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It’s a point that is almost intentionally reinforced, since if you drive on the Chicago Skyway, you drive right over it. This is a part of Chicago that offered hope to many Hispanic immigrants as they worked alongside their immigrant brothers and sisters from Ireland, Germany, Poland, Italy and Eastern Europe, and with African Americans who were part of the Great Migration.
It’s easy to overlook the Southeast Side, but when you look at the Chicago skyline that makes our city so iconic, you see the steel that came out of it. Once those steel mills closed, the neighborhood changed. Jobs dried up, families left and businesses closed. A once vibrant area has now become a shadow of what it once was.
But when you’re raised to accept the toughness of the Chicago Bears’ defense as a civic virtue, you accept the tenacity forged into it by Chicago Vocational School graduates like Dick Butkus. And when you dance to “Sweet Home Chicago,” you celebrate the spirit of the people who live on the Southeast Side because you can’t forget that “The Blues Brothers” was filmed there.
You may overlook this community and its people, but you will quickly be reminded of its legacy every day.
The legacy my family celebrates is not very different from that of many others in the region. My grandparents settled in this community when they came from Mexico in the 1920s, and while half of the family settled in the South Chicago neighborhood, the other half eventually settled in the South Deering neighborhood, another historic community that It was part of Chicago’s 10th district.
My grandfather, uncles and father worked in the steel factories and most served in the army. My family members were small business owners, volunteers, and civic leaders. They worked long hours, took extra shifts and learned other trades, all to put food on the table and build a better future for their children and grandchildren.
Members of the Valadez family at the South Works site in 1958: Lee (left to right), Lupe, Frank, Gerardo, Ben and Mento.
Now that I am a father, I try to pass on my family’s legacy at home to my son and encourage him to carry our home to everyone else. When I was their age, my siblings and I were taught the value of hard work, helping people when they need it most, and always being there for others because sometimes just being there is all it takes. Those values have helped our community survive the most difficult times and have made Chicago the great place it is today.
I consider myself lucky because I have seen these successes firsthand through my family’s work. And I keep seeing it. Through their efforts, members of my family have become academics, artists, chefs, doctors, educators, lawyers, community activists, professional athletes, coaches, and political and strategic communications advisors. This last one is a little different than the others, but trust me, it’s great.
As we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, not a day goes by that I don’t feel grateful for the sacrifices my family made and for being a part of Mexican-American history. My family members paved the way for many of us and made sure each subsequent generation could achieve what they sought: that American Dream.
Jon Paul “JP” Valadez grew up on the Southeast Side and works as a senior director in Chicago at Avoq, a national strategic communications firm. For more information about your family’s trip and the Southeast Side, visit “Mexican-American Journeys by the Southeast Chicago Archive & Storytelling Project”.
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Translated by Gisela Orozco for The Voice Chicago
