Chicano Park

A year ago I was vacationing in San Diego. During my time there, a friend and I had heard about this place called Chicano Park and all of it's amazing mural artwork. So, while our husbands were at an education conference, we decided to go check it out. We looked up the distance and it wasn't far from our hotel on the marina so agreed to walk. 

Not being familiar with San Diego, and also not being from an urban area, we didn't realize that we would be walking through some areas of town that felt a little unsafe. Maybe it wasn't the smartest idea for us to walk there by ourselves, but I am glad we did. Once we were well on our way, I realized it was outside of my comfort zone, but I enjoy experiencing things that are outside the realm of my cultural bubble. We passed through areas highly populated by what I am assuming were homeless men. We passed through areas that reeked of urine. And we passed by a small restaurant that had the hugest line of people waiting to get food. I believe it was called Las Cuatro Milpas. We didn't want to wait in line, but I hope someday if I go back to try it out!

We made it safely to the park and were immediately enamored by all of the amazing artwork. It is a feast for the eyes! I took tons of pictures. While we were walking around admiring the art and taking pictures, I guess we must have looked a little out of place, because I young man who was playing handball struck up a conversation with us. He asked us where we were from and how we found out about the park. He was pleased that my friend was familiar with handball. He said he was glad we came to visit the park, and that he was proud of it, he grew up there and was proud to be from the community. He wanted us to know that even though the area gets bad publicity and that other communities in San Diego criticized it, that it was not an all bad place.

I'm sure this young man had no idea, but him reaching out and engaging us in conversation was the highlight of my trip to San Diego. I was really pleased that he was bold enough to strike up a conversation with two strangers. I am so timid, that sometimes I have troubles striking up conversation even with people who I know. Maybe I'm naive to even be sharing this at all. I love having positive interactions with people who are different than me, ethnically, culturally, politically, religiously. It reminds me that one day, every tongue, tribe, and nation will be reconciled. We are one race, the human race, made up of many different, unique people and cultures and those differences are meant to be shared and celebrated!

To learn more about the historical significance of Chicano Park click here.

Also, I don't usually like to share when I am donating to a charity because I don't like to seem like I'm bragging, but to honor this experience and in hopes to inspire others to help out if they can, I donated to The Chicano Federation, an organization who's "mission is to invest in undeserved communities through programs that build resiliency and promote self-sufficiency." They are currently accepting donations to help those most affected by the impact of COVID-19 in the San Diego-Chicano Park community. 

I'll leave you with some pictures of the amazing artwork all over the park and hope that you are inspired to take a walk out of your comfort zone and help when and where you can :)