Young Mexican Americans embracing, uplifting their roots through music; ‘I imagine myself in Mexico’

CHICAGO -- Spanish was rarely spoken at home while Luis Eduardo Sanchez was growing up in the early 2000s. He attended a predominantly white elementary and middle school in suburban Illinois. Despite being a son of a Mexican immigrant father and a Chicana mother, he recalls not feeling comfortable embracing their roots. “I was kind of ashamed of my culture,” he said. Growing up in spaces that didn’t celebrate his Mexican heritage pushed him away from it.

In high school, everything changed. When Sanchez participated in a talent show his senior year at Morton West High School, he sported a traditional Mexican outfit and held the Mexican and the Chicano flags up high