In the Shadows of the Freeway: Growing Up Brown & Queer

by Lydia R. Otero

Born in 1955, Lydia R. Otero knew they were queer the moment their consciousness had evolved enough to formulate thoughts. Nicknamed La Butch by their family, Otero shares a unique perspective: displaced by their queerness, but rooted in place through their relationship with Tucson, Arizona. In this book, which combines personal memoir and the historical archive, Otero takes readers to a world that existed on the physical and social margins and describes how a new freeway created a barrier that greatly influenced formative aspects of Otero’s childhood. The author examines the multiple effects of environmental racism, while the lack of services and low expectations of the schools Otero attended are further examples of the discrimination directed at brown people. This book offers more self-disclosure than Otero’s previous works, as the author’s memories and experiences of childhood take center stage. Otero reveals the day-to-day survival mechanisms they depended upon, the exhilaration of first love, and the support they received from key family members.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, LGBT, Queer, Read For School

210 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2019

About the author

In 2011, the Border Regional Library Association presented a Southwest Book Award to Lydia Otero for La Calle: Spatial Conflicts and Urban Renewal in a Southwest City. Being born and raised in Tucson with deep family roots on both sides of the Arizona-Sonora border inspired the author's interest in regional history. In 2019, Otero received the Dolores Huerta Legacy Award for their activism and scholarship focusing on bringing awareness to Mexican American and local history. The author is currently a tenured professor in the Department of Mexican American Studies at the University of Arizona and lives in Tucson, Arizona. Learn more at lydiaotero.com.

Reviews

[sara]

what i love most about otero's writing is how they're able to combine the history of both their community and their own life into one memoir. you can tell that this is more than just an average memoir, we get to learn about otero's early childhood as a young mexican american coming into their own queerness/chicane identity while also getting historical context to the chicano experience during the 50/60s. i covet books like this because of how important it is to see yourself in someone's experience from 10, 20 or even 50 years ago. especially at a time when both identities are being targeted, it's crucial to see this kind of history.

[Escarlen Garcia Chavez]

Tucson native's experiencing systemic racism, anti-queer sentiments from within her community and Mexican American family in Tucson's south side.

[elissa]

Great historian and storyteller, I read this in 3 days. A must read if you live in Tucson, or want to know more of the history of Tucson in the 50s-70s. especially how the building of the freeway affected the Mexican-American community which lived in its path.
This is at once the story of the community and the story of a child from this community navigating racial and gender stereotypes.

The author provides both memories and artifacts from their early life (ads, report cards, family photos).

Terrific read, I gobbled this up! Gave me a lot more to research, always a good thing.

[Melanie Kondziolka]

I enjoyed this so much! Maybe because I am from tucson and maybe because my parents grew up in tucson during the same era but mostly because I think the author is a great story teller and explains the situations and area super well. Love, love, love

[Ted Prezelski]

My mother grew up in much the same Tucson as Dr. Otero, so I heard similar stories growing up. It is good to have the world my mom grew up in seen by the broader community.

[Matt]

This is essential reading for anyone who wants to know about the history of structural racism in Tucson. Even as a longtime activist and longtime Tucson resident, I still found a lot of new and eye-opening information.

[Shea]

i wish i was better with words so i could say how much this book means to me

[Benjamin Felser]

A powerful personal history by an incredible scholar of gentrification and urban change in Tucson. Otero blends family and personal narrative to share vignettes alongside historical overviews of Tucson in the 19th and 20th centuries. As one of the last cities to be incorporated (taken) by the US, it remained primarily people of mestizo/indigenous descent until concentrated campaigns by the state brought in masses of white settlers which, alongside urban renewal and agricultural water exploitation, ravaged the families that had been there ever before.

The story is a personal narrative, but primarily in the language and tone of a historian. I was hoping for a more fluid writing style, and my only challenge was the way that even personal and family stories were told with a similar cold tone as the historical information. As a recent arrival in Tucson, this book is essential context for the complicated socio-political history into which I’m entering into this space.

[Valzreadz]

wow so beautiful

A touching book that jumps through otero’s youth to show us the intersections of race, space, place and gender. So well written, the flow of it is great. Read in one day,!!!!!!!!!

[Emily Waldron]

Thought-provoking and impactful. I am particularly stuck by how Otero weaved in the effects that urbanization and gentrification had on both her barrio and her identity.

I currently live where Otero grew up...this book really hits home.

[Basmaish]

Not going to rate this because I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it as much as it’s not my cup of tea.

[Dagger]

A great memoir about growing up brown and queer in Tucson. Lots of first hand history, along with in depth research. Thoughtful and accessible read.

[Tinea]

Sweet and historically important, but didn't quite deeply explore either emotional or urban geography.