BRIGHTON PARK
B
righton Park represents a crossroads for an immigrant family business, a mother and daughter, and a first-generation Latina college graduate. Despite not knowing one another, they share names of streets, favorite flavors from local food, and the locations that define Brighton Park for this Best of the South Side edition. They also share major life trajectories here: launching their first business during COVID-19, meeting their daughter’s father, or seeing the world through Brighton Park as a child. This neighborhood has shaped lives and opportunities for these three perspectives. Brighton Park is irreplaceable. However, Brighton Park is also at its own crossroads. Future generations could be crossed out of Brighton Park’s current form as interest in the area grows. For example, the Chicago Park District has planned to build a new headquarters in the neighborhood. Alarms of gentrification are growing and with them, questions about who can claim ownership of the community. Like many neighborhoods in Chicago, working-class communities have been targeted through various forms of structural and physical harms as the pandemic before COVID-19. Yet, many Black, Indigenous, and people-of-color com24 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY
¬ SEPTEMBER 16, 2021
A MURAL UNDER A VIADUCT THAT READS "BRIGHTON PARK." PHOTO BY JOCELYN VEGA
Compiled by Jocelyn Vega, Neighborhood Captain
munities continue to collectively care and show love for this hood. They approach this current crossroad with culture, generations of connections, and ancestors from these streets. Alejandro Vargas, Reyna, Daisy Vega, Adeline Rosiello, and Brenda Benítez are some of those community members. A recent mural, on the intersection of South Archer and West 47th Street captures this dynamic. The piece covers both sides of Archer and recognizes the deep ties between Archer Heights and Brighton Park. It highlights community members whose dedication, time, and energy have kept the neighborhood alive during the pandemic. Various community members, families, and affirming messages have transformed the space and recognized the humans that make Brighton Park possible. As a couple, Alejandro and Reyna launched their family-run restaurant MEXICOLOMBIA this year, facing the odds as a new business during COVID-19. They’re determined to show the South Side South America from their family to yours. Daisy and her eleven-year-old daughter Adeline pass through the neighborhood to connect with the larger South Side. Brighton Park is their bridge to fam-
ily in Gage Park, memories, and ancestors who passed away, like her grandfather Ricardo Lara in 2016. Brighton Park connects Daisy’s past with her daughter’s childhood. Shopping small allows Daisy and Adeline to stay creative and on budget. Together, they spend time visiting locally owned businesses as a family tradition. “I want investment, and I want development, I want better infrastructure there. I want to see the roads built up, I want to see more jobs for people, but I want them to be owned and led by the people that live there, that know that community, and that have worked so hard to build it up into what it is...I don't want [Brighton Park] to be pushed away… Something has to be intentionally done differently for there to be a result. Or else, we're going to keep seeing the same thing over and over again,” said Brenda Benítez. Having grown up in Brighton Park, Brenda is the oldest sibling of immigrant parents and continues to advocate for communities like hers. Neighborhood captain Jocelyn Vega is a first generation Latina and hija de Enrique y Obdulia Vega. She dedicates her life to intergenerational healing and ancestral justice for past and future generations.
