In Cartographic Memory, Juan Herrera maps 1960s Chicano
movement activism in the Latinx neighborhood of Fruitvale in Oakland,
California, showing how activists there constructed a politics forged
through productions of space. From Chicano-inspired street murals to
the architecture of restaurants and shops, Herrera shows how
Fruitvale’s communities and spaces serve as a palpable, living
record of movement politics and achievements. Drawing on oral
histories with Chicano activists, ethnography, and archival research,
Herrera analyzes how activism has shaped Fruitvale. Herrera examines
the ongoing nature of activism through nonprofit organizations and
urban redevelopment projects like the Fruitvale Transit Village that
root movements in place. Revealing that the social justice activism
in Fruitvale fights for a space that does not yet exist, Herrera
brings to life contentious politics about the nature of Chicanismo,
Latinidad, and belonging while foregrounding the lasting social and
material legacies of movements so often relegated to the past.
