GAGE PARK Compiled by Maritere Gomez Neighborhood Captain
MARITERE GOMEZ
G
age Park is my home. I often wonder why my mother and father brought me to Chicago when we first immigrated nearly three decades ago. Chicago’s winters are so severe that it is discouraged to stand outside for longer than five minutes because it gets that cold. Chicago also takes first place in corruption, compared to other large cities like New York and Los Angeles. Its nickname “Windy City” describes more than the weather. Within Chicago, there is my home, Gage Park. The local alderman is Ed Burke, who takes the cake as the most corrupt alderman of Chicago. But somehow, I love this city and take pride in having grown up here. I’m happy that I can genuinely call myself a Chicagoan. Although it has a misinformed reputation due to violence, Gage Park deserves appreciation because it houses many of Chicago’s Black and brown people. It’s a microcosm of Chicago at large: segregated, Black and brown, and home to many. It is also strange that many don't know much about Gage Park because I know it so well. I no longer live in Gage Park, but I often visit to see my mom. It still gives me warm, fuzzy feelings. However, people who’ve heard of Gage Park link it to gang violence and the recent family massacre on 57th and California. I hold some tragic memories myself. My friend Ubaldo Salgado was killed just blocks from my house. To this day, I still wish there was something I could have done to help him. Maybe, if I had been outside at the exact moment he walked by, I could
have stopped him from meeting with the person that shot and killed him. When I think back to that time, I often think about Ubaldo as a dear friend and not the aggressive person that he wanted others to think he was. I’ve played in a soccer league in the namesake park on 55th and Western since I was a kid. It is because of this experience playing soccer at this park that made me recognize Gage Park as my home. It created a sense of safety for me because of the people from the neighborhood that came together every week. I would see and play with my classmates and meet their families there. Our families became friends. One of my classmate’s dad was my soccer coach. He remains one of the best community members that I know. He recently passed away after contracting COVID-19. Until his passing, I would run into him at the grocery store. He would encourage me to keep on working on my studies and would check up on my general wellness. Currently, Gage Park holds one of the highest numbers of COVID-19 rates compared to other Chicago neighborhoods, and also a high rate of deaths. One in eighteen residents of Gage Park’s 60632 and 60629 ZIP codes have contracted the virus. Say what you will about the large group gatherings or greater COVID testing availability to rationalize these rates; this does not tell the whole truth. Gage Park is a working-class neighborhood. Many Gage Park workers labor in factories where their health is secondary or tertiary to the company profit margins. This pandemic has sharply demonstrated that the government will leave the NOVEMBER 25, 2020 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 51
