Activism, Immigration, and the Politics of Belonging in Mexican Chicago, 1968-1986

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Sin Fronteras: Activism, Immigration, and the Politics of Belonging in Mexican Chicago, 1968-1986 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the degree requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnic Studies by Myrna Garcia Committee in Charge: Professor David G. Gutiérrez, Co-Chair Professor Lisa Sun-Hee Park, Co-Chair Professor Yen Le Espiritu Professor Alejandro Lugo Professor Natalia M. Molina Professor K. Wayne Yang 2013 Copyright Myrna Garcia, 2013 All rights reserved. The dissertation of Myrna Garcia is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ Co-Chair _____________________________________________________________________ Co-Chair University of California, San Diego 2013 iii DEDICATION Para mi familia—especialmente a mi papá, mamá, mi hermana Marie, mi hermano Víctor, y mis abuelitas/os. Gracias por el apoyo y la fuerza para siguir adelante. To my family—especially my dad, mom, my sister Marie, and my brother Victor and grandparents. Thanks for giving me the support and strength to push forward. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page……………...………………………………………………………… iii Dedication …………………………………………………………………………… iv Table of Contents ……………………………………………………………………. v List of Figures ……………………………………………………………………….. vii Acknowledgments …………………………………………………………………... viii Vita…………………………………………………………………………………... x Abstract of the Dissertation…………………………………………………………... xii Chapter One: Introduction………………….……………………………………….. 1 Chapter Two: Envolviéndose en una Telaraña [Caught up in a SpiderWeb]….......... 51 Chapter Three: Emergence of Sin Fronteras [Beyond Borders] Politics, 1970s…..... 101 Chapter Four: “Un Pueblo Sin Fronteras” [A Community Beyond Borders]: Immigrant Rights Activism in Mexican Chicago, 1974-1983……………………… 153 Chapter Five: Conclusion…...………………………………………………………. 204 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………… 242 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: Rudy Lozano………………………………………………….………… 3 Figure 1.2: Immigrants’ Rights March, 1976 or 1977..………………….…………. 40 Figure 2.1: Map of Pilsen ………………………………………………..…….…… 81 Figure 4.1: Dunk the Migra………………………………...……………….….…… 172 Figure 4.2: Map of Little Village ………………………………………….….……. 177 Figure 5.1: Immigrants’ March, 1970s……………………………………………... 209 Figure 5.2: Immigrants’ March 2007………………...………………………….….. 211 vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Words do not suffice to describe this rewarding, challenging, and, at times, painful doctoral journey. What began as research inquiries at the undergraduate level trying to uncover the social world of my Mexican immigrant parents when they first came to Chicago during early 1970s, has led me to a life-long academic endeavor. Thank you Alejandro Lugo, Arlene Torres, Ronnie Kann, Bill Berry, and Matt García for introducing me to the enterprise of academic knowledge production. I am grateful to the students fighting for Ethnic Studies at UIUC: Maricarmen Moreno, Angélica Rivera, David O. Stovall, Susan Rivera, Cynthia Nambo, María Rejdukowski Torres, Chuy Chávez, Mérida Rúa, and Julio Villegas. Gracias also to Nancy, Gaby, and Laura Ibarra, Cesar Garza, Gabriel A. Cortez, Lorena García, and especially Isaura B. Pulido. Isaura, I appreciate our warm friendship and express gratutude for providing support through the difficult, ambivalent, and exciting moments in my doctoral journey. Gracias! I am grateful to my support system at UCSD. I give thanks to Martha D. Escobar for being un gran amiga. Mujer, no me puedo imaginar este proceso sin tu apoyo. Gracias! The mujeres of Raza Graduate Student Association—especially mi comadre Lorena V. Márquez and advisor Yolanda Escamilla. I would like to express deep gratitude to Rebecca J. Kinney and Angela W. Kong. I enjoyed walking side-by-side with both of you very much. Angela, thank you for running with me, especially when I needed that extra push. I give special thanks to Daisy Rodríguez who also participated in a last minute sprint with me. Thank you Monika Gosin for your support. I am grateful to Jimmy Patiño for your helpful advice and feedback. Others have also cheered me on: vii Edwina Welch, Nancy Magpusao, Agustín Orozco, Juan Astorga, Katherine Arias, Jessica Pérez, and Stevie Ruiz. Rosiangela Escamilla, thank you for listening. Gracias Laura Y. González for your support, especially when I was in Los Angeles. I also wish to thank my friends in the San Diego community: Breca Griswold Rodríguez, Delia Arreola, Rosa Gallegos, Stephanie de la Torre, Cynthia Pulido, Ildifonso Carillo, and Rene Guzmán. I wish to give thanks to Michelle Téllez. Gracias amiga for your love and attention throughout the years in New York, San Diego and Chicago. This dissertation project would not be possible without the grants and fellowships I was awarded. Support from the Institute for International, Comparative, and Area Studies, Travel Grant, 2008, the California Cultures in Comparative Perspectives, Graduate Summer Fellowship, 2008, the Ethnic Studies Research Grant, 2008, and the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity Summer Fellowship, 2007 were critical for the data collection. I am grateful for the support provided by the UC President’s Dissertation Year Fellowship. This project was made possible in part by financial assistance from the Ruth Landes Memorial Research Fund, a program of The Reed Foundation . I also acknowledge the intellectual spaces of support in Chicago, especially at the Latin American and Latino Studies Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Conversations in the classroom with my students were invaluable. I would like to express deep appreciation to Kathleen Belew for pushing my thinking. I enjoyed our weekly meetings at different cafes throughout Chicago. I also extend my gratitude to Gissel and Minelly Escobedo for their research asssistance. Advice given by colleagues Antonio viii López and John H. Flores was very useful. I also wish to acknowledge the support of Professor Juan Mora-Torres. I give special thanks to the Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin for the valuable resources and support, especially profesoras Domino Pérez, Nicole Guidotti-Hernández, Gloria González-López, Anne M. Martínez, and Cecilia Ballí. Nicole, thank you for warm guidance and pushing me to do my best. Gloria, thank you for providing insight and strength. Having thoroughly enjoyed the countless hours of conversations, I am humbled by the opportunity to learn from the people who shared their stories of struggle, resilience, and triumphs. Some of my participants did not have the opportunity to see the fruition of my research—some sadly passed on prior to the completion of the project. I acknowledge Catherine Archibald who encouraged me to push forward with this project. I am deeply grateful to the Lozano family—Lupe, Rudy, Jr., Pepe, and David— as I narrate a part of Rodolfo “Rudy” Lozano’s life, a story that I believe is critical to Chicago’s history of immigrant and labor rights activism. I am also indebted to the people who shared their life stories with me. In order to protect their identities I cannot name them, but hope to do justice to their words and stories. I like to express gratitude to my doctoral committee for their confidence in me and my project. Gracias, profe David G. Gutiérrez for your insightful comments and support for my research endeavors. Thank you Lisa Sun-Hee Park for your unconditional support throughout all these years. I am grateful to Yen Le Espíritu for your encouragement and feedback. I give thanks to Natalia Molina for providing great advice. K. Wayne Yang, thank you for taking the time to meet with me and for breaking it down, ix especially when I lost sight of the bigger picture. I express great appreciation to Alejandro Lugo for believing in my project since its inception. I especially enjoyed meeting at the Café Jumping Bean to discuss my research. Lastly, but just as importantly, I would like to thank my familia and amistades. Tío Héctor García, Isela Estrada, and Brenda Meza have cheered me on and checked in on me. Others have provided support, Mario González, Vaughan Smith, Héctor González, Caro Gaete, Margarita Paredes, Matt Katz, and Mayarí Guzmán. And with the last and final push, I am truly blessed to have the support of Lucille Martinez Schurman and familia, Elvia Mendoza (as well as Valerie and Joakin), Nancy Preciado, Arleen E. López, Itzel A. Martínez, Katie V. Noriega, Marcela Espinoza Gallegos, and Jeanette del Carmen-Trejo. Arleen, Itzel, Katie, Marce, and Jeanette, your care and attention to detail was fantastic. I express gratitude to José I. Fusté as well as to Jade and Amaury for your warm hospitality, assistance, and encouragement. Sherron A. Cook-Bey, thank you so very much! I appreciate your unwavering support throughout these last few years, especially during the most intensive and stressful moments. I cannot imagine what it would be like without your love. Lastly, I am also blessed for having the incredible support of my immediate family, mi hermana Marie for listening to my stories, mi hermano Víctor for your ethusiastic interest, mi mama for the strength you have given me, and

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