Living Room
WHERE CULTURE MEETS COMMUNITY
E&J Spotlights Two World-Changing Latina Activists
CHICAGO— Culture lives on in words we use. The foods we eat. The way we dress, speak, and honor our families. But it also lives in the call to serve—a call that Chicago’s Tanya Lozano answers every day.
Lozano is co-founder and CEO of Healthy Hood Chicago, a community-based, non-profit organization in the city’s Pilsen neighborhood. Healthy Hood Chicago was created to reduce the staggering twenty-year life expectancy gap that exists in Chicago between affluent and underserved areas. Lozano’s passion for her community is what fuels her work.
“I come from a traditional Mexican turned Mexican-American family,” Lozano said. “My family moved to Pilsen in the 50s as one of the first Mexican families at that time, and we carry much of our traditions and language from Mexico mixed with urban Chicago flavor.”
Lozano is the daughter of activists, a strong lineage that she credits to her roots.
“To be Latino in this country is to be a part of a people who have a rich history of hard work, strong families, and revolutionaries,” she said. “This [heritage] should be celebrated everyday by continuing to strive for equality and justice in our community.”
Pilsen is also home to Delilah Martinez, who sits on the board of Healthy Hood Chicago as Creative Director and lead Despensa operator. Like Lozano, Martinez lives and breathes her community and culture—as a local business owner, community leader, and creative.
“I’d say I’m like a delicate flower that can’t be killed,” Martinez said. “A multifaceted entrepreneur, community organizer, and people protector. I’d describe myself as a strong, hardworking, independent, ambitious Latina woman.”
Martinez, who has Mexican and Puerto Rican ancestry, credits her fortitude to Hispanic culture—especially the trailblazing women who came before her.
“My mother and grandmother were very strong, and I’m an amplified version of them,” she said. “Latinos are very resilient! I stay fearless and remember the hard work of my ancestors. My bloodline gives me the drive and yearning to represent my culture in the best way possible.”
For both women, this representation looks like day to day service: talking with neighbors, working with local partner organizations, meeting with community leaders, teaching dance classes, bringing justice top of mind through mural art. Or as Martinez describes it, thinking of ways to save the world.
While most of their work in Pilsen serves the Latino community, it’s important to Lozano that brotherhood and activism does not exist in a vacuum. She says she wishes more people were aware of the strong and rich connection Mexican Americans have with the black community.
“We have come together many times in history to make strides toward justice and equality,” Lozano said. “We should continue to find the similarities between our communities so we can work together to build a more just nation.”
Lozano and Martinez have no plans of scaling back their efforts any time soon; both women have exciting projects on the horizon. Lozano is currently working on releasing a docu-short following her current project MARIPOSAS: an art in resistance. Martinez is working toward solo exhibitions and new merch at Vault Gallerie, taking The Mural Movement global, and rebranding her business.
Join E&J as we celebrate Hispanic culture and heritage this October. You can find Tanya Lozano online at @_tanyalozano or @healthyhoodchi. Follow Delilah Martinez at @Delilah1st or @themuralmovement.
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