It’s not clear when or why Chicago police began to close streets, Pedroza said, but he can only attribute it to safety concerns. It was that pride, he said, which led him to become more involved in the community, and for years he helped to organize the parade in Little Village.īut in the last decade, he said, police began to close streets in Little Village and other predominantly Mexican and Mexican American neighborhoods, prohibiting revelers from gathering and cars from cruising in the area. He joined the cruising by decorating his convertible at the time, taking his children with him so they could feel the same joy and pride that he felt. He recalls the excitement he felt every September when Mexican flags were on rows of homes and cars in the community after he arrived in Chicago when he was 15 in 1974. Aside from the official parades and ceremonies, cruising with the Mexican flag “is a tradition very much rooted in our community,” said Salvador Pedroza, 65, a business and cultural leader, and member of the Little Village Chamber of Commerce.
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