Brent E. Beltrán

Thumbnail image for Desde la Logan: The Ice Cream Man Cometh to Barrio Logan

Desde la Logan: The Ice Cream Man Cometh to Barrio Logan

by Brent E. Beltrán 05.17.2013 Columns

Family Owned Tocumbo Ice Cream Opens at Mercado del Barrio

By Brent E. Beltrán

Monday, May 13 was a beautiful, hot day in San Diego. Temperatures broke records throughout the county. But in my community of Barrio Logan things were a lot nicer because Tocumbo Ice Cream opened shop. And neighborhood residents flocked to get their cool ice cream fix.

On May 4, as I was walking to a few community events here in Barrio Logan, I was handed a flyer announcing the opening on May 13. Not only did the flyer announce their opening it also offered a free scoop! Happy happy! Joy joy! The opening was around the corner and I was gonna get a free scoop too!

Tocumbo Ice Cream was founded in 2004 by the Ramirez family which includes patriarch Gerardo Ramirez — who works between 80-100 hours a week doing what he loves, his wife Martha and children Omar, Kelly and Crystal. Grandson Junior also helps out as well as do other family members.

Read the full article → 3 comments
Thumbnail image for Desde la Logan: All They Will Call You Will Be Deportees…No Longer

Desde la Logan: All They Will Call You Will Be Deportees…No Longer

by Brent E. Beltrán 05.14.2013 Columns

An Interview with Author Tim Z. Hernandez

By Brent E. Beltrán

On occasion I feel the need to write about issues outside of the comfy confines of Barrio Logan and San Diego. This is one of those times.

Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye, Rosalita,

Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria;

You won’t have your names when you ride the big airplane,

All they will call you will be “deportees”

     – Woody Guthrie, Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)

 The first time I heard those lines was in 1998. It was in Spanish on the CD Siempre He Estado Aquí by Teatro Campesino co-founder and Fresno residents Agustín Lira and his partner of many years Patricia Wells Solórzano. At the time I didn’t know that it was originally written by famed folk singer/activist Woody Guthrie. Later on that year I heard it in English by the Latin super group Los Super 7.

Since then I’ve heard Woody sing it and fellow folk traveller and activist icon Pete Seeger as well as other performers such as Bruce Springsteen, Concrete Blonde and recent Grammy award winners Quetzal. Many more have recorded and performed this classic piece of American music.

Read the full article → 6 comments
Thumbnail image for Desde la Logan: Our Focus on Barrio Logan for-the-Month “Wrap Up”

Desde la Logan: Our Focus on Barrio Logan for-the-Month “Wrap Up”

by Brent E. Beltrán 05.09.2013 Columns

By Brent E. Beltrán

In April many of us here at San Diego Free Press focused our journalistic efforts on my community of Barrio Logan. Twenty three articles were written about this vibrant, working class neighborhood.

They were stories that broke the old stereotype of Barrio Logan being a violent, gang infested place where people are scared to go to. I’m proud that our little website that could helped advance the image that Barrio Logan is a beautiful place to not only live but visit and enjoy.

Read the full article → 1 comment
Thumbnail image for Desde la Logan’s Las Monthly Ondas May Edition: Cinco de Mayo is Not Mexican Independence Day

Desde la Logan’s Las Monthly Ondas May Edition: Cinco de Mayo is Not Mexican Independence Day

by Brent E. Beltrán 04.30.2013 Arts

By Brent E. Beltrán

Cinco de Mayo commemorates El Día de la Batalla de Puebla (The Day of the Battle of Puebla) where in 1862 a ragtag Mexican army lead by General Ignacio Zaragoza defeated a much superior and better equipped force of the French army. Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day. It’s not even a significant holiday in Mexico except in the state of Puebla where the battle took place.

After the great liberal Mexican president Benito Juarez decided to stop paying Mexico’s foreign debt for two years to help it’s near bankrupt national treasury France’s Napoleon III, pissed off by this move, decided to invade and build up it’s empire.

Read the full article → 3 comments
Thumbnail image for Desde la Logan: Chicano Music Legends Join Forces to Play Adams Avenue Unplugged

Desde la Logan: Chicano Music Legends Join Forces to Play Adams Avenue Unplugged

by Brent E. Beltrán 04.23.2013 Arts

I’ve known Chunky Sanchez of Los Alacranes for at least fifteen years and worked with him on numerous occasions including organizing a fundraiser in 2007, called Musicians Helping Their Own, for local Latin jazz trumpet player Bill Caballero who was stricken with cancer and on a project in 2009 called Deportation Nation: Musical Migrations that featured a concert with Los Alacranes, Quino (of Big Mountain fame) and Son Sin Fronteras where the three groups at the end of the night jammed together on the Woody Guthrie classic Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos).

Los Alacranes and Los Lobos go way back.

As a matter of fact the first time Los Lobos played in San Diego was at the Centro Cultural de la Raza at the invitation of Chunky. And usually when the baddest band out of East LA plays a show in San Diego they give a shout out to Chunky y Los Alacranes. These two groups started out during the same era and continue to share a musical brotherhood.

Read the full article → 3 comments
Thumbnail image for Desde la Logan: What Does Chicano Park Mean to You?

Desde la Logan: What Does Chicano Park Mean to You?

by Brent E. Beltrán 04.17.2013 Columns

By Brent E. Beltrán

Since I live across the street from Chicano Park I sometimes take its beauty for granted. I see it every day as I exit my apartment complex’s parking structure. I see it when I do laundry. When I walk to Las Cuatro Milpas for my tortilla fix. Whenever I return home from wherever I’ve been. I live within its shadows and those that helped create the space.

It’s an ubiquitous presence in my Barrio Logan life. It’s always there. Standing proudly in the background of my existence. Because of that sometimes it all blends together. But not this coming Saturday, April 20. The annual Chicano Park Day Celebration is when Chicano Park is at the forefront of people’s minds. It’s a time to remember and celebrate the occupation of land and a community fighting for its dignity. It’s a time when the park shines from within the shadows of the San Diego Coronado Bridge.

I know what Chicano Park means to me. But I often wonder what does it means to others? I thought I’d ask a few people that question. What does Chicano Park mean to you? Here are their answers, in their own words and in their own linguistic style. After reading please make a comment below and let me know what Chicano Park means to you.

Read the full article → 3 comments
Thumbnail image for Desde la Logan: West Coasting Tour Brings More Love to Barrio Logan

Desde la Logan: West Coasting Tour Brings More Love to Barrio Logan

by Brent E. Beltrán 04.07.2013 Arts

At the end of March master graffiti artists, Isaias Crow and Werc Alvarez, returned to San Diego for the first stop on their West Coasting Tour 2013. In addition to painting in San Diego, they are creating murals in Los Angeles, San Jose, Sacramento and others spots in between as part of their tour. While here in town they created three beautiful, unique murals. The first one in San Ysidro at Casa Familiar’s The Front, another at Pedal Pushing Bicycle Shop on El Cajon Blvd in Talmadge and the third and final San Diego mural at La Central Market in Barrio Logan across the street from Chicano Park.

Read the full article → 7 comments
Thumbnail image for Desde la Logan: San Diego Free Press to Focus on Barrio Logan this Month

Desde la Logan: San Diego Free Press to Focus on Barrio Logan this Month

by Brent E. Beltrán 04.03.2013 Culture

My esteemed editors here at the San Diego Free Press, with the ok of us hardscrabble community journalists, have decided to focus our attention during the month of April towards the neighborhood that is my home: Barrio Logan. In March, we turned our attention to the hipster haven of North Park. And now we look a little southwest towards the barrio under the bridge.

Barrio Logan is one of the oldest neighborhoods in San Diego. It used to be one whole community called Logan Heights, named after congressman John A. Logan, but the creation of the Interstate 5 freeway that bisected the neighborhood changed that. Then the building of the San Diego-Coronado Bridge changed it again. Thousands were displaced from building the freeway and the bridge. Now Barrio Logan encompasses a relatively small patch of land sandwiched between the San Diego Bay and the I-5 freeway and north of National City and south of San Diego’s East Village.

Less than 5,000 people inhabit my barrio. Thousands more come during the day to work here in the shipyards, the Port of San Diego and the other companies that line the bay side of Barrio Logan. Of those 5,000 barrio denizens about 85% of them are non-white, most of which are of Mexican descent. But things are changing. There are demographic shifts as property values rise and the proximity to Downtown San Diego is realized. Developers are drooling to take over the land to build condos and hipster bars. A showdown over the future character of my community is on the horizon.

Read the full article → 4 comments
Thumbnail image for Desde la Logan’s Las Monthly Ondas April Edition: Chicano Park Celebrates 43 Years

Desde la Logan’s Las Monthly Ondas April Edition: Chicano Park Celebrates 43 Years

by Brent E. Beltrán 04.02.2013 Activism

On April 22, 1970 a rag tag group of artists, activists, and community members joined forces and took over the land underneath the San Diego-Coronado Bridge in Barrio Logan. At the time, construction was about to begin on the building of a California Highway Patrol substation. For many years, residents of Barrio Logan had been promised a park. Seeing the pending creation of a CHP substation was the straw that broke this barrio’s back.

City College student Mario Solis, the Paul Revere of Chicano Park, discovered bulldozers on the site and immediately began to spread the word. He burst into the Chicano Studies class of professor Gil Robledo and let all present know what was going down under the bridge. At noon, Chicano high school students from San Diego High and other area schools walked out and marched to the construction site.

Protesters formed human chains around the bulldozers. Many demonstrators planted trees, flowers and cactus. The community wanted their park. As the crowd swelled to over 250 people, construction on the site was called off. The community took action and occupied Chicano Park for a total of twelve days. With many protesters coming from outside of San Diego after hearing the news of the occupation.

Read the full article → 1 comment
Thumbnail image for Barrio Logan’s Chicano Park, Our National Treasure

Barrio Logan’s Chicano Park, Our National Treasure

by Brent E. Beltrán 03.20.2013 Columns

By Brent E. Beltrán

On Friday, March 15, the Ides of March, there was a press conference at Chicano Park in my beloved Barrio Logan. The press conference was put together to announce Chicano Park being added to the National Register of Historic Places. In other words, Chicano Park was officially recognized as being a national treasure of the United States. Those of us who live in Logan and the various barrios throughout San Diego, California and beyond already recognize this fact. But, through the fine work of Chicano Park co-founder, Josie Talamantez, the nation now officially recognizes this.

In front of Chicano Park co-founders, activists, artists, professors and numerous members of the media Mayor Bob Filner gave praise to Chicano Park and those that struggled for a peoples park. He was followed by District 8 City Councilman David Alvarez, State Senator elect Ben Hueso, Chicano Park Steering Committee Chairperson Tommie Camarillo and Josie Talamantez who broke down the process and criteria for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. It was a proud day for all involved in the creation and maintenance of Chicano Park.

Read the full article → 12 comments
Thumbnail image for Desde la Logan Yo Soy Chicano… Thanks to Mesa College Chicano Studies

Desde la Logan Yo Soy Chicano… Thanks to Mesa College Chicano Studies

by Brent E. Beltrán 03.11.2013 Columns

By Brent E.  Beltrán

I’m a Chicano but I haven’t always been. Prior to self identifying myself as one I didn’t really know who I was culturally. I grew up in a bi-cultural family. But didn’t really embrace either.

Mesa College is where my Chicano life began. And to this day I still maintain relations with the department. My compadre Manuel J. Vélez is a tenured professor there. And so is my good friend Dr. César López who is now the head of the department. I take joy in hearing about the positive things that are taking place there. The most recent news was announced on Friday, March 8, día de la mujer internacional, about longtime San Diego activist Gracia Molina de Pick donating $80,000 to the Mesa College Chicana/o Studies Endowment.

Read the full article → 2 comments
Thumbnail image for Desde la Logan presents March’s Las Monthly Ondas featuring: Art of Body : Body of Art – 6th Annual Día de la Mujer Exhibition at The Front

Desde la Logan presents March’s Las Monthly Ondas featuring: Art of Body : Body of Art – 6th Annual Día de la Mujer Exhibition at The Front

by Brent E. Beltrán 03.01.2013 Arts

By Brent E. Beltrán

Every March 8 throughout the world women and their male allies come together to celebrate International Women’s Day. For the sixth straight year the dedicated, hard working people at Casa Familiar’s The Front will organize an art exhibition and night of culture to honor and celebrate the artistic contributions of females in the San Diego/Tijuana border region.

As a member of the Red CalacArts Collective I had the honor of playing a minor role in The Front’s first women’s celebration. Now, as a writer, I am equally honored to help spread the word about this beautiful, annual event. Recently, I had the privilege to communicate with Leticia Gomez Franco, The Front’s Gallery and Exhibitions Director. She broke down the reason why art spaces like The Front are necessary, why it is important to celebrate día de la mujer internacional, what the local San Ysidro reaction to The Front’s work is and what makes their event so successful.

Read the full article → 2 comments
Thumbnail image for Desde la Logan: Las Monthly Ondas February Edition featuring The HeART of Loteria

Desde la Logan: Las Monthly Ondas February Edition featuring The HeART of Loteria

by Brent E. Beltrán 02.01.2013 Activism

If you’re of Mexican descent then at some point in your life you have probably played the ubiquitous game Loteria. For those who are not Mexican Loteria is somewhat similar to Bingo except you use numbered playing cards with iconic images on them such as La Calavera, El Borracho, El Catrín, La Luna, El Diablito, La Muerte and many others instead of numbered balls.

Ruben Torres, who I wrote about in a previous column called Love Thy Neighbor. It’s Not About Charity, It’s About Humanity, has teamed up with a collective of creative Southern Cali folks to curate a massive art exhibit, to be held at the Centro Cultural de la Raza, called The HeART of Loteria.

Ruben told me that “the opening reception is meant to celebrate a family tradition through art, performance, food and Loteria game play. It is meant to be an experience that is rich with Loteria inspired imagery and art. There will be about 200 art pieces that will be featured, created by artists from all walks of life. There will be two main experiences – inside and outside.

Read the full article → 0 comments
Thumbnail image for Desde la Logan: Casa Galería Brings Art and Culture to the Historic Barrio District

Desde la Logan: Casa Galería Brings Art and Culture to the Historic Barrio District

by Brent E. Beltrán 01.30.2013 Arts

In an old Victorian house located on Island St. in the barrio of Sherman Heights sits San Diego’s newest art gallery. Casa Galería, located at the historic Founders’ House, is managed by the Historic Barrio District Community Development Corporation (HBD CDC). The HBD CDC is a nonprofit organization committed to addressing the needs of the communities of Sherman Heights, Logan Heights, Grant Hill, Memorial and Stockton. The Historic Barrio District presents itself as a Mecca of art, culture, history and activism that promotes community pride, economic opportunities and a healthy environment for all of its residents.

The HBD CDC’s latest project, among their many, is Casa Galería. Casa Galería is a community space dedicated to cultivating and celebrating Chicano/Latino arts and culture in San Diego’s historic barrios. The gallery will provide a space for local and international Chicano/Latino artists to showcase their art and will embrace visual, literary, musical, textile and craft artists by presenting quality work that will engage the residents, neighbors and the San Diego community at large.

Read the full article → 2 comments
Thumbnail image for Desde la Logan: What does Martin Luther King mean to you?

Desde la Logan: What does Martin Luther King mean to you?

by Brent E. Beltrán 01.21.2013 Activism

On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day I attended the All People Celebration that took place at the San Diego Public Market here in Barrio Logan. With the event taking place in my neighborhood I wanted to put together a column that somehow related to MLK. Since every news media outlet in San Diego was covering the event I knew I had to think up a different approach than the rest of them. So, as I walked the two blocks from my apartment to the location of the celebration I decided that I would ask as many people as I could recognize a single question: What does Martin Luther King represent to you? These are their thoughtful responses.

“Non violent change. We gotta be a better society.”
- Bob Filner, Mayor of San Diego

“To me it’s about service to others. How are you doing something to make the world better? How are you part of making the world better. You do that by being in service. In my case, as a public servant, days like this make you feel good. It’s what you work for. It’s what you strive for.”
David Alvarez, San Diego City Councilman District 8 

And more than a dozen other San Diegans chime in….come on inside!

Read the full article → 2 comments
Thumbnail image for Desde la Logan: Loyola University Students Experience the Community that is Chicano Park

Desde la Logan: Loyola University Students Experience the Community that is Chicano Park

by Brent E. Beltrán 01.21.2013 Arts

On a cold, blustery day in Barrio Logan’s Chicano Park my toddler son Dino and I had the opportunity to connect with some college students from Loyola University in Baltimore, Maryland who were in San Diego for their annual Project Mexico trip. Project Mexico is a program of the university’s Center for Community Service and Justice.

The Center’s website states that Project Mexico provides undergraduate students with an opportunity to immerse themselves in a 10-day intense service and educational exchange with the peoples and communities of Mexicali and San Diego. During their stay in Mexico students participate in community directed projects and engage in cultural and social activities and education programs that address topics such as immigration, the environment, human rights and political and economic issues.

Read the full article → 2 comments
Thumbnail image for Desde la Logan: January Happenings in Barrio Logan and Beyond

Desde la Logan: January Happenings in Barrio Logan and Beyond

by Brent E. Beltrán 01.11.2013 Activism

Sometimes I take for granted the things that are happening in my barrio and the surrounding areas. I consider myself lucky to live in a community that cherishes culture in all it’s varied forms. I have Chicano Park, The Roots Factory, The Spot Barrio Logan and The Voz Alta Project all within two blocks of my apartment. My community is a living creature, alive and vibrant, with culture oozing out of it’s streets and alleys like sweat from a worker’s brow. For the most part I know what is going on around here.

Because I usually know the haps in Logan I sometimes fail to realize that others may not know what’s going on. Therefore as a service to not only my community but also the greater San Diego community at large I will regularly compile a list of cultural and activism related events that will be taking place. This list will not only feature events taking place in Barrio Logan and the rest of the Historic Barrio District but events elsewhere in San Diego that I think readers of this column and San Diego Free Press should consider attending. Most will be hosted by the places I normally frequent (and places I should frequent normally) and many will be related to Chicanismo, Native issues, lefty causes and other stuff that I’m down for. Please support these grassroots cultural happenings, spaces and organizations by attending their events and, if so inclined, throw a few bucks their way.

Read the full article → 5 comments
Thumbnail image for Desde la Logan: San Diegans Dancing in Solidarity with Idle No More

Desde la Logan: San Diegans Dancing in Solidarity with Idle No More

by Brent E. Beltrán 01.07.2013 Activism

This column is usually reserved for happenings that take place within the community of Barrio Logan and the surrounding Historic Barrio District. On occasion I will deviate from that if there is an issue that is near and dear to my family and I. This is one of those times.

My wife Olympia, her teenage children, and her mom Glo Andrade have been involved with Native culture most of their lives. Olympia has been a danzante Azteca since she was a teenager, most recently dancing with Danza Mixcoatl until she was pregnant with our toddler son Sandino. Her mom and family have attended sweat lodge ceremonies over the years as well as Sundance ceremonies in Arizona. Native culture and ways are a vital part of their existence. And the Idol No More movement is something they are in solidarity with.

Read the full article → 2 comments
Thumbnail image for Desde la Logan: Riding Low on New Year’s Day

Desde la Logan: Riding Low on New Year’s Day

by Brent E. Beltrán 01.02.2013 Culture

San Diego Car Clubs Celebrate Culture, Family and Friends

I’ve never been a car guy. Never owned my own ride. Never really had an interest. I only recently got my license a couple year’s ago at 40 years old. And that is because my son was going to be born and I needed to be able to drive my wife to the hospital when he was ready to pop out.

One thing I’ve respected though is the lowrider car and the lowriders themselves. Seeing them cruise the calles in their firme rides. Low and slow. Gliding along the street as though riding on air. The lower the better. When a fine carrucha makes it’s way through the barrio heads turn. Life pauses for a few seconds as everyone stops to look and admire the works of art on four wheels.

Chicanos were the first lowriders. They put their time, effort and hard earned dollars into making their cars shine like stars. During the early 90′s other cultures jumped on the lowrider bandwagon and started tricking out their rides like Chicanos. They wanted to be cool too. Wanted people to admire them as they drove up and down their respective neighborhoods.

Read the full article → 13 comments
Thumbnail image for Desde la Logan: Barrio Logan’s Northgate is a Deferred Dream Come True

Desde la Logan: Barrio Logan’s Northgate is a Deferred Dream Come True

by Brent E. Beltrán 12.17.2012 Business

On December 11, 2012 the first major supermarket in San Diego’s Historic Barrio District (Barrio Logan, Logan Heights and Sherman Heights) in almost 40 years opened it’s doors to the public for the first time. For Barrio Logan residents the opening of Mercado Gonzalez Northgate is more than just the opening of a supermarket, it is a deferred dream come to true.

It took 21 years for the city and developers to build this market. Twenty one years of promises. Twenty one years to gain an amenity that most communities have.

Not since the closure in the early 1970′s of Safeway, on the corner of 25th and Imperial, has there been a major supermarket that services these predominantly Mexican-American communities. For over 30 years these communities demanded a supermarket. None of the major supermarkets like Vons, Albertson’s and Ralph’s heeded this demand. Fortunately, after all those years, a Mexican-American grocer family stepped up.

Read the full article → 6 comments

← Older Articles