[upbeat horn-driven music] ♪ - Chicago, the Windy City, is known for jazz, deep dish, the Cubs, and "The Bean."

OK, I know it's really called "Cloud Gate," but everybody just calls it "The Bean."

But you know what Chicago is not known for?

Latinos.

'Cause when you think Mexican, you think what?

Texas or Cali?

And Puerto Ricans, you think New York City immediately.

But nope, they're right here in Chi Town.

That's right, Chicago has the second-largest Mexican population of any U.S. city and a very, very large, thriving Puerto Rican community.

Latinos have been here longer than Wrigley Field, and they've brought their amazing culture with them.

I'm talking food from Michoacán and salsa from San Juan.

Waves of Latinos came to America's heartland and they worked in its factories, farms, and service industries and they turned Chicagoland into Chicagolandia.

So I'm here to find out what kind of impact decades of Latinx influence have had on the Windy City.

And I'm gonna have some amazing food, because you know that happens a lot on this show.

It's right here in my contract.

"Feed John."

♪ [tracks clacking] [upbeat horn-driven music] ♪ - ♪ [trills] ♪ [upbeat music] ♪ - I'm here on Chicago's West Side in La Villita, or Little Village, where there's one of the largest Mexican American communities in the Midwest.

The Mexicans who settled here came looking for work and ended up creating the second-biggest economy in Chicago right here on 26th Street, the Mexican Magnificent Mile.

With over hundreds of shops, I needed a local guide, so I'm meeting up with Hollywood legend and Chicago native, Michael Peña.

You might have seen him in his breakout role in "Crash."

- You talking about that bullet that came through your window?

- Or his huge hit "Ant-Man."

- Yeah, this dude sounds like a badass, man.

- Michael went from the hood to Hollywood, but he always comes back home.

Michael, what's up?

How you doing?

- What's up, bro?

- How's it going, dude?

I'm sorry I'm overdressed.

- No, no.

I think you're the first person I ever seen with a suit here.

- In this town?

- No, not in this neighborhood, because there's a lot of quinceañeras here.

- Oh.

- So you thought I was going to a quinceañera?

- Yeah, yeah.

- [laughs] So this is your favorite spot, huh?

- I've been coming to this spot since I was four, you know?

- Wow.

- My dad every time before and after soccer games, we would come here.

It just--it's always been a part of my life.

And if I did something good, if I got an A on a test and got straight A's, like, my dad would bring me here.

You know what I mean?

- Yeah, yeah.

- When I was like six, I had the torta for the first time.

And it had, like, cream.

That's when I was like, oh, this is it.

And so for the last 40-some odd years-- - You switched over to torta and forget the taco.

[laughter] Whether you prefer tacos or tortas, his family-run joint has been serving up authentic Mexican food for decades and owner Raul Muñoz has been working at Atoto-- Atoto--At--At--Atoto-- here since he was born.

- How you doing, buddy?

- What's up, man?

How you doing?

Help me say the name of your place because I almost had an aneurysm trying to say it.

- I'll break it down for you.

Ah-toto-nilco.

- Ah-toto... both: Nilco.

- Atotonilco.

- Yeah, yeah.

- I grew up here, grew up upstairs.

- Right upstairs?

- In the neighborhood, right upstairs.

- The first one was right across the street.

- Uh-huh.

- That's right.

- And it was way, way smaller.

- A little hole in the wall.

- Kind of mom and pop.

- Yeah.

- But this is very traditional.

If you go to Mexico, the same kind of food you get in Mexico.

- Oh, so this is authentic to what part of Mexico?

- Jalisco.

- Jalisco.

- Jalisco.

- My dad was born and raised in Jalisco.

- Oh, there you go.

There's the connection.

Yeah, yeah.

So what are we eating?

- Well, we have tortas, which is Michael's favorite.

- Yo, how do you guys make the torta?

You tell me.

- Dude, we start off with the bun.

We put it on the grill.

We put a little bit of oil on there.

- Oh, you put oil, but you don't put-- - Yeah, we put oil.

- You don't put butter?

- No, no butter.

- No, no butter.

- Ah.

- No extra cholesterol.

- No, no, no, no, more cholesterol because they put-- they use the animal fat, no?

- Actually, it's soy.

- Oh, soy.

- No.

Dude, what?

- Are you OK?

Are you all right?

- What?

What?

[laughter] [upbeat music] ♪ So you grew up here, man.

- Yeah.

- This is where you came from.

And you keep coming back to it.

I love it.

- Yeah, I keep coming back.

But I went to prep school, which is 100 blocks away.

- You grew up in the hood.

- I grew up in the hood.

- But you went to a prep school?

- You know, a lot of it was like, I saw this movie "Stand and Deliver."

- A negative time times a negative equals a positive.

Say it.

all: A negative times a negative equals a positive.

A negative times a negative equals a positive.

- In the film, a teacher was like, talking about math and making it really cool.

And I was like, I wanted to go to a good school.

- Something in you saw, OK, this education is everything.

- Because high schools around here, dude, are one building.

And they're small.

And so when you go out there, like, dude, there was two football fields, a cross country field.

- Wow, of course.

- Their parents were like trial lawyers, senators, judges, and stuff.

And they had wealth, you know?

- And how'd you feel about that?

- I didn't feel like I fit in, that's for sure.

- Oh, you didn't?

- But it was great to have that life, to see like these kids, that changed my mentality a little.

It's like, when you grow up in a place like this, right, sometimes, like, you don't think I can go to college and stuff.

- Right.

- Because that's, like, thinking outside the box... - Gotcha, gotcha.

- Outside the box of the hood.

You know what I mean?

- Mm-hmm.

I went to like the worst public schools in the world.

- Oh, my God.

- I mean, I had a great time.

But I didn't learn a damn thing.

- Yeah.

- And that's the problem.

I mean, we're in geographic prisons in a way.

You know, our neighborhoods have the worst schools.

And you're not gonna go to the great schools because they're in another neighborhood.

Except you got out.

- Yeah, the beauty of-- I had like, you know, we were poor.

But then when I said I'm gonna be an actor, and they're like, try it.

You're better than this.

- Damn.

- Yeah.

- You got supportive parents.

- Yeah, you're like, must be nice to have such supportive parents.

- I'm just gonna drink this because it's my only solace in life.

- Hey, gentlemen.

Here we go.

- Yo, bro, that was quick.

That torta does look dope.

- Dude, we gotta break this down a little bit.

You see they have the crema right there.

- What is crema?

Crema just sour cream?

- It's Mexican sour cream.

- But it's Mexican.

- What's the difference?

- It's saltier.

- Saltier?

- Yes.

- OK. - Look at this, bro.

Look at this.

- That's beautiful, bro.

- For me, this is it.

- That's food porn right there.

[laughter] - Atoto-style.

- Easy now.

Easy.

Yo, calm down.

♪ - I've been coming here for so long that you're like, once you take your first bite, you're like... [snaps fingers] That's what it tastes like.

Because you can't remember fully, fully.

- Right.

- And then you're like, mm.

- You bring your kids here to the neighborhood, too?

- Yeah, I bring my wife here.

- Keep that tradition going.

- Yeah, dude, screw it.

- To me, family is everything, man.

It's what supported me, what kept me going, what keeps me going.

- Yeah.

- I know Latin people, for some reason, family is everything to us.

- Yeah.

- Why is that, bro?

- It has to be probably due with the way that we were raised, right?

Like I remember, we had like a two-bedroom apartment.

It was me and my brother, mom and dad, and then seven people with us.

- [laughs] - You know what I mean?

And that's the way I-- you know, that's the way I love to live my life.

- That's amazing, man.

- It's gonna be a little bit of a surprise, but you're gonna get to meet a little bit of my family.

- Oh, I can't wait, man.

I want to meet the whole Peña clan.

- Yeah, that's right.

Like my dad is straight up Mexican and really, really proud of it.

- What does that mean?

- No, because I'm like-- - You're not straight up Mexican?

You're straight up Mexican.

- But when I-- but here's the thing.

When I first got to Hollywood, I was told that if I changed my name, I would work much faster.

You know, there's friends and brothers, you know, that they changed their name and it did help them, man.

But my dad, he's like, [speaks Spanish] He's like don't change the name, don't change the name.

I was like, you know what?

I'm not gonna change it.

- Right.

- But yeah, you're a little overdressed though, so I'm like-- - Yeah, all right, that's not a good look.

- No, no.

- Fix me up, man.

- Yeah, yeah, so I got a spot.

- This is embarrassing.

Now I feel embarrassed.

- No, we wouldn't want you to be embarrassed.

- And I'll take this with me at the same time.

- Yeah, let's go.

- This'll hide me.

I'll hide behind this drink.

♪ But you used to play around here?

This 26th Street?

- Yeah, so we used to just come out here Saturdays and Sundays, just walking around.

My mom was just like "shopping," you know what I mean, basically looking at the-- - Just looking, looking.

- Just looking, that's shopping.

- And wanting, yeah.

- Yeah, that's basically shopping.

♪ All right, here we go.

- Oh, this is it right here.

Is this where I'm going to get my transformation?

- I think that this is exactly correct.

- [laughs] Oh, man, it smells mad leathery.

♪ My God, it's a real bear.

I love this.

I love taxidermy.

Does that make me sick?

You can respect it and not feel in danger.

- It says... [speaks Spanish] - Oh, sorry.

So you used to come here as a kid or this is a brand new-- - No, no, my dad did.

My dad was wearing boots until I was like five years old.

And then he started working in a factory.

♪ - You dress me 'cause this is your fam.

I don't know what your family's going to respect.

- Yeah, to be honest with you, these hats look awesome.

- They do, man, they look so badass.

- Yeah.

I think, yeah, dude.

- Oh, this one fits me good.

- Oh, dude, look at that.

- I could be a cowboy.

Why would all those like, people in brownface and all those Eli Wallach in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly."

- Don't die.

I'll get you water.

Don't die until later.

Son of a-- - Yeah.

- He wasn't Mexican.

- Well, because they wanted to be Mexican.

They wanted to-- - Oh, they wanted.

- They wanted that flavor.

- They were jonesing.

Yeah, they-- - Yeah, dude.

- They wanted to appropriate.

Because yeah, they were like, dude, that looks so damn cool.

- Yeah, damn, I gotta be one of them.

[laughter] - Now you need a shirt, bro.

- Yeah, I do need a shirt.

♪ - Look at this right here though, bro.

- Oh, that's nice.

I like that.

- Oh, dude.

- It's not Gucci or Versace, it's Vasari.

Yo, I want to wear this-- I want to wear this one.

- No.

- Come on.

- Hey, Papi Chulo-- - If that ain't me.

Papi Chulo for real.

Would you look at that?

- Dude, what about one of these?

- That's like papi likes math.

Math with a couple of pencils here and a little protractor.

- What about this one right here?

- Oh, I like this sort of like referee, Gucci.

So when you guys play soccer, I can go, OK, you got a foul, fouled out, Mike.

- Yeah.

If there's a fight, and you're like, "[imitates whistle]" - OK, guys, let's do that fight over again.

Keep your hands to yourself.

Keep your--hey, hey, stop fighting.

Stop fighting.

- [chuckles] - But neither one of us are tall enough.

[both grunt] - Dude, it's like high-fiving an NBA player.

You're like, what's up, man?

- What's up, Shaq?

- What's up, Shaq?

[laughter] ♪ - What do you think?

Boots, too?

- Yeah, exactly.

♪ I think these bad boys will be absolutely perfect.

- That's right, my brother man.

What kind of leather is this, brother?

- Monster fish.

- Oh, yeah, I believe that.

How come--how come you're not dressed up like that?

- Oh, no, no, I was talking about you.

'Cause you were overdressed and I said, you know what-- - And now I'm not overdressed?

- Now you're perfect.

- I want to blend in.

- You're gonna blend in perfect with my family.

- Oh, I can't wait.

- They're gonna appreciate this.

- Why are you laughing so much?

- No, no, no, it's just-- it's just because you're funny.

You're a comedian.

- Is that what it is?

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[laughter] [upbeat Western music] ♪ - I can't wait to take part in Michael's traditional Mexican barbecue.

And I hope they see that I put a little extra effort to honor their culture.

- Ladies and gentlemen, John Leguizamo.

[cheering] What's up?

- I feel chill.

How are you?

- What's up, dude?

- Thank you for having me.

- Don't even-- don't even worry about it.

He's just gonna blend in real quick, dude.

[laughter] - He told me I would blend in.

- Yeah, yeah.

[laughter] Oh, this is Sylvia.

She really wants to meet you.

- [speaking Spanish] Nice to meet you.

- Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

Easy.

- How are you?

- Careful, Sylvia.

- Welcome, John, to my home.

- Thank you.

What a beautiful home you got.

- Yeah.

- These are the gamblers right here.

Well, this is my son.

- Yeah, yeah.

[laughter] - This is everybody else, the gamblers.

- These are the gamblers?

Oh, yeah.

The domino players.

That's your pops?

- Yeah.

[all speaking Spanish] - You got a very talented son.

That's what you do like, normally here, when you come home?

- Basically, the same people just show up.

I mean, we've been doing this for-- I don't know, forever.

- A couple of decades?

- Yeah.

Shall we eat, man?

- Yeah, let's eat some of this.

- OK, everybody, I know you guys ain't shy.

Come on.

[all speaking Spanish] What is it?

[laughs] - I notice that I'm standing out a little bit.

- Is it because of that shirt?

- I'm a buffet of bad taste.

[laughter] - Where's Mike's at?

[laughter] [laughter] - I politely declined.

- Your outfit is great.

But that's not us.

[laughter] - All jokes aside, growing up as an immigrant in New York City, it was tough figuring out how I fit in and I wondered how these guys handled that same struggle here in the Midwest.

How do you keep your Mexican culture, if you are keeping it alive?

- So when our family moved here, it was like we had to adapt, right?

It was like more Americanizing us... - Right.

- So we can be accepted.

- Right, right.

- We're Mexican-ish.

We're not into traditional that much.

But when I went to the Canelo fight and they're singing the Mexican national anthem, I'm like, "What the hell is this song that everybody's singing?"

I don't know what nobody's singing.

All of a sudden, I was listening to the whole crowd.

I'm like, "Damn, I'm not Mexican."

[laughter] - Right, right.

- I'm missing all this culture.

- Yeah, yeah.

- Because I'm from the South Side of Chicago, but I'm like, you know, I'm not like into the culture every day.

So I was like, "Damn."

And I felt that pride.

- Right, right.

- Even though like I say, you notice that people from Mexico don't really like Mexicans from America.

- So what's the beef?

What's the hate?

- Because we're Mexican but we're not Mexican.

And then Americans don't hate-- Americans don't like Mexicans because we're not Americans.

So it's like we're in the middle.

- No, I felt that too.

I feel that too being a Latin Colombian guy.

I was always kind of feeling like I was in between, between worlds.

You know, I wasn't really Latin enough.

And I wasn't really accepted by Americans.

I was always, like, trapped somewhere in the middle.

- Here in Chicago, it's like the higher numbers you grow up, it's like the better area you're in.

So if you go from, like, Little Village, which is like 26th Street, to the higher numbers, like we're in the 60s right now, it's like you're doing better in life.

- Yeah.

- You're doing better in life.

- Climbing up, yeah.

- So in the '80s, we got to 47th Street, and we were one of the only Méxicano families in the whole neighborhood, in the whole neighborhood.

- For miles, yeah.

- We weren't accepted.

We were not accepted.

- How did they show that you weren't accepted?

- They burned down our garage.

- Oh, snap.

- They graffitied our house.

- When we first moved here, I think it was-- I was 11, so like mid-'80s or whatever, and we went to the park, Marquette Park, And that's the first time that I ever heard spic and wetback.

- Yeah, exactly.

- And razor, go back to your country.

I was in seventh grade, dude.

Like, you don't want to hear that when you're in seventh grade.

Like, that hurts, dude.

- Yeah.

- And I would get into fights, you know?

But when I met these guys, I was like... - High school years.

- 16, 17.

- We just became boys.

- So what made you become friends?

- We were kind of like the two, you know, we were nerdy or whatever.

And then I met his mom, you know, Sylvia.

- Oh, Sylvia's your mom?

- Yeah, and she's like my second mom.

She always pushed school.

- She was the first one in the whole family with a bachelor's degree.

- My parents, you know, they came from Mexico.

She's, you know, second generation.

But her sphere of influence is like crazy, dude.

You know, like it's really affected everyone.

Like, I would have never thought to be an actor.

You know, I never dreamt that big.

- She's the one who told him to go on his first audition.

- Incredible.

- But he's always been a hard worker, dude.

- Yeah.

- Even if he didn't succeed in acting, whatever else he would have done, he would have been-- he would have been great at it, dude, period.

That's it.

- Yeah, there, you got it.

You go it.

- There you go, look at that.

That's my best friend.

- Is that right?

- He's gonna put a poster, Michael Peña for president.

- It sounds like you always had a work ethic and you always had a sense of keeping at something till you got good at it, like you were driven.

- Yeah, and I learned it from that guy, from my dad.

- Which guy?

- From that guy.

[laughter] He had a full-time job.

And then he had a job at night and then he had a job on the weekends.

- Right.

- To put me through prep school.

- Prep school was-- - It was expensive.

- Yeah, yeah.

- Dude I had to work two full-time jobs in the summer.

And I remember I slept like three, four hours a night because it was two eight-hour shifts.

- Sí.

- Yeah, yeah.

- Balancing multiple cultures for first-generation Latinos is never easy, especially if they're made to feel like outsiders in their new home.

Sometimes friends who feel like family can provide that extra support.

And in Michael's case, it was his godmother Sylvia.

So I want to hear how you inspired all these young fellows into being who they are today.

- Well, I had the high school across the street from my house, so these guys were always hanging out.

My son always was bringing somebody home.

But Mike was full of energy.

And I said he's gotta do something with his energy.

I think he would be good as an actor.

- You're like a skilled placements person.

- Yeah, I saw the skills that he had.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- I mean, I'm so proud of him.

I mean, we're all so proud of him.

He's very humble and he's true to his family and his neighborhood.

And he always comes back.

He always comes back, you know, to visit home.

- Each wave of Latinx immigrants sets down a new foundation for the next generation to build upon.

And it's these extra support systems that create opportunities where they didn't exist before.

[upbeat music] - A lot has changed in Chicago since Michael Peña was a kid.

Latinos now make up nearly 30% of Chicago's population.

But Latinos have been systemically underrepresented in the city's government.

And Illinois' first Mexican American representative, Congressman Jesús Chuy García, who I'm meeting today, has been working to change that.

Congressman García wants to make sure that Mexican Americans in this city are seen and heard.

And one way is by showing off the Chicago Mariachi Project with this warm traditional welcome.

[all singing in Spanish] ♪ - [speaking Spanish] [cheers] - This city has a rich history of activists and community leaders, and Congressman García is cut from that same cloth.

Chuy started out as a community organizer, then became a politician.

He started Enlace, a community-driven activist group that among other achievements demanded a new high school be built in Little Village, one of the most under-resourced communities in Chicago.

- We are going to be sure that the money that has been approved goes to the people in need.

[all cheering] ♪ all: Sí, Señor!

- Bravo, bravo.

Amazing.

You guys killed it.

Chuy, what a welcome.

I don't deserve it.

- [laughs] Yes, you do.

Welcome to Little Village, La Villita, and Jardín Esperanza.

- The Garden of Hope.

- Yes.

- Absolutely.

- There used to be a house here.

It burned in a fire.

There were efforts to make it a parking lot.

We said, "Oh, no, it can't be a parking lot.

We need green space to instill hope in this community."

- They don't understand how important green spaces are for mental health.

- Yeah.

This neighborhood represents home for so many people.

It represents family.

It represents our culture.

- And all that's here?

- All that is here every day.

- Who instilled that in you?

- I learned it from my parents, especially my mother.

She raised us while my father was working in the U.S.

He came as part of the Bracero Program.

We arrived in what became the largest Mexican migration to the U.S. - Wow.

- And it's been home ever since.

- While Americans fought in World War II, it was Mexicans who helped build the Midwest.

The Bracero Program recruited them to work on American farms and factories across the United States.

But just as quickly as they got here, Americans wanted them out.

Ever heard of Operation Wetback?

Well, get this.

Once the war was over, President Eisenhower's administration had the Immigration and Naturalization Services deport hundreds of thousands of hardworking Mexicans and even Mexican American citizens who had the right to be here.

They used military-style tactics to rapidly locate, process, and deport people.

This program led many to believe the government's actions were racially motivated.

Operation Wetback was the biggest mass deportation of undocumented workers in American history, and tens of thousands of immigrants were shoved into buses, boats, and planes and often sent to unfamiliar parts of Mexico where they struggled to rebuild their lives.

This campaign has had a lasting effect on how Mexican Americans have been treated in Chicago.

- For many decades, our community was excluded from politics and government.

We challenged Chicago's legendary machine structure, electing people to the city council, to the state legislature... - Mm-hmm.

- And now we're a leader in the fight for Latino empowerment and representation.

- That's amazing, man, that Chicago has that kind of Latinx power.

But what are the biggest challenges facing the Latinx community here in Chicago?

- We need good schools, we need good access to health care.

If you don't have investment in those basic building blocks, you'll have dysfunction, you'll have dropouts... - Yeah.

- You'll have gang violence, you'll have drug addiction, you'll have all of those things.

- You know, there are certain districts that are getting the money and the proper supplies and yet, you know... - Yes.

- Somehow our communities are not getting it.

- That's right.

And we fight for political empowerment because we know that those are tools to improve the quality of life.

We just elected the first Central American congressperson from Illinois... - Oh, wow.

- In Delia Ramirez.

In the next decade, I predict there will be a Latina or Latino mayor and there will be a Latinx governor.

- That would be big, because Chicago is known for its machine politics.

Throughout the 1900s, the same politicians kept getting elected year after year, and because their policies promoted discriminatory hiring and residential segregation, communities like Little Village continued to be shortchanged.

That is why Chuy is determined to break that cycle.

There's this Greek phrase, but Latinx people have adopted it and especially Mexican activists, "They tried to bury us, but they didn't know that we were seeds."

What does that mean to you?

- It means that for a long time, we were fighting invisibility.

- Mm-hmm.

- We knew we were here.

We knew there were many of us, but no one could see us.

As seeds begin to grow, they begin to get stronger, they begin to be seen, and they begin to find their voice and assume their role in society.

It's called flourishing.

We are a flourishing community... - Yes, sir.

- Here in Chicago.

- That's awesome, man.

You're a beautiful man.

- Thank you, my man.

♪ [upbeat music] - Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood is known for its art, thanks to the Mexican Americans who painted murals all over this barrio starting back in the 1960s.

Before long, Pilsen became hip and the property values then went up and so did the rent.

Over the last 20 years, thousands of Mexican Americans have had to move out.

Gentrification strikes again.

But the murals they left behind continue to tell their stories, and Mario, a tour guide from the National Museum of Mexican Art, knows what's up.

How are you doing?

- Hey, John, how are you?

- So you're an expert on Pilsen murals?

- I like to believe I know a little bit.

- [laughs] - Mario grew up in Pilsen and has been fighting every day to preserve the heritage of this community.

- We have a lot of public art here in Pilsen, murals that deal with social issues such as violence, but also celebrate the heritage of Méxicanos.

So this first mural was done by an artist named Héctor Duarte, and it's painted on his actual house.

- Oh, that's his house.

- The artist lives here.

- Oh, it's beautiful, man.

It's so powerful.

- It was actually this mural that was my introduction, I feel, to a lot of the things I do now.

- The great street art, or you like to call it public art.

- Yeah, yeah.

- I love that.

- Héctor Duarte studied muralism in México, right, under schools that were opened by the masters of muralism.

- Oh, yeah, the great muralists of the world.

- Yeah, yes.

[upbeat music] - Check it: the three giants, or Los Tres Grandes, David Alfaro Siqueiros, José Clemente Orozco, and Diego Rivera are the fathers of the modern Mexican muralist movement.

They painted murals that spoke to cultural identity, politics, oppression, and resistance, a message that is alive and well in Pilsen.

- So this is a self portrait of the artist.

The body is constructed from the desert on his torso and his arms.

And the Rio Grande as the jeans, right?

There's a connection to those who died attempting to cross the border.

So this is his way of paying tribute, right?

- The border, it's a forced idea.

What Americans don't understand is that we started the problems that caused that migration.

In the past, what we now know as the border was a corridor that Indigenous communities crossed freely.

Today, people are crossing that dividing line illegally, often due to foreign policies implemented by the U.S., upending their democracies and economies.

This mural captures some of that shared trauma.

- The next mural documents this very unfortunate reality, having to live in communities that are often plagued by violence, right?

It's by the artist Jeff Maldonado.

And it was inspired by the unfortunate, tragic death of his only son who was killed in a case of mistaken gang identity... - Oh, man.

So sad.

- The day after his 19th birthday.

- That's his picture right there, right?

- Yes, so that's Jeff Jr. over there.

Hundreds of teens came out to help with this project.

- Oh, amazing.

This is stunning.

- These four panels that we have down here are lyrics that were taken from songs written by Jeff Maldonado Jr. - He was a rapper, right?

He was a rapper?

- He was a rapper.

He was an emcee.

But he was killed getting ready for his big first public performance, unfortunately.

- Oh.

I mean, the lyrics are great.

"We need to work hard to make the world better."

"Stop killing each other start coming together."

I love when a mural celebrates heroes and as well shows us some of the damages done to our communities.

You know, it doesn't all have to be celebratory or it all doesn't have to be about oppression and pain, either, you know?

- Absolutely.

We do both, right?

And I think we do both well, right?

- Yeah, yeah.

People think that we're silent or that we're not speaking up or acting out.

We are in art, which is the best way to speak out.

- You know, if the art is done well and it's done with great materials like the one that we have here... - Oh, it's so beautiful.

- I's work that can live on forever, right?

♪ - In Pilsen, their art is here to stay, with collectives like Instituto Gráfico de Chicago, which was inspired by El Taller de Gráfica Popular, or the People's Workshop, in Mexico City.

Established in 1937, that printmaking collective championed revolutionary social causes and gave people the tools to express their beliefs.

Hey, what's up, what's up?

How you doing?

- How's it going?

- Qué pasa, qué pasa?

Qué pasa, qué pasa?

- Welcome to Grabadolandia.

In English, it's Printland.

- Printland.

- So Printmakingland.

- Got it, got it.

- But we just call it in Spanish, Grabadolandia.

- What about printmaking speaks to you?

- Printmaking is the most democratic form of art.

- Oh, yeah?

Why?

- Because you just need one block... - Right.

- And you can get the message everywhere.

- Why don't we get your hands dirty and try to get you to do some printing?

- I'd love it.

♪ - If you want, run a t-shirt with me.

- Yeah, I do.

I love this one.

♪ Following the tradition of popular movements in Mexico, Instituto Gráfico believes that everyone deserves the opportunity to express themselves.

- And I'll just keep a hand on it so it won't pop up.

- By inviting local artists to teach the printing process to the community, IGC is ensuring that whether it's on a t-shirt or a wall, everyone can get their message out there.

- This is the moment of truth.

Damn.

And there you go.

- Oh.

That's beautiful.

- There's your shirt.

- Stunning, man.

Look at that.

From what I'm seeing, it's all about standing up for what you believe in.

So badass, right?

And you know I'm all about that.

- OK, y'all, let me tell you a little about Gage Park.

This suburb on the Southwest Side of Chicago is 91% Latino and nearly 20% of its residents live below the poverty line.

It sometimes gets a bad rap for crime.

- Gunfire erupts in Gage Park.

- Chicago police say two men have targeted small businesses.

- But that's unfair.

The folks here know there's so much more to this area, like the young community organizers-slash- revolutionaries I'm meeting up with today, the GPLXC or Gage Park Latinx Council.

- [speaking Spanish] - How you doing?

- Welcome to GPLXC.

- And welcome to the first cultural center in the Southwest Side that is led by queer, Latinx, and immigrant folk.

- Whoo, yes.

- Yeah.

- What was the inspiration to start this?

- Samantha and I spent a lot of our childhoods here in Gage Park and created what we wished we would have had when we were younger.

As a first generation, queer, Puerto Rican, Mexican kid, I thought that I was the only gay person in this whole community.

So we created this space where we do a bunch of programs.

- They're all rooted in art activism and popular education and social justice, and really the goal is for young people to begin reimagining the possibilities for themselves and their communities.

- With a food pantry, immigration services, and art programming, GPLXC is bringing back a place of honor and respect for queer folk in their community, and building these positive relationships is more crucial than ever because the basic human rights of queer people are under attack.

- 380 anti-LGBTQ bills have been filed this year across the country, and research showing if passed, they'll disproportionately affect people of color.

- And instead of letting politicians determine their fate, these young adults are planting the seeds of change on their own.

- Hello, everyone.

- Hi.

Thank you for inviting me here.

- These are our Queer Riot youth interns.

They've spent the summer learning about LGBTQIA+ history, but with a focus on POC, Black and brown folks, Indigenous folks... - Right.

- Histories that we don't often get told in our community.

- I'm dying to hear what you've learned.

- So like, we learned that in states like Oaxaca, they have a specific role for queer people to fit into, and it's like a place of honor.

It was really empowering to see their cultures celebrating queerness, 'cause, like, growing up in Chicago, like, I don't see queerness, our queerness, being celebrated.

It's something you have to hide.

But seeing that celebration geared towards queer people, if it existed before, it can exist again.

It's empowering.

I love that.

- That's incredible.

Through history, it becomes empowerment, you know?

Like, if you know your history, where we came from, we can go back to it, like you said.

- There is power, the power to kind of change society, talking about possibility models.

And we don't see anybody who has done the things that we want to do.

- I love that term.

- Yeah.

It's hard to just create things from scratch.

If I would have known about Danny Sotomayor when I was a little boy, that would have changed my life.

- Tell me who's Danny Sotomayor, tell me.

- Danny Sotomayor is a Puerto Rican Mexican who grew up in Chicago, and he was one of the leaders in the ACT UP movement around the AIDS epidemic in the '80s.

He was an artist, he led protests, he created change, he basically shamed the government into helping queer people that were dying of AIDS.

That story wasn't told to me, so when I found it by accident, and I'm like, "Wait, Puerto Rican, Mexican, Chicago?

Like, that's me."

- We're unlearning, and then we're also learning about our histories.

How are we reimagining possibilities for ourselves and our communities in that process?

- After being in this program, I was, like, given the resources and everything to say, "OK, if I want to start a movement, this is how I would do it."

I have those blueprints to look back to of people who were like me who advocated for themselves and advocated for their rights.

- Amazing, amazing.

- Also a lot of people in power tend to speak like kids don't know they're queer, but kids have been knowing they're queer and kids will continue knowing they're queer.

It's just about creating spaces for youth to really embrace their queerness.

- Like putting together our pride party that we did at the end of June.

And we just, like, had each other to, like, enjoy and to really have fun and to be like we're queer and we're here, you know?

- Aw.

- And when you're a part of a marginalized community, being happy is an act of revolution.

- Yes, sir.

[crowd cheering] You just said it so beautifully.

Resistance through joy, you know what I mean?

Celebrating who we are and partaking in, you know, block parties and dancing, that we still get joy out of our lives.

- And that's not the narrative you get when you go to the Southwest Side of Chicago.

You're going to see completely different headlines of stories about those struggles.

If everybody's telling you like, "You're from a bad neighborhood, that's a bad school," like, you're going to internalize that and be like, "Man, maybe I'm a bad person."

- And we have to unlearn it, like you said.

And you have to reimagine yourself and reimagine your possibilities because you're coming from all this internalized self-negativity.

- Everything I used to be ashamed of as a child is exactly what has me sitting here today.

- Right, right, empowered you.

- Yeah, and once you take away other people's shame, when you're not carrying that, then you shine.

- And everybody everybody here shines.

The power to imagine an inclusive future where all humans can shine is revolutionary.

Some might call it idealism, but the GPLXC is making it a reality.

[upbeat music] - When it comes to the Windy City, Caribbean culture is not the first thing that comes to mind.

- John.

- Mikey O, I've heard so much about you, man.

- Welcome to Humboldt Park.

- But starting in the '40s, waves of Puerto Ricans came out west looking for work and settled here in neighborhoods like Humboldt Park, so to get the lowdown on this slice of PR in the Chi, I called on the man about town, Mikey Oquendo.

[upbeat music] Mikey O grew up here and has everyone on speed dial.

Nobody knows this neighborhood better than him.

- We're approaching La Division, Division Street in Chicago, which is central to the Humboldt Park community.

Puerto Ricans know it as La Division.

- La Division.

- Every Puerto Rican in Chicago has a Division Street story because there is a little bit of everything, right?

You've got El Mercado, the WEPA market.

It's an opportunity for young entrepreneurship.

Then you've got UrbanTheater Company.

- Right.

- To get folks here an opportunity to experience theater.

- But Humboldt Park wasn't always this way.

The Chicago machine structure affected all Latinx communities, and it took generations of Puerto Ricans demanding equality to make change.

- This was a very, very segregated city.

We couldn't go in certain areas where, you know, it was clear that Puerto Ricans were not welcome.

The injustices that were happening in this community to the people, the police brutality, the poor government-- - Not giving resources, not giving money for sanitation-- - Nothing, nothing, nothing.

- Education.

- Nothing.

- Yeah, nothing.

- I hate to say it this way, but, you know, it takes a village?

Well sometimes, it takes a riot.

- Right, right.

- You know what I mean?

In 1966, the police shot a young Puerto Rican man, setting off a series of riots.

- Following the shooting of Arcelis Cruz, Humboldt Park rioted throughout the '60s and '70s.

These protests showed the power and organization of the Puerto Ricans living here.

Out of the ashes formed one of the most important civil rights groups, the Young Lords, led by José Cha Cha Jiménez.

A Puerto Rican political activist and Chicago legend, Cha Cha Jiménez transformed the Young Lords from a street gang to a human rights group and they provided everything from hot meals to health care and grew into a national movement.

I'm always upset and angered that I never see Latin people in documentaries about activism in the '60s and '70s.

But we were there.

- Yeah.

- We were fighting.

So now who do we have?

Who are our heroes now in this community?

- Now you have a firehouse that, you know, the fire engine says Humboldt Park Bomberos.

And it's mostly Latino firefighters.

- Oh, yeah?

- You couldn't imagine that 30 years ago.

But the impact that has on a little kid.

- Oh, yeah.

- Watching guys that look like you as first responders taking care of your neighborhood?

- Every day superheroes.

- They're every day superheroes.

- In your community.

Yeah.

- Absolutely, man.

- It isn't surprising for a fireman to be a hero, but it's uncommon for a fireman to be Latin, because 77% of firefighters in the United States are white.

So how did the Humboldt Park Bomberos crack the code?

- John, here are the Humboldt Park Bomberos.

- Oh, [speaking Spanish].

- The pride of Humboldt Park.

- Frank Velez, Chicago Fire Department Chief.

- Johnny Musa.

[speaking Spanish] - This is an all-Latin firehouse?

- Correct.

- How did you do that, man?

- I always wanted to work in my community, and Lieutenant Musa also had the same inspiration.

- So they were just accepting of Latin people coming into a predominantly white boys club?

- Well, there was some resistance, but we're here.

- Some?

Like how?

How did you know they were resistant?

- When I first came on in 1989, Hispanics only made 2% of the entire department out of 6,000 people.

And what that tells you?

- So how did you get this diverse firehouse?

- We go out to the community, Hispanic communities, and the leaders to push out the word.

- You were proactive... - You have to.

- In bringing Latin people to this firehouse?

- And just young Hispanic men seeing us doing it inspires them for them to be able to come and do it.

- Right, right.

- So now what happens is that then these guys become firemen, they become officers, they become chiefs, right?

- Yes.

- And then all of a sudden, the workforce reflects the community.

- Right.

- And guess what?

The community is extremely receptive and welcoming to this, right?

And by the way, the house has adobo smell coming out of it when these doors open.

So let's go meet up with-- - Come on in, meet some of the guys.

- Oh yeah, thank you.

This is my crew for the day.

- How's it going, fellas?

Man, what's up?

- Hi, man.

- How are you?

- My name is Ruben.

- Ruben.

- I'm the engineer.

I drive our engine.

This is the life heart.

- Right, right.

- And the pride of Humboldt Park right here.

- These guys have every right to be proud of what they do, because not everyone is cut out for this line of work, and they're about to put me to the test.

- We got some gear here.

And without this gear, we can't kiss the dragon, right?

This is where all our candidates go through.

They put this on.

And John, you gotta do this in under a minute.

- Under a minute?

I put $100 that I can beat y'all.

- He got $100 out.

[laughter] - Oh!

- Go!

- Go.

♪ - Oh, you.

[laughter] - Your strap.

[laughter] - Oh, he came out of the boots!

[laughter] - I won!

[laughter] ♪ [laughter] - Let's give John another round.

[applause] Hey, hey, hey.

- You guys are too kind.

- A-plus for trying.

- He won, he won.

He's the real winner.

[laughter] ♪ - After working up an appetite, I followed the smells to the kitchen... - Ruben, get the mail.

Get the mail out.

- Where I heard these guys make some of the best Puerto Rican food in town, like the jibarito, a sandwich with plantain as the bread invented right here in Chicago.

♪ - This is the chef.

- Hey.

- Hey, how are you doing?

- How you doing?

What a pleasure, man.

- Nice to meet you, a pleasure.

- Smelling good already.

What are you preparing?

This is all for jibarito?

- Jibarito sandwiches, we got some pastelón.

- Show him real quick.

- Oh, pastelón, look at that.

That's a beauty.

These guys are serving up some mad authentic Puerto Rican food.

So come on, let's eat.

Yo, this jibarito is dope, man.

I gotta say, this is pretty tight.

- This is the crispiest jibarito in Chicago.

- Mm.

And I like the cheese on it, too.

- We told him the best one was made right here.

- You're right, the plátano is so nice and crisp.

It makes a big difference.

[silverware clinking] Mm.

- So how's your pastelón?

- Pastelón is unbelievable, bro.

It might be the best I've ever had.

[laughter] - Have you had it before?

- Yeah, yeah, lots, lots.

I love it.

I was trying to get my mom to make it, but she couldn't figure out the recipe.

- OK. - But now I just stole it from him, so-- [laughter] ♪ These guys are Chicago through and through, but when disaster strikes far away, they're ready to heed the call.

You guys helped out when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico.

You guys went down there yourselves?

- So in 2017, Engine 57, the Puerto Ricans from here, were like, "Hey, I have family out there."

- Yeah, yeah.

- And I was like, "Hey, let me see what we can do."

So the guys here did a fundraiser where people were dropping off food and so on.

So we were able to ship out four 53-footers, semi tractor-trailers, out to Puerto Rico with supplies for them.

- How bad was it, man, when you got there?

- It was bad.

It was bad, bad.

You know, almost tears when you're coming in and landing and you see how brown the island was when you're used to seeing it so green and beautiful.

Did a lot of recon, checking out how some of the structures were.

We did some search and rescue down there.

- These are 16- to 18-hour missions because the roads were so dilapidated that you couldn't even get through them.

- Right, right, right.

- So we would have to climb 45 minutes up the mountain with food and water for the family and then walk another 45 minutes to come back down.

♪ - In terms of giving back to the community, you must be like heroes here.

- You know, I don't look at us being as heroes, I think that-- - Not at all.

- We grew up here... - Yeah.

- And we work here.

- When people see you coming and you're Latin, they must-- - People know you, they recognize you, you know?

- How beautiful is that that you can come back?

- Mm.

- It's important, I think, for all of us to come back to our roots.

- You guys grew up together?

- No, in the same neighborhood, but we're not that far apart regardless of where you're from because it's, you know, Puerto Rico, Latino, Colombian, whatever, Mexico, we all can speak that same neighborhood language.

- It feels like family, yo.

- We are because we're all in the same struggle.

We're one Latin family.

That's what we are.

♪ - Man, thank you for all you do.

- No, thank you, brother.

- Thank you.

- And thank you for showing us off, 'cause we are the best.

- Yeah.

[laughter] ♪ - The seeds of change come in all forms.

Chicago's Latinx power is so unexpected, and yet, it's everywhere.

From the bonds that feel like family to the art that becomes activism.

Latinos in this city are creating opportunities and support systems that allow them to thrive.

As their roots grow deeper in these neighborhoods, the Latin community here in Chicago will only become stronger.

♪ ♪♪