Parking at Emeritus is usually around back. But it was front row parking on the sidewalk outside Newman Auditorium, at least for three classic lowrider cars, when old school lowriding met SRJC April 18, for the Arts and Lecture Series grand finale film presentation, “Why I Ride: Low and Slow.”
It was chrome, hydraulics and glossy paint jobs as the 25-minute documentary showcased footage from the 1980s of lowrider cars cruising the Mission District in San Francisco during its cruising heyday. The film, narrated by five longtime residents of the Mission district—Roberto Hernandez, Mitchell Salazar, Valerie Tulier, Felipe Velez and Sandy Cuadra—described how lowriding brought a resurgence of pride and youth activism, and perpetuated the sense of racial unification at that time.
“Back in the day, I want to really be clear about this, it was La Misión. It was the Mission and we were united,” film narrator Valerie Tulier said.
As the last notes of Smoky Robinson’s song “Cruisin” trailed off during the closing credits, audience questions for filmmakers Debra Koffler and Vero Majano fueled thoughtful discussion about cruising, lowrider culture, past and present activism and the impact of time in changing the cultural face of the Mission.
“Why I Ride: Low and Slow,” created as a youth summer project, was produced entirely by members of Conscious Youth Media Crew and is dedicated to raising awareness of local Mission history and cultural preservation. The young people who produced the film were surprised that their neighborhoods were once unified after seeing the footage and listening to interviews with the film narrators. Originally, the 1980s cruising footage documented harassment from the San Francisco police department and inspired the youth of that time to protest for their right to assemble in a public place.
Post-film discussion focused on the themes of present-day opportunity for activism, multicultural unity and empowering youth voices along with positive effects of lowrider culture. Koffler and Majano encouraged people to document stories, cars and events so that it can become part of history.
“There’s always somebody that comes before us,” Majano said, referring to the importance of earlier generations’ experiences. She added that movements begin with the power of youth and that change couldn’t happen without it.
It’s up to us to take responsibility for preserving our culture, preserving stories, sharing history and taking it forward. Neighborhoods change; it’s important that community members are able to participate in the direction of that change. Koffler said, “In this society we have so many digital tools to document our lives and what we do; tell our own stories. I really encourage people, everybody has little cameras and flip cameras on your phone and you can document stuff. Especially youth—you’re writing history, so to speak. You’re documenting it now.”
Juan Roman, host of Sunday night radio show, Late Night Oldies on KBBF 89.1 FM in Santa Rosa, said the film depicts lowriding exactly as he would have. If there’s one thing he’d say about lowriding it’s that it’s a positive thing. In the narration of his story as a person in the lowrider culture, he stays away from the opinions, myths and glorification [of stereotypes] by Hollywood and the media. Roman said that everybody talks about being victimized as a lowrider but on Late Night Oldies “what we do, we tell our story and the way we tell it, we’re the heroes.”