The Politics of Low and Slow/Bajito y Suavecito
The Politics of Low and Slow/Bajito y Suavecito
Black and Chicano Lowriders in Los Angeles, from the 1960s through the 1970s
This chapter discusses the cultural history of the lowriding phenomenon in Los Angeles from the 1960s through the 1970s and how car culture in Chicano and Black communities has involved a re-creation or a reimagining of the city's urban landscape. More specifically, it examines how and why lowriding developed and what it means to Chicanos and African Americans. Focusing on the Ruelas family, the “first family” of lowriding and founders of the Dukes Car Club of Los Angeles, the chapter considers the sociohistorical interconnections between Chicano and Black cultural spaces in Los Angeles through the practice of lowriding. It also explores how this cultural space as well as Chicano cultural identity has been influenced by the politics of bajito y suavecito/low and slow. It shows that the Ruelas family had deep and multifaceted relationship with both African American culture and Black lowriders such as Terry Andersen and Ted Wells.
Keywords: lowriding, Los Angeles, car culture, urban landscape, Chicanos, African Americans, Ruelas family, Dukes Car Club, cultural space, cultural identity
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