Oxnard

Oxnard is a mostly Latino town with an Anglo name. On the outside Oxnard is a large commuter town whose middle-class inhabitants constantly move going to work, home, or out to consume.. …but the heart and core of Oxnard is the working-class inhabitants who give life and culture to an otherwise “dead” city. On one end you have Mexicans and Chicanos who had previously been segregated in areas such as Colonia & El Rio, and at the other end you have those with a military background, from the men and women who work at Hueneme and Point Mugu base, to the Military Brats who terrorize the streets. Military families have added more to cultural the mix in such a highly Latino city bringing people here from all over the place. (Most notably the Ilocano Filipino community in South side) Most people growing up in this area have a damn good understanding of diversity. Oxnard’s working-class identity at times, transcend mainstream understandings, producing many underground scenes that are epic yet extremely quite from the Narcore punk scene in the early eighties, to the early House scene, and of course the always constant underground hip-hop scene. The city is a microcosm of influences that never really is definite. Being a working class town produces a wide variety of politically conscious people from Liberal Idealist to Straight up Anarchist. Central to the border debate, many people in Oxnard are angered by the very idea that Native American People (Mixteco folk) are considered “Illegal Aliens” many of whom we see working the fields of Oxnard. The political scene can be very polarized and organizers have yet to achieve their abstract goals, yet most activist in Oxnard see more positive days in the future. Most folks don’t really take part in any of the organizing, but many people do take the time to support local businesses, eating at the nearest taqueria or grubbin it up at Wins/A Burger/ Buddy Burger. The people of Oxnard can’t always easily be defined. Of course you have the average hipster who fully embody brand name, pre-manufactured bullshit. But those who take the time to make things happen change Oxnard around constantly, pushing peoples understandings of community beyond what they identify with.