Making the MexiRican City

Migration, Placemaking, and Activism in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Author: Delia Fernández-Jones

How Mexicans, Tejanos, and Puerto Ricans became part of the Upper Midwest

Cloth – $125

978-0-252-04484-7

Paper – $28

978-0-252-08694-6

eBook – $19.95

978-0-252-05399-3

Publication Date

Paperback: 02/28/2023
Cloth: 02/28/2023

Series: Latinos in Chicago and the Midwest

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About the Book

Large numbers of Latino migrants began to arrive in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in the 1950s. They joined a small but established Spanish-speaking community of people from Texas, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Delia Fernández-Jones merges storytelling with historical analysis to recapture the placemaking practices that these Mexicans, Tejanos, and Puerto Ricans used to create a new home for themselves. Faced with entrenched white racism and hostility, Latinos of different backgrounds formed powerful relationships to better secure material needs like houses and jobs and to recreate community cultural practices. Their pan-Latino solidarity crossed ethnic and racial boundaries and shaped activist efforts that emphasized working within the system to advocate for social change. In time, this interethnic Latino alliance exploited cracks in both overt and structural racism and attracted white and Black partners to fight for equality in social welfare programs, policing, and education.

Groundbreaking and revelatory, Making the MexiRican City details how disparate Latino communities came together to respond to social, racial, and economic challenges.

About the Author

Delia Fernández-Jones is an assistant professor of history at Michigan State University.

Reviews

"Fernández-Jones draws upon both classic texts of Latina/o history and primary sources to develop this passionate, in-depth historical analysis, which contributes significantly to the scholarly literature on Latino communities in the Midwest and is sure to inspire future research in this area. Anyone interested in Chicana/o or ethnic histories of the US will enjoy this book, which should also become a staple in library collections on Chicana/o studies and ethnic studies. Highly recommended." --Choice

Blurbs

“This is an original, indispensable, and beautifully poetic book that weaves together stories of migration, placemaking, and activism to show how Mexicans and Puerto Ricans made a home in Grand Rapids. With rich oral histories and archival research in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the U.S., Delia Fernández-Jones has written an insightful and inspiring book that makes a vital contribution to fields of Latino and Midwestern history.”--Felipe Hinojosa, author of Apostles of Change: Latino Radical Politics, Church Occupations, and the Fight to Save the Barrio