Que Viva Chicano Park Interviews

Interview 1

Buen Hombre: Rigo Reyes

Our featured “Buen Hombre” this week is none other than Rigoberto Reyes of the Chicano Park Steering Committee, the Amigos Low Rider association, and the Via non profit working as an organizing force on border and humanitarian issues.

From lowriders to community activism, this Buen Hombre truly represents what Chicano Park is all about. Check out these links to the projects that Rigo mentions. Also we are asking listeners to check out all Chicano Park projects, led by the Chicano Park Steering Committee.

Interview 2

Magnificent Mujer: Beatrice Zamora Aguilar

Beatrice is an Aztec dancer, a community organizer, mother, environmentalist, cook, and very soon a published children’s book author under her own press.  Keep your eyes on this Chicana she’s stirring a lot of pots and we are so excited to see what she is cooking up next.

http://mexicayotl.org/

https://www.facebook.com/DanzaMexicayotl

https://www.collegesuccess1.com/NativeAmerican.htm

Interview 3

Buen Hombre: Dr. Ricard Griswold de Castillo

Richard Griswold del Castillo is Professor of Mexican American Studies at San Diego State University. He received his Ph.D. in history from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a true historian of Chicano Park and the Chicano Arts and Culture Movement. He is a historian, biographer, and children’s book author, with many important titles used in universities documenting half a century of this important historical narrative. 

https://aztlan.sdsu.edu/resources

Interview 4

Magnificent Mujer: Jessica Angelica Gonzalez

Jessica Angelica Gonzalez who is an upcoming Chicana Artist painting and exhibiting her work in Barrio Logan and University Heights. She is originally from Escondido and now has a studio in Barrio Logan and is an artist in residence at Mundo Gallery in University Heights and is assisting Chicano Park Muralist and Art-vist Mario Acevedo Torero in his archives and historical documentation projects. 

https://www.instagram.com/jessangelica/

Interview 5

Buen Hombre: Jorge Gonzalez

Jorge Gonzalez is the Barrio Logan Organizer with EHC, the Environmental Health Coalition. The Chicano Park Herb Garden is a collective community herbal garden for healing, restoring, learning, working and playing. Firmly rooted in the park’s history, the garden is a testament to the vision and resolve of the Barrio Logan community. Established in 2015, the garden is the realization of a need to create safe, healthy, and open spaces for local families and visitors alike.

Environmental Health Coalition (EHC), a non-profit organization fighting social and environmental justice in the region’s low-income communities of color for more than 39 years, had been listening to community request for such a garden space in the park. The land parcel for the garden project is located next to the cactus garden adjacent to ‘Return of Quetzalcoatl’ mural. An active group of volunteers ranging from Barrio Logan community members, local business owners, area organizations, college/universities, and local K-12 schools, to people just walking by and lending a hand, maintain the Chicano Park Herb Garden. While EHC serves as a co-sponsor and coordinator of the space, the CPSC oversee all aspects of the park.

If you are interested in volunteering or a group visit, please email him at JorgeG@environmentalhealth.org

https://www.environmentalhealth.org/

https://www.instagram.com/ehcsandiego/

https://www.facebook.com/EHCSanDiego/

Interview 6

Magnificent Mujer: Berenice Badillo PhD 

Berenice Badillo is a Chicano Park muralist, community artist, and a Registered Art Therapist certified in EMDR. Berenice painted her second painting ever with house wall paint from her home, because that’s all she could afford, on a pillar at Chicano Park at the young age of 17, a dream inspired at the age of 14. Berenice’s story is an inspiring testimony of the power of art, love and determination in the Chicano Movement crossing generations with a fierce will to express her unique reflection of hope and personal vulnerability.

Today, Berenice provides supervision to interns/trainees, individual, family and group therapy services. Berenice works as a mental health counselor at MiraCosta College, is a professor and researcher and provides art therapy workshops to veterans  at The Museum of Contemporay Art San Diego.  She is an immigrant from La Piedad, Michoacán, Mexico and has found herself straddling the many worlds of intertwined cultural and subcultural identities throughout her life. Berenice has worked in communities of socioeconomic need and has extensive experience in working with people on issues of depression, complex trauma, bereavement, drug and alcohol use,

https://www.instagram.com/bbadillos/

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/lifestyle/people/sd-me-one-badillo-20190208-story.html

https://www.facebook.com/EMDRarttherapy

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/berenice-vazquez-badillo-san-diego-ca/733470

Interview 7:

Buen Hombre: Mario Acevedo Torero

This is a video produced from an interview between Mario Torero and Enrique Morones of Buen Hombre in March of 2020. This video uses archival photographs, articles, drawings and images gathered from the inventories of Mario Acevedo Torero and his father Guillermo Acevedo Torero while Mario has been working on cataloguing over this historical content for the Acevedo/Torero archives that spans almost a century.

Mario Torero is an artist and activist, most known over the last 45 years for an extensive body of socially conscious mural work produced in different cities throughout the United States and around the world.  With a long history of involvement in both local and global arts and progressive movements.

https://www.mariotorero.art

 https://www.instagram.com/mario_torero/

 https://www.facebook.com/mario.torero

 Tedx Talk:

 https://youtu.be/sTlhUiAM6Qs