Book highlights Latino contributions

Latinos have played a significant role in the history of California and their contributions are seen all over the regions that, today, make up San Diego County.

Myriad examples are featured in the newly released book, “We Made San Diego,” by longtime San Diegan Maria Garcia. She is a retired school principal, an activist in the Chicano movement since 1968 and an inductee in the San Diego County Women’s Hall of Fame 2016.

The 400-plus-page book is sectioned into seven parts that include biographies of community members, history, the Vietnam War, organizations and people who were the first Latinos in their careers, such as David Bejarano, the first Latino police chief in San Diego after he was appointed in 1999; and a handful of current councilwomen and mayors.

Along with several photographs and copies of other documents, Garcia also highlights Latino contributions that the public might not always think about when visiting certain areas, such as the building of the museums in Balboa Park, the work to keep and beautify Chicano Park in Barrio Logan and even railroad construction and maintenance, which the author said she learned “played a very important role in the life of Latinos on both sides of the border.”

Everything in the book is to share an overarching message, said Garcia.

“It’s to show that we did make contributions, even though it’s downplayed and not recognized,” she said. “I’m hoping people want to know more about this and know that we didn’t just get off across the border yesterday. We’ve been here and it’s more than the glamour of Old Town.”

The process of condensing so much history was no easy feat, Garcia said. It took years of interviews, tracking down families, traveling far north to Oregon and stopping by in Sacramento for research and connecting with new people before the writing and design process of the book could begin. Overall, it took five years, said Garcia.

Garcia said she would like for copies of “We Made San Diego” to be a part of “every library in the schools and in our public library system” to serve as an educational tool and as a way of mentoring younger generations.

“I also think the book shows that there’s a place for everyone . ... Everybody has a role to play in the making of San Diego. Everybody makes a difference – maybe a small difference or a big difference, but you make a difference.”

Garcia is now focusing on co-writing a book about Mexican American baseball in San Diego.

“We Made San Diego” is expected to become available on Amazon next week and can now be found at Celebrando Latinas Boutique in Chula Vista, or by contacting Garcia at m10gotoy@aol.com.