BARRIOS

Neighborhoods of the people.

There are many barrios throughout Tucson, and only two are portrayed here:
One because of its vulnerability to corporate development and gentrification, and the tireless efforts of a soft-spoken Latina with a spine of steel to save it.
The other because of its strong lowrider culture and Chicanismo. 

Barrio Kroeger Lane

Tucked in at the base of A-Mountain where Mission Road meets Star Pass, Barrio Kroeger Lane struggles against poverty and the onslaught of modern development. Recognizing the sacred and historical value of the land, lifetime resident Josefina Cardenas has worked tirelessly for decades to preserve and enhance what remains.  While she and others in her barrio have obtained working partnerships and collaborations with the University of Arizona, the Tohono O'odham Nation and numerous other community groups, what the future ultimately holds for Barrio Kroeger Lane remains tenuous. 
It is not alone.  Older land parcels that were treated as yesterday's dumps are now today's gold-- sought by investors with deep pockets.
Barrio Kroeger Lane
Barrio Kroeger Lane 2013
Logo - Favor Celestial
Favor Celestial, website for Barrio Kroeger Lane.

Barrio Hollywood

Barrio Hollywood is one of Tucson's many distinctive Mexican-American neighborhoods, famous locally for its former annual Fiesta Grande - a fantastic street fair along Grande Avenue, its main arterial street.
 
This no-nonsense neighborhood is known for its history of activism fighting systemic racism, substandard education, and denigration of Mexican culture and use of the Spanish language. I was drawn to it for its proud lowrider culture - a world unto itself and as American as apple pie.
Tribute to Barrio Hollywood
Tribute to Barrio Hollywood 2012

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*  La Corúa  was a large water serpent that lived in springs of water and protected them. They say it had a cross on its forehead and cleaned the veins of water with its long fangs or tusks. It was a shy creature but could sometimes be caught sunning on the rocks of the spring.  According to Sonoran folk beliefs, if one killed the Corúa, the spring would dry up.  Vanishing water sources and  economic pressures have pushed the folklore of La Corúa  to the dustbin of history on both sides of the border, but La Corúa remains in the minds and memories of elders in the Pimería Alta.

Serpents have been sacred for millennia to indigenous peoples throughout the Americas and are respected as guardians of water sources and bringers of rain.

* Beliefs and Holy Places - A Spiritual Geography of the Pimeria Alta  -  James S. Griffith, University of Arizona Press, 1992

Background painting:  Baboquivari Peak - the monolith landmark defining the Baboquivari mountains southwest of Tucson. The center of Tohono O'odham cosmology, it is sacred and is the home of I'itoi, their Creator and Elder Brother. The peak is visible from Casa Grande in the northwest, south into Mexico.  (I'itoi is also the figure in the O'odham 'Man in the Maze' basket design.)
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