S1: Welcome in San Diego. I'm Andrew Bowen in for Jade Hindman. On today's show , San Diego recently held a celebration of lowrider culture , which was honored with a new stamp. This is KPBS Midday Edition connecting our communities through conversation. The United States Postal Service released new commemorative stamps on Friday to honor the culture and history of low riding. The new Low Riders Forever stamps highlight five classic lowrider cars and a culture that's been vital to Mexican-American communities across the southwest , including here in San Diego. One of those who helped create the new stamps is Alberto Pulido. He's a professor and founding chair of the Ethnic Studies department at the University of San Diego. He's also the co-author of the book San Diego Lowriders A History of Cars and Cruising. And Alberto. Welcome to Midday edition.
S2: Thank you very much. Happy to be with you.
S1: Well , first off , congratulations on the release of these lowrider stamps. I know you've been a part of a multi-year process to bring them to life.
S2: It's actually very emotional because it's been an ongoing process. And , you know , I've been working with the lowrider community for a while , but the stamp process probably began about four years ago. So to see everybody come together at Logan Heights Library this past Friday was just amazing.
S1: So you mentioned , yes , on Friday , you took part in a ceremony in Logan Heights to celebrate the release of these new stamps. Tell us more about that event.
S2: Well , it was an event that was , um , uh , sponsored and organized with the United States Postal Service out of Washington , DC. There are forthcoming events. In fact , there was one on Saturday in San Francisco. But what I take great pride in is it was San Diego that was selected for the what they call first issue stamp on Friday. And , um , it was just , you know , it was an amazing gathering , gathering with the people directly coming from Washington. The unveiling happening with one of the postal generals and bringing cars from all over San Diego. And two of the vehicles that were there were actually the ones on the stamp. Hmm.
S1: Hmm.
S2: And I'm proud to say that our research , our book and then our documentary , and then also the digital archive that we have at University of San Diego , uh , drew attention. And I just want to say I was not contacted directly from the USPS. It's these folks who kind of outsource and work for the Postal Service. And it was first just an inquiry about my work , asking me some questions , asking me to write them a brief essay. And that kind of began the journey. But I said it was it was it was a few years ago. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. So four years. Tell me what the process to bring the lowrider and its culture to the USPS.
S2: And when people were inquiring , uh , by all means , I can tell you what I know and , you know , let you know about some references of work that I've been involved in. And so it was , first that initial discussion , there was a discussion around the designs of the cars and the stamp , and then there was a discussion around the vehicles. And one of the things that you'll notice is four out of five vehicles selected were Chevrolets , because I think they've always had they've had a big impact on the lowrider community throughout the throughout the country. And then from there , it kind of , you know , went away for a while and last summer , uh , started to have some serious dialogue with them. And then before you know it , there was a site visit. And then , um , we actually started having weekly meetings with San Diego , um , public libraries. Uh , Vivian Moreno's office , David Alvarez's office , uh , the University of San Diego. Uh , and so that before you know it , here we were and every week was always adding something new. And , you know , we were not like , a , a professional , you know , uh , what I want to say that puts on , you know , these kind of gatherings , we don't we didn't have a , like a PR firm or anything. So we just went from what we knew and what we knew was going to attract the community , and it worked. I think we I heard from the USPS , they come in close to a thousand people there. Hmm.
S1: You also contributed to a historical text that is part of the portfolio that folks can purchase , along with the stamps. Yeah.
S2: Uh , in the years that I've spent , you know , working with the community , you know , what comes out for me over and over again is creativity. And what I like to call kind of Chicano ingenuity. And the ingenuity is , um , being able to do things with very little. And by that , I mean , you know , lo , writing really takes off , uh , after the Second World War. Uh , vets are returning from the military. They've got a little bit of money. The car culture is starting to blossom because we're starting to get interstate highways , and especially in San Diego and Southern California. The highway system was really , really big. So guys just got really innovative and really figured out ways to do things. For example , the hydraulic system that raises and lifts the cars that many people are aware of. With the lowriders , it was it was airplane landing gear from B-52 bombers. And yet these kids and I'm talking about kids , uh , kids that were still in their teens. Uh , they figured out how to go to Pauly Supply in Los Angeles , which is to sell this kind of , uh , military surplus , um , equipment. They figured out how to adapt it to their cars. No manual , no , you know , no YouTube. And , uh , and here they are. And so that , to me , is something that I'm very proud of. It reminds me a lot of members of my family reminding me of my father , and that it was very innovative. And they they raised it to a level where now it's an art form and it's an art form that it transcends space and time and , and people really admire it. And , and and it's just a , it's just a great thing. So that that to me becomes an important part of it. The art and the , the important value of cruising , you know , actually getting in your vehicle and going for a cruise and showing off what you've done to your vehicle. So I would say those things stand out for me.
S1: Let's talk more about cruising. So , you know , there's the culture that's just around the vehicles themselves and the ways that you sort of spiff them up. But cruising was actually banned for decades in many communities , including in the San Diego region. National city repealed its ban on cruising just a few years ago in 2023. So can you tell us more about the history of those bans and the impact that they had on the culture of low riding ? Wow.
S2: Yeah. That's a that's a really , really important topic. Um , here's how I can sort of summarize it in a few words. I've always felt that cruising is about taking over and claiming public space. And so unfortunately , with law enforcement and unfortunately with other people who were in positions of power and cities , um , they felt that these communities , however you want to define them , people of color , you know , Chicanos , uh , uh , women and men , uh , they were a nuisance and they did not have access to the thorough ways of travel , uh , like anybody else. And so we became racialized and it became banned. Uh , and so those , those , those banning of low riding unofficially began around like 1980. And it really shifted the lowrider expression because it went from being something that was from the community , from the streets , from the alleyways , from the backyards. And then it shifted it to the to the car show culture. And that's a very , very different thing. And so that's why our documentary is entitled Everything Comes from the streets , because I learned quite early that low riding , the low riding expression is really , quote unquote , a street expression. It comes from the community , it comes from the culture. And as long as we can preserve it there , I think that's what we need to continue to do now. Yes , we do have new ordinances in cities. Thanks to Assemblyman Alvarez. We know that had the vehicle code changed. But where I think we're still kind of in in process is the various cities. The various municipalities of California need to adopt those. Then the next thing becomes , how do we implement this ? How does the city , uh , sponsor a cruise , let's say Sunday afternoon at 2:00 ? How does that work ? And how do you work in connection with the community ? And we've seen a little bit of that in Los Angeles. I mean , I'm sorry , in San Diego , a little bit in Los Angeles. Uh , but I feel there's just a lot more work that , uh , that needs to be done. And again , um , what we're seeing as this sort of deviant , uh , illegal activity , it's now a family expression because cee lo rating is now three generations deep. So we have grandparents , we have parents , we have grandchildren. So it's now a family gathering , and it's a and it's a beautiful gathering because people are going to the park , cruising , coming together , sharing food. Uh , talking about the latest thing they did to their cars , comparing notes. Hey , where did you get that part ? I've been looking for something like that. It's just it's just a real community based sort of expression. And I can't stress enough how much of that spirit was there at the unveiling.
S1:
S2: The future. I would like to have people really begin to think about this expression as another , uh , aspect of what we might call art. And as you know , in San Diego , we have the rich history of Chicano Park and the over 70 murals that are now there in the park. And that began out of protest. It began again , very similar , out of silencing a community , erasing a community. And it came back even stronger when the art when the muralists came on board and did that. So I would like us to really come to see that within the lowrider community. That's an it's an aesthetic. It's a real part of it's an extension of what our culture is and what it represents. And then I would like people to recognize that , you know , I'm a professor of ethnic studies and ethnic studies. At the core of what we do is we're always looking for new ways of understanding , new knowledge , because for so many years we have not been part of that curriculum. We have not been part of those expressions. So to adapt it and bring it in and look at it beyond the car , look at it in terms of how it brings community together , um , look at it as a , as a very important international expression because , number one , you your listeners may not know that the hot hotspot for low rating right now is Nagoya , Japan. And you go to Sandy , go to Tijuana , very , very active lowrider culture there as well. So that whole kind of building and creating and giving it. It's its overdue recognition. And I think the stamp is kind of like this really first step I'm hearing from everybody. Post office are sold out everywhere we go. So , you know , this is this is a great thing. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Great. Well , I've been speaking with Alberto Pulido. He's a professor of ethnic studies at the University of San Diego and the co-author of the book , San Diego Lowriders A History of Cars and Cruising. Professor , thank you. And congratulations on the stamp.
S2: Thank you very much.
S1: You can buy the lowrider stamps@usps.com as well as your local post office. We'll share a link at KPBS. And that's our show for today. I'm your host , Andrew Bowen in for Jade Hindman. Thanks for listening to Midday Edition. Have a great day.
