Monthly Archives: March 2011

The Annual Cinco de Mayo Parade is scheduled to take place May 7th at 10 AM.

Make arragments to participate or attend today!

Ron ‘Cook’ Barrett

Ron “Cook” Barrett finished an hour-long lecture Friday with a horror story.

Barrett, program coordinator for the New York State Gang Prevention Task Force, told the chilling story of how, at 14 years old, his adopted daughter fell into the clutches of a 19-year-old gang member and eventually was raped by five men as part of an initiation rite.

Barrett stepped the crowd of more than 500 children, parents, teachers and law enforcement representatives at Sangre de Christo Arts and Conference Center through the harrowing night that began with a frantic call from his daughter’s 7-year-old sister and ended with a doctor covered in blood-soaked scrubs, an emergency hysterectomy and a 68-day medically induced coma.

Barrett said he still struggles from the traumatic stress of the night. His daughter eventually succumbed to her own post-traumatic stress, committing suicide in 2001.

“As a community, stand the hell up,” Barrett said. “Say that we can help now.”

Barrett’s emotional speech touched on a broad range of subjects and included videos and graphic photographs of injuries and crime scenes he has encountered in more than 20 years working with New York state gangs and inner-city youth.

“This only works on DVDs and HBO movies,” he said. “This ain’t to intimidate; this ain’t to scare; this is called reality.”

Barrett’s speech was the first of nine scheduled Friday, each designed to deglamorize the thug life and show area teenagers, elementary schoolers, parents and others the honest repercussions of the gang lifestyle.

“We’re not going to pretend that this is going to take care of all of the gang problems in Pueblo. Just like any other group, we’re trying to do what we can,” said Steve Lucero, an intelligence officer for the Colorado Department of Corrections, who worked with the Pueblo East Side Commission to put on the program.

Each of the nine presenters was someone who has lived in the gang lifestyle and was prepared to share actual experiences in it.

“We called it ‘gangster life on trial,’ ” Lucero said. “We’re trying to break down the myths of the gangster life and each speaker will break it down in their own way. I really believe a couple of kids will walk away from this changed.”

Cinco Celebration

Cinco de Mayo is Pueblo’s holiday.

According to Rita J. Martinez, coordinator of the Pueblo Cinco de Mayo in the Parks Committee, that was the deal Chicano activists reached more than 40 years ago.

“In 1969 it was decided by Chicano activists from Denver and Pueblo that El Dies y Seis de Septiembre (Sept. 16, Mexico’s Independence Day) would be held in Denver, and El Cinco de Mayo would be held in Pueblo,” she said.

The pact between the Denver and Pueblo activists lasted only a few years, but it was enough to kick-start one of Pueblo’s most enduring holiday traditions.

Ever since then, there have been Cinco de Mayo activities in one of Pueblo’s parks, except for 1994 when they were cancelled because of threatened gang violence. That year, the committee organized a peace march involving hundreds of youths from the city’s high schools.

Though the Cinco in the park has been the longest continuous commemoration, it wasn’t the first. According to The Pueblo Chieftain archives, a Cinco de Mayo celebration was organized on May 5 and 6, 1928, by “Pueblo Mexicans.”

There were no names in the brief story, but it said that the planned activities included coronation of a Cinco de Mayo queen, a parade from the Pueblo County Courthouse to City Park, food booths at the park and a dance. The program also included “patriotic” speeches from prominent figures in the city. The Mexican consul to Denver was an honored guest.

Six years earlier, 12 men who spoke only Spanish organized the Sociedad Mutualista Ignacio Zaragosa, recognizing El Cinco de Mayo by naming the group in honor of the 32-year-old Mexican army general credited with masterminding the French Army’s first defeat in more than 50 years — Gen. Ignacio Zaragosa.

According to a booklet published by the group, Zaragosa Society formed in 1922 to render aid to those damaged by Pueblo’s Flood of 1921. The organization built Zaragosa Hall in Bessemer in the 1950s and continued to offer mutual aid to its members and scholarships to Hispanic students until recent years.

In addition to offering mutual aid, the group’s bylaws also provided for the observance of the Mexican national holidays and social events. According to some published reports, the society began commemorating El Cinco de Mayo in 1930.

When the group’s membership disbanded in 2009, it was one of the oldest Hispanic organizations in the state. Some consider it an early civil-rights organization, because its stated purpose was to “band together as a mutual aid Society to cope with the many problems obstructing progress in their proverbial pursuit of happiness.”

During the Great Depression years, there was no mention of Cinco de Mayo activities in the newspaper archives. Organizations like the Zaragosa Society and the Commission Honorifica Mexicana continued to celebrate El Cinco within their membership, but it wasn’t until 1970 that the holiday became a citywide event.

The Chicano Movement and La Raza  Unida  political  party focused on the historic date as a day of protest and education. Beginning with the East L.A. Walkouts in 1968, Chicano students throughout the Southwest began using El Cinco as a day to demonstrate against high dropout rates and the lack of Chicanos going on to college.

According to newspaper clippings from 1970, the Cinco de Mayo swept through Pueblo like an idea whose time had come.

An estimated 2,500 people attended activities in Mineral Palace Park where Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales of Denver was the keynote speaker.

A Mariachi Mass was said at the park’s bandshell accompanied by Los Mariachis de Pueblo. Later that night at Zaragoza Hall, Joaquin Diaz, Leonard Flores and Henry Reyes delivered speeches.

The 1971 Cinco de Mayo planning committee consisted of 17 community organizations. Parade entries ranged from the militant Brown Berets to the Pride City Baton Corps.

The Brown Berets carried a statue of La Virgin de Guadalupe at the head of their unit and “periodically raised clenched fists to shout in unison slogans such as ‘Power to the People,’ ” The Chieftain reported.

Floats in the 1971 parade were equally diverse. Groups entering floats included HeadStart, Pueblo County High School’s Spanish Club, La Raza Unida, the Case Verde Club, Charro Club and entries from East and South high schools.

The Colorado State University Extension Office sponsored a tortilla-rolling contest in the park, as part of the festivities.

That year, District 60 reported 3,500 students were absent from the city’s middle and high schools on May 5. In future years, the day was designated as a teacher in-service day, and students were excused for the day.

In the early 1970s, participants at the Cinco de Mayo celebration reached 10,000. Members of the Zaragosa Club continued with their annual activities, but it was the Chicano activists who had the momentum for more than two decades.

Pueblo became the hub of the region’s Cinco de Mayo celebrations. A May 4, 1972, news story reported that two caravans, one starting in Lamar and another 40 cars from Walsenburg, were coming to Pueblo for the festivities.

In 1973 news clips, it was reported that Pueblo City Councilman Henry Reyes and radio station owner George Sandoval chartered a Boeing 707 and took 163 locals to the Cinco de Mayo celebration in Puebla, Mexico, Pueblo’s sister city.

By 1992, Reyes was credited in a Chieftain report with guiding more than 2,000 people to Puebla during the previous 22 years. In exchange, many Mexican dignitaries, children’s choirs, athletes and recording artists have come to Pueblo through the sister-city program started by Reyes.

Over the years, Pueblo’s Cinco de Mayo in the park continued to evolve. Often, Golden Gloves boxing cards were added. Folkloric dance groups brought colorful and traditional dances from many regions of Mexico. Lowriders and car shows, a 5K run, and teatro — Chicano theater — were popular activities.

Pueblo’s Chicano bands have provided the soundtrack to the celebration. For several years, El Cinco was the venue for a battle of  bands like Maya, Burnt Mill Road, Abraxas and San Juan.

On at least two occasions, concerts featuring El Chicano and another with Celia Cruz (1973) packed City Auditorium.

The earliest Cinco de Mayo celebrations were organized by Mexican immigrants with a motive of creating a forum for bringing the community together, celebrating Mexican culture, celebrating Zaragosa’s heroism and military brilliance and teaching the community a little Mexican history.

When the Chicano Movement seized the day to protest a long list of grievances, there was considerable friction between the factions. Despite their political differences, many groups continued to host Cinco events, and the holiday’s base has widened.

The metamorphosis of the holiday continued in 1997, when the Cultural Alliance was formed to create a new Cinco de Mayo celebration at the Colorado State Fairgrounds.

“In the past, this celebration was a fragmented event with different organizations doing their own things,” said Tom Autobee, chairman of Cultural Alliance. “It was felt this year that we ought to try to bring all these organizations together to develop one large celebration.”

The Cinco at the Fair has grown to resemble a mini version of Fiesta Day, with many of the time-proven community activities, including a Mariachi Mass, a long lineup of free entertainment, food and beer booths, kiddie rides and a 10K run.

In 2009, the Cinco at the Fair drew an estimated 4,500 participants. Organizers are hoping for a bigger crowd today.

Currently, five community organizations comprise the Cultural Alliance. They are: Grupo Folklorico de Pueblo, La Gente Youth Sports, Latino Chamber of Commerce, MAES (Mexican American Engineers and Scientists) and the Pueblo Human Relations Commission.

The 1990s also saw the increase in local gang activity as the barrio-unity philosophy gave way to neighborhood rivalries. For many years, Cinco in the park was neutral territory, but that broke down in 1993, when several fights broke out at Bessemer Park.

But the next year, the threats continued, and it was decided to cancel the Cinco in the park and organize a citywide “March to Stop the Violence.” Hundreds marched through Downtown to the Pueblo County Courthouse, where several young speakers called for nonviolence and mutual respect.

The significance of the true meaning of the Cinco de Mayo was not lost on the youth. “We must be just like those people who fought against the French, who did not give into fear,” Robyn Gonzales, then 17, was quoted in The Chieftain.

The newest addition to Pueblo’s Cinco de Mayo offerings is the Cinco de Mayo Community Pride Parade organized by the Eastside Commission, a relatively new group made up of veteran Chicano activists.

This year in Pueblo, celebrants have three venues to choose from, or may attend them all because their schedules don’t conflict. Today from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., the focus is on the Colorado State Fairgrounds. On Wednesday, Bessemer Park from noon to 7 p.m. is the place to be. The week’s activities wrap up on Saturday with the Cinco de Mayo Parade starting at 10 a.m. at St. Leander Church.

According to the various organizers involved, the assortment of Cinco de Mayo events complement one another. Each has something to offer the community.

Martinez said she understands the nonprofit organizations involved with the Cultural Alliance need to raise funds, and she’s supportive.

“They sell beer and we don’t,” she said. “But theirs is a fundraiser. That’s the reason behind it — to raise funds for those groups.

“We have tried to stay away from booze, politicians and non-Mexican foods,” Martinez said. “At the Fairgrounds, anything goes. They sell kolbasi, pizza, hamburgers and beer. It’s like going to the State Fair.”

State Fair General Manager Chris Wiseman said the Cinco at the Fair is good for the Fair.

“We provide the facility, and they take care of all the expenses,” Wiseman said. The arrangement is risk-free for the Fair, which receives a percentage of the beer sales.

Several events helped to mark  to mark El Cinco de Mayo, the celebration of the May 5, 1862, victory of poorly equipped Mexican forces over the French colonial army at Puebla, Mexico.

FRIDAY

Last May, the Cesar Chavez School Network scheduled its eighth annual Cinco de Mayo celebration at Cesar Chavez Academy, 2500 W. 18th St

Events began with a 3.5-mile walk-a-thon honoring Cesar Chavez, founder of the United Farm Workers Union and the school network’s namesake. Participants will leave El Centro del Quinto Sol, 609 Erie Ave., at 1 p.m. and walk to the academy. Students had been collecting pledges for the walk that will be contributed to a nonprofit organization.

A carnival featuring a fun zone for kids, face painting, food and mariachis was held from 3 to 7 p.m. at the academy.

SATURDAY

PUEBLO

The Eastside Commission held its third Cinco de Mayo parade beginning at 10 a.m. from St. Leander Church, 701 Monument, to El Centro del Quinto Sol.

The parade featured student organizations, community groups and many other entries. For information to participate in the 2012 parade, call Steve Lucero at 671-9744 or Cliff Martinez at 240-2896

A volunteer campaign to rid the East Side neighborhood of graffiti is expanding across the city.

A meeting to organize a citywide graffiti removal effort Sept. 15 will be held at 2 p.m. today at the Housing and Human Services Building, 2631 E. Fourth St.

The campaign is an outgrowth of anti-graffiti efforts begun by the Eastside Commission, a group of neighborhood residents who have staged several similar efforts.

“We found there is great interest in not only ridding the city of graffiti, but beautifying all Pueblo neighborhoods,” said Eva Montoya, a commission member. “We have heard from the Hyde Park Neighborhood Association, the Bessemer organization and the Near Northside Cottage Association, among others, about painting over graffiti.”

The East Side volunteers also are restoring murals as part of the beautification campaign, according to Steve Lucero, a commission founder.

“I just got back from San Diego and I checked out the murals at Chicano Park. People in those areas look at that as sacred ground,” Lucero said. “There is no defacing the murals by gangs or taggers because they understand the value of community and cultural art.”

A mural painted in 1979 by Leo Lucero, no relation to Steve, at Plaza Verde Park on the Lower East Side is being restored as part of the effort. Steve Lucero began repairing the mural Sunday, removing graffiti that has accumulated over the years and restoring the mural’s original colors.

The cost of paint, brushes and other supplies is considerable, Lucero said.

“If there is anyone who is willing to make donations to help finance these efforts, call 671-9744,” Lucero said.

For more information or to take part in the citywide cleanup, call 778-2250.