Detroiters gathered on Friday to celebrate the unveiling of two historical markers at the Mexicantown Community Development Corporation Plaza: one honoring the legacy of Texas-Mexican migration to Michigan and the Tejano music community that those migrants forged, as well as a smaller marker that memorializes Martin Huron Solis Jr. and other Detroit Tejano music pioneers.
The event took place during Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.
Since 1955, the Michigan History Center has put up more than 1,800 historical markers in Michigan, and this is the first Hispanic community to have a marker that is solely about the community.
“I know. It’s about time,” Sandra Clark of the Michigan History Center said at the event. “I’m hoping there’s going to be a lot more following soon.”
The marker is a joint project between the Martin H. Solis Jr. Tejano Association and the Michigan Music Hall of Fame, with support from Third Man Records, the Mexicantown Community Development Corporation, the Hispanic/Latino Commission of Michigan, SCP Radio, and the Julian Samora Research Institute at Michigan State University.
Martin H. Solis, Jr. is a Mexican-American credited with bringing the Tejano sound to Michigan and the Midwestern region of the country in the 1950s.
Along with Solis’s family, other community members and people involved in making the marker happen spoke at the event, including Detroit Deputy Mayor Todd Bettison and Eddie Gillis of Third Man Pressing. Gillis is the brother of Third Man owner Jack White and helped the record label release Solis’s music on vinyl for the first time ever in 2020 after long-lost tapes were discovered in Solis’s attic.
Raymond Lozano of the Mexicantown Community Development Corporation also spoke, thanking everyone who worked to get the marker placed and said that the plaque’s placement aids the organization in its mission to preserve and promote Latino heritage for the community for generations to come.
“They have brought to life the much-overlooked history and musical legacy of our migrants that helped build and sustain Michigan, and in particular, southwest Detroit,” he said. “Mexicans and Latinos have been in Detroit since the beginning of the 20th century, and while expressways, bridges, and gentrification continue to challenge and impact the southwest Detroit community, it’s heartwarming, although 50 years later, the recognition and acknowledgment of our migrant contributions to Detroit, to Michigan and beyond, are being celebrated.”
Consul Roberto Nicolás Vasquez, Consulate General of Mexico for metro Detroit and northern Ohio, spoke about Mexico’s strong relationship with Michigan. He said that the Gordie Howe International Bridge, which is currently being built, will cost $5.7 billion in seven years of building, and that the amount of money that Mexico and Michigan make together could build 12 of those bridges in one year.
“That is just to put into perspective how important the Mexico and Mexican community became to Michigan and how important the community is nowadays,” Vasquez said. “It is thanks to these pioneers that came in the 1920s and began to share food and to share music and to bring to the table what Mexican Americans have to give to a community that receives them with open arms.”
The celebration ended with Frank Solis, son of Martin H. Solis Jr., and other Solis family members, uncovering both markers to the public.
Subscribe to Metro Times newsletters.
Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
