Evanston residents reflect on independence and social equity at this year’s Fourth of July Parade

Substitute teacher Gabriel Garcia sports gray “Mexicans Ain’t Going Anywhere” shirt at parade to protest ongoing discrimination and represent cultural heritage. Photo by Juliana Agudelo Ariza / North by Northwestern

Gabriel Garcia, 59, a substitute teacher at Mary Lyon Elementary, grew up in a predominantly white South Side neighborhood. As a first-generation Mexican American, he learned to assimilate and adapt to the English language while also keeping his parents’ culture alive. Even now...