UNM celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month with lowriders, food, culture and a lowrider legend

Hispanic Heritage Month kicked off on campus with the third Annual Lobos y Lowriders at Cornell Mall. Sponsored by the Department of Chicana/o Studies and the Student Activities Center, the event brought hundreds of students and community members together to enjoy and experience Hispanic culture, from the music and food, to the pinstriping and bounce of hydraulics from lowriders.

Attendees were able to get an up-close look at lowriders brought by lowrider clubs from the Land of Enchantment.

A major highlight of the event was the appearance of a legend in the lowrider community: Joe Hernandez, the original creator of the iconic "Lowrider Man."

Created in 1978, Hernandez was just 18 years old when he got the opportunity to create the first lowrider calendar for Lowrider magazine. After reviewing the magazine's original design for the dollar sign, Hernandez modernized it, creating a logo that is now globally recognized in Japan, Australia and Brazil, all because of Lowrider magazine.

"Lowrider would not be here if it wasn't for Lowrider magazine," said Hernandez.

His inspiration for the logo was the cultural style and fashion of the 1970s, from the lowriders and Zoot Suits, to the Cholos, especially the infamous fedora hat.

Hernandez has been in New Mexico for 40 years, but originally grew up in San Jose, California, where the Lowrider magazine was born.

"San Jose is the lowrider capital of the world," said Hernandez, throwing friendly, humorous jabs at Española, a New Mexico city strong in its lowrider culture.

His art has inspired others for decades, especially his unique and crisp style. Hernandez explains that everybody started drawing and tattooing the Lowrider Man, even drawing the logo while they were in school.

"I hear many people telling me, when they were in high school, they were drawing it in the classroom," said Hernandez.

He states that he's amazed at how lowriding and the logo have been adopted by the culture and representation. He compares it to motorcycle clubs and crosses.

"I always say back in the day people were getting crosses and Playboy bunnies on their shirts, on their skin, and now they're doing the Lowrider Man. It's a different world."

Hernandez was met and welcomed by students wanting to take pictures with him and buy prints of his work.

"It's great to be here at the college," said Hernandez, "because they try to teach about the culture of lowriding."

That same educational mission is what sparked the event's organizers Valerie Chavez and Gilbert Chavez to bring Lobos y Lowriders to campus. To bring awareness of not only the Hispanic community and culture, but also to teach others about the lowrider community.

"They spend so much time, they spend so much money investing in these vehicles. For them to be able to be celebrated on a campus like this means a lot to them, and it means a lot to the overall community," said Valerie.

Valerie Chavez is the mastermind behind Lobos y Lowriders. She is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Chicana/o Studies, as well as a graduate assistant at El Centro de la Raza - a department at UNM established during the Chicano Movement in the 1960s, with the goal of supporting Latino/a students and their families.

As a New Mexico native and lowrider photographer, she formed her master's thesis on the exploration of how young NuevoMexicanas expressed their Chicana identity through participation in Albuquerque lowrider culture.

Valerie and Gilbert's first interaction occurred while Gilbert was at work driving the bus for UNM. At the time, Gilbert was part of a car club, and he was wearing his lowrider hat. While boarding the bus, Valerie noticed his hat, shared her vision about bringing lowriders onto campus, and Gilbert was happy to help with contacting his "brothers" involved in various car clubs.

The two found common ground in their love of lowriders- a culture Gilbert was no stranger to.

For Albuquerque native Gilbert Chavez, lowriders have been a way of life since he was young.

"My dad was into classic cars, my stepdad was into classic cars, so it's something I was brought into," said Chavez.

He now builds classic cars with his son and brings his wife and grandchild to lowriding events like Lobos y Lowriders, making it not just a hobby but a family tradition.

Growing up in the "War Zone," Chavez works at the university as a bus driver and supervisor. He owns 16 classic cars, including the 1972 Monte Carlo brought to the event, named Brown Sugar.

"How else can I show my appreciation for being brown, than bringing 'Brown Sugar'?" said Chavez.

He says that even though the event is for lowriders, they invite classic cars that are not lowriders because all cars are appreciated. Even though the car movement is strong in New Mexico, Chavez says lowriders were always frowned upon growing up and often seen and thought by others to be gang-related. However, as Gilbert and Valerie expressed, the lowrider is not only a part of culture, but it's also a community. A brotherhood. Sharing not only the interest in lowriders but also the pride of being Hispanic.

"I call everyone here my brothers, even though they're not," said Gilbert. "In my opinion, the classic car world is a tight, united family, and we all watch out for each other, we all watch out for each other's cars, we take that pride."

What started as a shared vision on a UNM bus has now become a staple event for Hispanic Heritage Month. Lobos y Lowriders is not just a car show; it's a living lesson in Hispanic history that can't be taught in the classroom. It's also an event that has grown in numbers since its creation.

Both Gilbert and Valerie share the same excitement and honor for bringing Lobos y Lowriders to UNM campus.

"Having lowriders on campus and being looked at from the university's point of view is amazing," said Gilbert, "and it's actually an honor."

For Valerie, having Lobos y Lowriders during Hispanic Heritage Month bridges communities and celebrates not just students, but the communities they are part of.

"I hope these kinds of events can continue because it brings two groups together that probably never would've," said Valerie.