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Free Barrier-Breaking College Prep Program in Barrio Logan to Expand

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The Barrio Logan College Institute Moves in with Monarch School

By Frances O’Neill Zimmerman

From late afternoon to early evening daily, a bilingual team of eight devoted staffers works throughout the week with 200 committed barrio kids — some as young as Grade 3 — establishing curriculum, coordinating tutors, arranging for in-house speakers and field trips, setting up collaborative learning experiences, conferring with parents, interfacing with students whose names and histories they know well.

This is Barrio Logan College Institute (BLCI) where students absorb what an old teacher friend of mine used to call “the culture of school.” Learning how to study. How to shake hands in greeting and goodbye, with an abrazo here and there. Tutorials in language arts and math. Goal-setting. Learning about self-organization, follow-through, discipline, promptness. How to be resilient when there’s disappointment.

BLCI students will be the first in their families to go to university, knowing they are following patterns set by these mentors on the staff. Development director Luis Murillo, 30, has for now set aside an earlier interest in law school, saying, “I love what we do here.”   [Read more…]

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

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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 more…]

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

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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 more…]

City Councilman David Alvarez: How I See Barrio Logan

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By David Alvarez
District 8 City Council Representative

The community of Barrio Logan, of which I grew up in, is one of the oldest and most culturally-rich urban neighborhoods in San Diego. From historic beginnings to the vibrant mix of uses and people who reside and work in Barrio Logan, the neighborhood has played a vital role in the City’s development. The Barrio Logan community is a living example of the change and evolution that have continuously shaped the area’s cultural heritage, development patterns, economic opportunities, and social fabric.

Barrio Logan has a long history as a working-class waterfront community. Its early days as a base of homes and businesses for primarily Mexican immigrant workers helped shape the community into an important working waterfront neighborhood. As the community built up around maritime uses, such as tuna canning, military industries, and the Navy, the influx of Mexican migrant workers created a dominant presence in Barrio Logan in the 1910s and 1920s.   [Read more…]

Restaurant Review: Blueprint Cafe

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By Judi Curry

Blueprint Cafe
1805 Newton Ave.
San Diego, CA 92113
619-233-7010

Today was a perfect example as to why I do not introduce myself while reviewing a restaurant until after I have completed the meal and paid the bill.  I have heard about the “Blueprint Café” several times, and have tried to get there to check it out during the San Diego Free Press salute to Barrio Logan this month. Although I have made several arrangements to meet friends there one thing or another has made us change our plans.

Today was the lucky day when all of us were able to meet for lunch at 11:30 am. (All of us consisted of 4 contributors to the SDFP – Anna, Rich, Brent and myself. Brent also brought his adorable 2 year old son “Dino” with him.)   [Read more…]

There Must Be A Magnet Pulling Me to Barrio Logan

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A Visit to the Public Market

By Judi Curry

I have always enjoyed going to different areas in Barrio Logan.  Sometimes I would go every few months; sometimes I would take my foreign language students on a “tour” of San Diego and introduce them to a taco at Las Cuatro Milpas, but NEVER have I ever visited the area 3 times in one week – soon to be 4 times in the same week – as I am doing this week.

Why?  There is no question that I have a compulsive personality. I can no more eat one potato chip than I can eat one piece of “See’s Candy.”  Why only have one martini when two make me feel so much better.  But let’s face it, how many taco’s, taquito’s, tamale’s can you eat in a week?  So what is the pull?   [Read more…]

Parts of Barrio Logan Have No Sidewalks – Does Anyone Care?

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Voice of San Diego doesn’t want to make judgment calls on that issue

By John Anderson

Voice of San Diego (VOSD) has been operating a Tumblr site featuring the damaged state of sidewalks across San Diego coined The Stumblr.  San Diegans are encouraged to send in photos from their neighborhood and the images are added to the site.  It’s a great idea to bring a public issue to light and has even received some love nationally including a nod from The Atlantic.

In preparation for our SDFP focus on Barrio Logan, fellow writer Brent Beltran noted the poor (read: non-existent) status of sidewalks in parts of the neighborhood, specifically along Harbor Drive.  Brent has a young son and mentioned he, and other Barrio residents, would like to be able to walk up to Seaport Village, the bayfront, Convention Center, and other destinations in the south-western part of Downtown.  No surprise – that area of Downtown is popular with locals and visitors alike and is a great place for a stroll, picnic, or throwing a frisbee.

I was already familiar with the area, but am usually on my bicycle and not paying particular attention to sidewalks.  I went out to specifically check out the area and take some photos.  There are large distances with nary a bit of cement sidewalk.   [Read more…]

Review: Barrio Logan’s Ryan Bros. Coffee

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Ryan Bros. Coffee
1894 Main St.   
San Diego, CA  92113
619-546-6314

By Judi Curry

It is so seldom that my daughters and I get together just to enjoy ourselves. Today was an exceptional day for us. Unfortunately, my middle daughter, Lynn, lives near Anaheim and her plan to catch an Amtrak to join us fell through when the tracks were closed for maintenance. We missed her and hope she will join Michele, Stephanie and me at some other time.

Our goal had also been to visit the Public Market and we were disappointed to find out that it was only open on Wednesday and Sunday.   [Read more…]

Drums Beat at the Heart of Chicano Park

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By Olympia Andrade Beltrán

Drums pounding like a heart beat at the center of Chicano Park, Aztec dancers adorned with feathers and gourd rattles pound out their blessings for another year’s celebration with their feet. It has been this way since the beginning. The Aztec prayers are honored in the murals of the park by the founding artists who became danzantes in their own right, a resurgence of centuries old traditions born again in La Tierra Mia.

I was 13 years old when I first donned feathers on my head and rattles on my feet for the 19th Annual Chicano Park Day celebration. I nervously stood in line with other dancers, listening to stories from the elders about The Toltecas En Aztlán and the founding of Chicano Park, awaiting the sound of conch shells to tell me it was time to begin the procession. The smell of smoke and copal incense helped me to focus my thoughts and prayers and as I looked out at the cheering crowd, I raised my head high with a sense of pride, humility and honor.   [Read more…]

SD For Free: Chicano Park Day – Saturday, April 20

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By John P. Anderson

A weekly column dedicated to sharing the best sights and activities in San Diego at the best price – free!  We have a great city and you don’t need to break the bank to experience it.

  1. Address: Map for directions here (intersection of Dewey Street and National Avenue in Barrio Logan, 92113)
  2. Date and Time: Saturday, April 20 from 10 AM – 5 PM
  3. Best For: Good food, good fun, families, historians, artists
  4. Website: chicano-park.org/

This year Barrio Logan and Chicano Park have a lot of reasons to celebrate.  This Saturday, April 20th, at the annual Chicano Park Day from 10 AM – 5 PM presents an opportunity to do so.  Local residents and visitors will gather to celebrate the history and art of the park, as well as to enjoy time with friends and family.  Live dance and music performances will be on display and food and crafts will be available for sale as well.

This year’s Chicano Park Day will be the first since the park was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 23, 2013.  The 7.4 acre park was created in 1970 after local residents protested against a planned California Highway Patrol substation that was to be built on the site.   [Read more…]

Barrio Logan Community Plan Update: Will It Address Community Environmental Challenges?

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By Joy Williams

It’s official: Barrio Logan is an environmental justice hot spot.

According to CalEnviroScreen, the State’s environmental justice screening model, the Barrio Logan area ranks among the most vulnerable areas of the entire state.

Currently, 92113, the Barrio Logan zip code ranks in the top 5% in the state for environmental justice risks to the community and highest in San Diego County.

Developed by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, CalEnviroScreen ranks California zip codes by their cumulative impacts of economic, environmental, health, and social disadvantage indicators. The model is in final draft mode and has had extensive input from community groups, academics, and others. With those particular indicators, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s been in Barrio Logan anytime in the last several decades that we’re at the top of that not-so-majestic list.

A strikingly obvious feature of Barrio Logan is that land uses are mixed together in a way not seen in any other community in San Diego.   [Read more…]

“Everything Comes from the Streets” Documents Lowriding in San Diego Premier

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Registration Required

A new documentary that traces the origins and history of lowriding in San Diego

by Alberto López Pulido

“Everything Comes From the Streets” feature the lives and voices of the pioneers of the lowrider movement in the borderlands of San Diego and Tijuana that brought forth a unique Chicana and Chicano lowrider aesthetic and expression.

This documentary challenges past interpretations of the California Lowrider Scene that has been dominated by lowrider history from Los Angeles and instead highlights the importance of Jacket Clubs, Car Customizers, the U.S.-Mexico border, Women, the Chicano Movement and the establishment of Chicano Park in the history of Chicano San Diego that brought forth a unique lowrider story and movement for California history and the American Southwest.   [Read more…]

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