31-05-2025
San Diego cultural center asking for donations after front door smashed
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — A San Diego cultural center is asking for donations to fix their front door and upgrade their security system after their building was vandalized earlier this month.
Centro Cultural de la Raza, an arts and culture community center that 'creates, preserves, promotes and educates about Chicano, Mexicano, Native American and Latino art and culture' in the San Diego/Tijuana border region is located in Balboa Park in San Diego.
According to the cultural center, sometime late night on May 18 or early May 19, the glass was shattered on one of the 10-foot front doors to the building. Two city-issued cement trash cans were also found overturned at the entrance. No one is believed to have entered the building.
'This is not the first time, not even this year, that Centro has experienced violence. We are profoundly grateful that Centro volunteers, staff, and members of the many community groups that call Centro home were not here at the time, and so everyone is safe. We are also grateful that our exhibit, collections, and tools and equipment are unharmed. But how many times will I have to repeat this?'
'The violence cannot continue: our safety and peace are paramount and, moreover, acts like these have ripple effects. Acts like these intimidate people and communities, and often result in second-guessing one's safety in public spaces, or self-censoring in order to avoid drawing attention. This is anathema to the work of Centro, which is even more critical now, to shift narratives and shape political consciousness. We don't know who is perpetrating the attacks, but we do know that collective care is a powerful safety measure – we ask our communities, friends, and allies to look out for one another. In doing so, we resist isolation, we build community,' stated Dr. Roberto D. Hernández, President of the Board of Trustees.
'This is an escalation of the violence we've experienced this year. The first two incidents involved petty theft and damage that, while harmful, invasive, and very stressful, were to a smaller scale. This time, someone intentionally threw a stone through our door and tipped over two very heavy garbage receptacles that required three of us to put upright. It is clear that the violence, the attack, was the point.'
'We want to let people know what is happening, and call on us all to keep each other, Centro, and our thriving arts and cultural work safe. Please stop in to visit, say hello, join a workshop, or shop at La Tiendita or our monthly artisan market. As a show of collective strength, we are raising funds specifically to cover the expense of replacing the glass pane in our front door.'
'Centro is a place for self-expression, political education, exploration, and sharing, within the artistic and cultural traditions across Indigenous, Chicano, and Latinx communities. We have long survived and thrived in the face of overt and structural violence, and this will be no different. But it is sobering and heartbreaking that it continues to be our reality and now we are in the position of raising funds to repair harm rather than invest in things like programming or restoring our iconic murals,' said Ana Hernández, Executive Director.
The center says all funds donated from now through June 15 would be used to fix the Centro Cultural de la Raza front door, and that any excess funds would go towards upgrading their security systems this summer.
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