Soy Un Oso, Hugo in El Segundo / Feb. 2007
Hugo(last name not given) shows his high school “colors,” on Father Rahm Street on El Paso’s south side. It is twilight and he has been working on a mural at the Sagrado Corazon church’s gym.
Bowie High School is the main school of El Segundo Barrio, and sits in El Paso’s historic neighborhood on the north bank of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo river. The school is a mix of Mexican, Mexican-American, and Chicano (if you don’t know the difference…another time…there’s not enough space on the net!) and, to be a Bear, un Oso, is an identity that goes beyond most school’s usual mission. To be a Bear is pride. It is a foothold school, a piece of a new country, for some, that allows one to keep one foot in the old one, or, conversely, a part of a culture that is, uniquely, south side, El Barrio, El Segundo. The current Bowie High School is bounded by Delta (2nd Street) and Paisano Drive and Ciudad Juarez is within sight, across the street, one block to the south.
