Low and Slow: A USD Professor's Push to Recognize Lowriders' Impact
Bajito y suavecito. Low and slow.
It’s the way lowriders cruise down the street, and also describes their journey to becoming a cultural mainstay. Over that time — decades — Alberto López Pulido, PhD has seen it all, and worked hard to document an art and lifestyle that has a deep connection to Chicano culture.
“It’s all about the artistic value that comes from culture and history,” Pulido said. “Lowriding is nothing short of what I like to call canvases on wheels. It’s an artform. It’s personal expression.”
Friday, lowriders’ status was solidified in marriage with another American institution: the U.S. Postal Service. The organization held a first issue ceremony for several stamps depicting lowriders, a celebration of their impact on culture.
The stamps were made wider than usual, Chief Postal Inspector Gary Barksdale said, to show all the fine details you could see on the real things. Gothic styled trim, artfully crafted portraits and eye-popping colors. These cars were constructed with commitment and care, and they wanted the stamps to show it.
It was the culmination of a collaboration between the USPS and a number of community leaders, including Pulido. He’s spent decades documenting Chicano culture in his research, and melding academia with community to preserve authenticity.
“Pulido has deep, deep relationships with community activists,” said Amanda Petersen, PhD, one of Pulido’s colleagues at the College of Arts and Sciences. “He’s done so many different things to bring all sorts of people into Barrio Logan and educate them on this place in a way where they’re actually there to participate with the community.”
For lowriders, it hasn’t always been a smooth ride. They’ve often been the targets of societal scorn. Speakers at Friday’s event noted how, until recently, “cruising” in a lowrider was outlawed across California.
But now here they were, Pulido speaking before hundreds of people at the Logan Heights Public Library, with lowriders parked on the lawn and surrounded by government officials.
It was the realization of some of his life’s work. Among his many projects, Pulido has dedicated time to documenting the history of lowrider culture, charting its course from its inception and how it’s been interwoven with American culture ever since. Much of that work lives in the USD archives, a project led by Pulido that sports materials dating back to the 1950s.
“It started in the streets, and now it’s an integral part of American culture,” Pulido said. “We have a very rich history here. And it's not until you begin to learn about it and document it, and really start to hear what people are telling you in the tradition of oral history, that you come up with knowledge that you won't find in the classroom”
He added that he was especially excited for San Diego to be recognized in this collaboration with the USPS, for its place in Chicano and Latino culture. “In this region, Mexico and the United States have always been integrated in ways that are so critically important. So lowriding flourished in Tijuana like it did in San Diego. That’s an intimate reality that is so special to our region, and that makes it a very unique place.”
There was a large USD contingent on hand to show Pulido how much he’s meant to them. In addition to fellow faculty members, Pulido was joined by current and former students with wide smiles as their "profe" and his work were celebrated by so many.
“I love seeing the cars and the zoot suits. It’s amazing that we’re at a point in time where this culture, this history, is able to be celebrated in the open like this,” said Deondré Guignard, a USD student who majors in ethnic studies. “It’s such an honor to learn from a figure like (Pulido) who has been so influential.”