. With the support of the community, Puerto Rican leaders in Chicago leased the historic Humboldt Park stables near Paseo Boricua that house the Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture, its the only musseum in the nation that is completely dedicated to the history of Puerto Rican culture and the Puerto Rican diaspora. About $3.4 million was spent to renovate the exterior of the building and another $3.2 million for the interior.
Other events
The Puerto Rican Parade Committee of Chicago has been serving their community since 1968. Now the six-day festival in Humboldt Park has become the largest attended LatinoLatino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
festival in the city of Chicago and in the Mid-West, with an estimated draw of 1.8 million attendees.