Cristo Rapper and his wife, Armijo Park, El Segundo Barrio, El Paso / 16 de Septiembre 2007
This was a 16 de Septiembre event in Armijo Park in El Paso. Armijo is in the heart of the historic Segundo Barrio. Armijo is a people’s park. This neighborhood is in, actually, the only”urban,” neighborhood in El Paso (hard to define but you know it when you see it: Life exists on the streets) and the park serves the function of all urban parks: a meeting place, a soccer field, a strolling place, a place to walk with the elders, a place to protest (recently it has been used to protest El Paso’s new Renovation Plan. Some people have called it the Demolition Plan because in it are plans to level much of the surrounding Segundo Barrio, the historic “Second Ward,” home to generations of Mexican people), a place to barbecue, a place to celebrate Mexico’s holidays like 16 de Septiembre (Mexico is within eyesight of Armijo, if one looks to the south, four blocks), a place for young people to meet. This “Cristo Rapper, gave his version of the traditional Grito, and called for Jesus and for Independence.
He was preceded by traditional Mariachi who wore sombreros. The times are a’changin’. Corn Rows don’t fit under a sombrero.
I think Father Hidalgo would have approved.
