Compiled by Bridget Vaughn Neighborhood Captain
BEST HIDDEN GEM NAMED AFTER IGUANAS
Taqueria La Iguanita
This taqueria is simple and perfect. I’ve had some of the best tacos de carne asada right here. I’m aware this is a bold statement, but it’s declared with confidence. La Iguanita’s carne asada is my city-wide favorite. This taqueria is also where my sister and I have bonded during the pandemic. We share our life questions and feelings over tacos, passing salsa containers while eating in the car. Shout out to my sister for introducing me to La Iguanita. I highly recommend visiting with an appetite, because you’re going to want more. After you push their two doors to enter, you’ll walk straight to their no-frills menu. You can’t go wrong with any of their options. Just make sure you ask for their salsa de aguacate (avocado) as one of their specialties. If you call, I also recommend not being impatient. You’ll need to wait after some rings because they’re a busy shop and worth the quick wait. ¡Provecho! ( Jocelyn Vega) Taqueria La Iguanita, 3733 S. Kedzie Ave. Open every day, 8am–7:30pm. (773) 254-5064. Cash only.
BEST CORNER BODEGA TO BUY WHOLESALE PRODUCE AND SPICES
La Bodeguita Beto’s Produce
This tucked-away shop is Brighton Park’s official bodega. In the summertime, especially pre-COVID-19, you would have found a bustling shop with a line out the door. But even now, this bodega continues to serve its community, despite the pandemic’s interruption. Beto’s continues to provide the lowest prices possible, because they want to support families and community members. Their handwritten signs and excellent customer service motivate me to return often. Their motto is “¡Ven y Ahorra – Todos Los Días!” (Come and Save – All of the Days!) ( Jocelyn Vega) La Bodeguita Beto’s Produce, 4233 S. Albany Ave. (708) 208-5301 or (630) 457-0636. facebook.com/la-bodeguita-betos-produce-122492602486691
BRONZEVILLE
M
BRIDGET VAUGHN
y parents were born in the South and were part of the Great Migration to the North. My father was born October 8, 1919 in Mississippi. He was the youngest of three children. When my grandmother was birthing dad, she experienced complications. My father’s difficult birth took a toll on my grandmother. She likely went untreated and in lots of pain. She died when my father was two years old. Without a stable caregiver, my grandfather packed up and moved his family to Chicago, seeking a better life in what we now call Bronzeville. My mother was born in Louisiana on September 11, 1921. My grandfather died of complications of a non-medically treated appendicitis. His family treated him with heat packs instead of ice packs. By the time my grandpa reached a hospital that accepted Negro patients, it was too late. He died shortly after his arrival at the hospital. My mother was nine years old when my grandmother made the decision to migrate north to Chicago, to seek a better life for her kids. Once in Chicago, my grandmother and her four children moved in with family, in what’s now Bronzeville. As Black Southerners faced the Ku Klux Klan, racism, lynching, and lack of job opportunities in the South, Chicago became one of the largest Northern cities for Black migration. Between 1910 and 1970, over six million people migrated from the South to the North. Being a lifelong Chicagoan, I can attest that my city is still one of the most segregated in the country. The Chicago Defender played a pivotal role in encouraging Black Southerners to migrate to cities in the North and the West. Between 1910 and 1920 alone, the percentages of Black people moving to the major Northern cities—mostly for industrial work—dramatically increased. In this ten-year migration span, New York saw an increase in the Black population of sixty-six percent, Chicago 148 percent, Philadelphia 500 percent, and in Detroit, 611 percent. NOVEMBER 25, 2020 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 27
