El Paso Community College educator and historian, Dr. Miguel Juárez, will be engaging with the public in El Paso for a series of book signings for his latest publication, Frontera Freeways: Highway Building and Displacement in El Paso, Texas. The book takes a deep dive into the history of the Lincoln Park neighborhood and its struggles against highway expansion, a narrative too familiar in American cities.
According to EPCC News, the book originated as a dissertation in the Borderlands History doctoral program at the University of Texas at El Paso. It focuses, in part on the Lincoln Park School, and how its transformation into a cultural arts center was threatened by the freeways that converged upon the area. Juárez's research includes interviews with locals who faced displacement due to the highway construction, alongside profiles of the builders responsible for the change.
"The book is informed by research, but it has been written in an accessible format for the public," Juárez mentioned, as per EPCC News. His work sheds light on the patterns of Mexican Americans not being included in the decision-making processes leading to their own displacement, a topic that resonates with many other communities in the United States facing similar fates.
Dr. Miguel Juárez's work also weaves in the broader narratives of Mexican American history and its intersection with urban development. "Frontera Freeways mirrors the reclamation of Chicana/o spaces, like Chicano Park under the Coronado Bridge in San Diego, California," he told EPCC News, highlighting the often-overlooked social and racial dynamics within urban planning. Juárez elevates historical memories of these communities, presenting their art and social protest as vital forms of engagement and mobilization.
