The Dream Comes True: 300 People, 46 Degrees, and Four Decades of Fighting Finally Break Ground
Part 10: Breaking Ground
From Silicon Valley Latino
“As a child, I was not made to feel pride in my culture and in my people.” Fernando Zazueta said those words on December 13, 1997, standing before 300 people on a cold open lot in East San José. It had taken four decades to get there. In Part 10 of Raíces — Our Story, Our Narrative, Eddie García takes us to the morning the dream finally broke ground.
Missed Part 9? Read Show Me the Money: How the Mexican Heritage Plaza Got Funded Against All Odds. Start from the beginning with Part 1: The Prologue.
Author’s Note
The Mexican Heritage Corporation’s (MHC) vision had expanded over the five-plus years since Councilwoman Blanca Alvarado gathered five community leaders to discuss a Mexican heritage gardens project. What began as ideas for a garden reflecting native Mexican flora evolved to include a plaza for cultural arts events and a kiosk for musical performances. With the City’s $6 million and the MHC’s $3 million in the bank, MHC leaders sought additional City funds.
The project vision ultimately included a cultural arts center, multi-use community space, classrooms, an art gallery, and a fully functioning performance theater. Councilwoman Blanca Alvarado and the MHC fought for additional funding, and the city council approved another $9 million for the project. The city’s redevelopment director and the project’s opponents believed that the cost was unreasonable, especially for the East Side.
The city proposed cutting the project’s budget in half, building in three phases, and using inferior materials. The MHC disagreed. Councilwoman Blanca Alvarado said, “No, no, no!” When new Councilman Manny Diaz replaced Blanca Alvarado, the city told him there was not enough money. Diaz replied, “Yes, there is.” With resilience and perseverance, Alvarado, Diaz, and the MHC kept the dream of building a cultural center in East San José alive.
Today’s excerpt, from Chapter 15 (The Dream Comes True!) of Mexican Heritage Plaza: A Symbol of Resilience and Perseverance, tells the story about the historic morning when the Mexican Heritage Corporation broke ground to build the Mexican Heritage Plaza. It is the 10th installment in a 12-part series for SVL’s Raíces — Our Story, Our Narrative. The book is available in paperback and on Kindle at Amazon: amazon.com — Mexican Heritage Plaza.
Mexican Heritage Plaza: A Symbol of Resilience and Perseverance
by Eddie García
Chapter 15
The Dream Comes True
The San José Mercury News local section reported that “the skies were gun-metal gray, the temperature awfully cold” on December 13, 1997. About 300 people gathered on an open lot at the corner of Alum Rock Avenue and King Road in East San José on that cold December day. Huddled together in small groups to keep warm as the thermometer struggled to reach 46 degrees by midday, the crowd was upbeat and celebratory despite the dreary weather.
The Mexican and Mexican American community’s dream of building a cultural center first entered San José’s consciousness four decades earlier. Through challenging trials and tribulations, the dream gained momentum by the mid-1990s. It took a massive effort by many MHC leaders, politicians, community activists, and volunteers to keep the proposed Mexican Heritage Plaza and Gardens (MHPG) project in the public discussion. Support far outweighed opposition, but opponents at times slowed the process to a crawl.
photo credit Fernando Zazueta
Significant challenges that had threatened the project appeared to be fading. Excitement and anticipation in the community were growing. MHC’s leadership was sprinting toward achieving the dream that had eluded the community for over four decades. The public outreach campaign to solidify public support for the MHPG intensified ahead of the groundbreaking ceremony.
As MHC Board Secretary Joe Coto approached the podium at 11:00 am on that “awfully cold” morning, 300 or so spectators gathered in front of a portable stage framed by two bouquets of helium-filled balloons. A charismatic educator with a soothing voice, warm smile, and confident gait, Coto welcomed the gathering of political leaders, arts enthusiasts, community activists, and Sal Si Puedes neighbors by proclaiming that December 13, 1997, was “a major historical and cultural moment” in San José.
Some in the shivering crowd read along with the official program of festivities in their hands titled The Dream Comes True! as Coto introduced a spiritual Blessing of the Four Directions by a local Aztec dance group. The dancers, dressed in colorful headdresses made of dyed ostrich feathers, performed the ritual, accompanied by drums, rattles, and melodic, horn-like conch-shell notes. Facing each cardinal direction, the dancers offered blessings for new beginnings, transformation, artistic reflection, and wisdom.
Resident arts partners Maiko and Tabia, a Buddhist monk, and the organizers of the Vietnamese heritage gardens also offered multicultural blessings. A line-up of distinguished speakers followed the blessings: Mayor Susan Hammer, Supervisor Blanca Alvarado, Councilman Manny Díaz, city redevelopment chief Frank Taylor, Mexican Consul Sergio Casanueva Reguart, and Teatro Familia Aztlán Artistic Director Adrián Vargas.
MHC Board Chairman Fernando Zazueta concluded the program with a measured yet passionate keynote address. He began with a brief history of San José from its founding on November 29, 1777. He spoke about the first meetings with Blanca Alvarado in 1987 regarding the heritage gardens idea, and the launch of the San José Mariachi Festival in 1992. He was at his most compassionate when he eloquently spoke about how, “as a child, I was not made to feel pride in my culture and in my people.” He continued by emphasizing that “we must correct that error so that our children can reach their full potential.”
photo credit Fernando Zazueta
After the speeches concluded, Alvarado, Coto, Díaz, Hammer, Taylor, Zazueta, and a group of students from St. Maria Goretti Church pressed shovels into the ground to turn over small amounts of dirt and symbolize the official start of construction. Mariachi Azteca, a local group from East San José, played the upbeat, celebratory Son de La Negra as 300 onlookers enthusiastically cheered.
Before the crowd dispersed, Teatro Familia Aztlán musicians took to the stage. They played the classic “De Colores.” Oblivious to the 46-degree temperature, three hundred people standing on the open lot at the corner of Alum Rock Avenue and King Road in East San José held hands, swayed to the music, and gleefully sang:
Y por eso los grandes amores
De muchos colores me gustan a mí.
(And that is why the great loves
Of many colors are what I like)
Four decades of dreaming about a sacred place to celebrate San José’s rich Mexican cultural heritage took a significant step toward reality on that “awfully cold day” in December.
Get the Book
Mexican Heritage Plaza: A Symbol of Resilience and Perseverance by Eddie García is available in paperback and on Kindle.
Purchase on Amazon: amazon.com — Mexican Heritage Plaza
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Also in Raíces — Our Story, Our Narrative
Show Me the Money: How the Mexican Heritage Plaza Got Funded Against All Odds
$30,000 from a community appeal. Less than 3% of what was needed. Eddie García documents how community members with persistence, tenacity, and an unshakeable belief took the dream all the way to Congress. Part 9 of Raíces — Our Story, Our Narrative.
¡Viva El Mariachi! How a Festival in a Cramped Office Became the Dream’s First Victory
Five people. One office. 1988. That is where the Mexican Heritage Plaza began. Eddie García documents how the Mexican Heritage Corporation turned four decades of rejection into a $153,000 mariachi festival victory. Part 8 of Raíces — Our Story, Our Narrative.
The Dream: Four Decades of Fighting for a Space to Call Our Own
As early as 1952, San José's Mexican community was fighting for a cultural center. The city said no. Four decades of roadblocks and demolished plans. Eddie García documents the dream that refused to die. Part 7 of Raíces — Our Story, Our Narrative.
Sergio Domeyko
Publisher
Co-Founder, COO & Publisher of Silicon Valley Latino, covering Latino business and culture across the Bay Area and beyond since 2011.