Diálogo

This issue of Diálogo, volume 25, number 1, provides us with an opportunity to celebrate and reflect on the twenty-five years and more of the publication of our journal. Félix Masud-Piloto, Professor of History at DePaul and Director of the university’s Center for Latino Research from 1992 to 2009, created the journal in 1996. He articulated an expansive and inclusive editorial vision for a journal that would publish not only academic work but also the work of “community leaders, organizers, artists, workers, and students” (2). Although Diálogo has evolved over the years, moving from its original magazine-like format to its current incarnation, one aspect of the journal that has remained consistent is our deep dedication to publishing work on the histories and cultures of Latinx communities in the Midwest.

In his inaugural “Letter from the Editor” in volume 1, Félix helped define Diálogo’s mission by pointing to the “pressing need to provide an arena for ongoing conversation about the particular concerns of Latinos in the Midwest” (2). This need reflected the perception at the time that midwestern communities, despite their long-standing presence and burgeoning population numbers, had not yet received the attention in US Latinx studies that West Coast, Southwest, and East Coast communities had. Just over twenty-five years later, a new generation of scholars has begun to fill this gap, and yet, as the guest editors of this issue argue, there is still a lingering sense that the Latinx Midwest remains understudied and that the distinctive cultural and political dynamics of midwestern communities can offer paradigm-shifting revelations and enrichments to the field at large.

For this anniversary issue, then, the editorial board chose to return Diálogo to its roots with the theme “Latines Building a Sense of Place in the Chicago Area and the Midwest.” The research articles in the issue explore everything from the pedagogical uses of digital archives about the Latinx Midwest (Foulis and Alex), to the particular ways that the Chicano movement’s politics played out in Chicago (García), the emergence of Latina stand-up comedy shows in Chicago (Wiggins), and the ways Latina scholars in the Midwest have built intellectual communities and networks through studying place- and knowledge making (Ortiz)!

The issue also brings together important voices and reflections from community members. Jesse Mumm gathers testimonies from Humboldt Park residents Evelyn Rivera and Rafael Lugo, who are “living against gentrification,” while Deborah Kanter reconstructs the ways that Mexican migrants have brought their devotion to La Virgen de San Juan de los Lagos with them to the Windy City. Meanwhile, an interview between Delia Cosentino, Ismael Cuevas, and Elena Gonzales provides us not only with a discussion of how iconic visual and architectural elements have historically contributed to Latinx placemaking in the city but also some early insights into the Chicago History Museum’s upcoming Aquí en Chicago exhibition, which will chronicle the historical presence of Latinx communities in the city.

Finally, this issue also offers an exciting cross section of the vibrant Latinx artistic communities in Chicago, all of which are experimenting with traditional and new forms. The artist Esperanza Gama, a long-standing presence in Chicago’s artistic worlds, for example, combines portraits of Latinx people in the city with the traditional process of painting on amate or bark paper. Our creative-writing section, meanwhile, offers an exciting sheaf of works from poets and writers working in English and Spanish who bring together traditional questions of Latinx identity and memories of migration with reflections on city architecture, the L trains, and the Taste of Chicago.

We hope you enjoy this entrée into the diverse places of Latinx Chicago and the Midwest!