Thousands of people stood packed onto the sidewalks of West Division Street Saturday afternoon, draped in Puerto Rican flags, vying to catch a glimpse of the 48th Annual Puerto Rican People’s Parade, part of the Fiestas Patronales Puertorriqueñas.
Parade floats and performers were met with cheers and applause from the massive crowd as they ushered in vibrant color, music and Puerto Rican culture along a half-mile stretch from Campbell Avenue to North Sacramento Avenue.
The parade is organized in part by the Puerto Rican Cultural Center. Adrian Rodríguez, 34, co-director of violence prevention at the PRCC, has attended the parade since childhood.
“For me, this is a lifelong tradition,” Rodríguez said. “To see everyone come and participate in a safe space, as the director of violence prevention, that’s the message we want to push: celebrate fun and celebrate safely. It brings a sense of joy and pride.”
This year’s parade also honors the 60th anniversary of the Division Street Riots, which deeply and permanently shaped Puerto Rican culture in Chicago. Joyful spectators today stand in the same place where Puerto Rican locals and Chicago Police clashed in riots from June 12 to June 14, 1966.
After three nights of violent riots and a 5-mile protest march to City Hall, the Chicago Commission on Human Relations held a series of hearings on the plight of the city’s Latino residents, leading to policy changes in the city and new Puerto Rican cultural and support organizations.
“There is a reason we have this parade,” Rodríguez said. “To be able to continue our celebration, our resilience, our fight for our culture 60 years later just shows how much the Puerto Rican community comes together when it comes to moments like this.”
For many, attending is a tradition and a source of community unity. Elissa Cortez, 46, has been coming to the parade with her husband and children for the last 15 years. They drive from Hillside to join in on the festivities, enjoy the music and celebrate their family’s Puerto Rican roots.
“Especially in Humboldt Park, there has been a little gentrification. So it is retaining the Puerto Rican culture, and it’s an epicenter of Puerto Rican and Latino culture,” Cortez said.
Bléun Calderón, 26, a lifelong Humboldt Park resident who has been coming to the parade for as long as he can remember, similarly said the event is a time to represent Puerto Rican culture and stand together with his community.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, or where you’re from. We’re here to support one another and let them know that we’re grateful for the space we have here,” Calderón said. “Every year, people come out, they show out, they show pride for our country, both the U.S, as well as Puerto Rico, which I think is beautiful.”
