PHOTO BY VALENTINA PUCARELLI
BACK OF THE YARDS Compiled by Guadalupe Ceja & Jacqueline Serrato, Neighborhood Co-Captains
W
hat makes Back of the Yards so special? A neighborhood that took its name from where it was built, literally behind the old Union Stockyards; an afterthought meant to house the poor immigrant workers who endured unsafe and unsanitary labor conditions to then come home to more unsafe and unsanitary conditions. Houses built over a former city landfill with small rooms whose purpose was to fit as many workers as possible. In its heyday, as the slaughterhouse capital of the country, some even referred to the neighborhood as a “smell” depending on what direction the wind blew. A neighborhood that still today is often an afterthought to many of the local politicians (not all). A community that has suffered decades of systemic disinvestment and lacking of sustainable resources. It’s the people that make the neighborhood. If there’s one common strand that connects the German, Polish, Lithuanian, Slavic, Mexican and Black migrants that have inhabited this area since the mid 1800’s, it’s the grit, the ganas and determination for survival. I mean, how else do you become Upton Sinclair and write The Jungle, which led to the creation of the USDA, or Saul Alinsky, who some consider the father of modern day organizing, or Carmen Velazquez, the founder of Alivio Medical Center? Like them, there are many, past and present who have con-
tributed to the fabric of what is now the Back of the Yards. My family arrived in January 1979, welcomed by the blizzard that famously caused Mayor Bilandic his reelection, to a part of the neighborhood that was quickly changing from Lithuanian to Mexican. They left the city they loved with a climate in the high seventies to an unknown frontier with twenty-plus inches of snow and sub-zero temperatures. It still amazes me to think what drove them, like many others, to leave behind the life they knew to a future of unknowns. Like them, there are many untold stories of immigrant plight amongst my neighbors past and present. Some, because they choose to bury the memories because the pain of bringing them up is too much to bear, thers, because their stories are not as valued. But mostly, it's because the story of our neighborhood is often narrated by outsiders with no firsthand experience or relationships to invest the time. Not everyone is an Alinsky or a Sinclair, but without the Candelaria and Vicente Iñiguez’s of the world, our local economy wouldn’t be thriving; laborers who bring the pan de cada dia (“the daily bread”) from the neighborhood panaderia and carniceria that employ people from the neighborhood. If it weren’t for them, there wouldn't be any of us. That is what makes this neighborhood so great.
The neighborhood is changing, but not because of developers, speculators, and politicians. It is changing because of its own people. For the first time, the next generation isn’t leaving in search of upward mobility. We’re staying, building, and challenging the norms. Longstanding institutions like the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council and the Peace and Education Coalition are coexisting with younger organizations like Increase the Peace and Amor al Arte, all of which were founded by natives. You also have newer small businesses like the Back of the Yards Coffee Company, which I own, and Tom’s Place, started by community members, co-existing with longstanding businesses like Atotonilcos, El Guero, and La Internacional. Despite the picture that outsiders paint of Back of the Yards, this community is thriving, and it’s thriving because of the people and the time, energy and money we’re investing, filling the gaps where the City, County and State have failed us for so long. We are organizing, hiring local, and representing the Back of the Yards with pride. These are just some examples of the many jewels that exist here. The people are the Back of the Yards’ best. ( Jesse Iñiguez) Neighborhood co-captain Guadalupe Ceja was captain of Best of Back of the Yards in 2020 and co-captain Jacqueline Serrato is the editor in chief of the Weekly. SEPTEMBER 16, 2021 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 15
