cruising through history 

By Yessenia Rivas

Growing up in San Jose I would often hear people describe the east side as “ghetto”.However, when I think of the east side, I think of all the amazing people and the culture that make me feel like I'm home, For example the lowrider community. Lowriding has always been a major part of San Jose’s identity and for a long time, the city was even known as the "Cruising capital of the world”

Unfortunately,The Lowrider community in San Jose hasn't always had it easy. In 1986, the city officially decided to ban cruising,City Officials claimed that they created an “environment of fear” for others residents and they linked cruising events to gang violence, and criminal activity.”No cruising Zone” signs were placed in areas where lowrider culture was most active, with some of them being in Story and King Road,and  East Santa Clara Street.

Today those negative stereotypes are finally being corrected by people like Estella Inda, a librarian and historian at the Martin Luther King Jr Library who grew up going on cruises with one of her uncles.

She has worked on researching more about the Lowrider Community In San Jose, hoping  to educate people more about not just the cars,but about the history and culture that define this community.

Inda remembers going on cruises and having an amazing time but after she read some articles about it she noticed how it was the complete opposite and how it was making the Lowrider Community look bad, after reading those articles she decided to get the whole narrative documented. 

Inda: “One of my other uncles, he used to take us out cruising during the day and, thats what i remember, i remember it being such a great time, and seeing other kids and the cars and like you say hi to everybody, thats what i remember and  then when i saw like some of the articles about what was written i was like thats, thats not what it is, i dont remember that , i dont remember those, so it was important to me to, i dont wanna say correct the narrative but get the whole narrative documented  because it wasn't there.”

In June 2022, the San Jose City Council voted to repeal the cruising ban, Inda was actually the one who got the conversation going with the City and says that the Lowrider Council mentioned her name during the speech they gave that day.

She says that watching the “No Cruising Zone” signs showed her that things can change, things can be told, lessons learned about how to talk to the community and understand the community and not just assume everybody is just trying to do something negative out there.

Inda: “Watching that come down just meant, it showed me that things can change, things can be told, I wanna say lessons learned about how to talk to the community and understand the community and not just assume everybody is just trying to do something negative out here.”

The goal for bringing Lowrider History into Libraries for Inda is to make sure that it is safe for future generations and that the narratives are saved; she wants to make sure that it's part of local history and wants it to be told and taught about. She wants the new generations to know that there's more to the Lowrider community, not just lowriders.

Inda: “The goal for me is to make sure that the, its safe for future generations, the narratives are saved, the struggles, the understanding, its part of every i want it to be part of local history, California History, because it's not told it's not really taught about and there is a lot of civil right issues tightened into the community and even thought is considered lowriders community there's more to lowriders.

Inda hopes that people not just see a beautiful car when people are cruising; she hopes that people see the generations within the car clubs.

In my experience, cruising with my dad has made me closer to him. Going cruising is not just getting in the car and going, it takes time. For us, it all starts the day before any meet, prepping the car  for the next morning and making sure everything is ready and the lowrider has everything it needs. This is when he takes his time to show me about the car and all about the hydraulic pumps which is what makes the car jump and makes it able to lower it.

When we finally pull up to the meet, it's like a giant family reunion.You see people coming up to you and welcoming you and asking about your car. You see families gathered around with open hoods and bumping their favorite songs. Most importantly you see the community step up when someone needs help, they try to find someone who knows how to do the job, or sometimes they would even offer themselves to do it for you.

By learning from my dad, I hope to one day teach my kids about how important it is to know about not just the community but the culture that surrounds it. I hope that they can continue this generation and would want to learn about the history, that they would honor all the activists who fought for decades to prove that our culture isn't all about criminals and gangsters. 

This is important to me because lowriding has always been about our community finding a way to be understood, even when the world tried to push us aside. By keeping this legacy alive I'm making sure that my kids know that the lowrider community has come a long way and when we cruise, we aren't just driving; we are honoring all the people who fought for us and keeping their history alive.