"For Angel Romero, every detail of her car is a reflection of her history. The shining purple paint job accents sleek gleaming chrome that flashes bright in the light of golden hour. Pinstripes adorn the hood and the roof of the car which hovers mere inches from the road, floating on white-wall tires and the trunk is emblazoned with a photorealistic portrait of her mother, the first lowrider Romero ever knew."
"Six years ago, Romero founded a women's lowrider club. Tired of hearing others say that's your boyfriend's car or that's your daddy's car, she named the club Duenas meaning female owners in Spanish. You can't get any more straightforward than that, she said. The club became one of the biggest women's lowrider clubs in the region, making its imprint in the Bay Area by defying stereotypes and inspiring other women to get in the driver's seat."
"With Duenas, its also about community and giving back, she said. For decades, lowriders were associated with gang activity. Now, Romero sees a return of ugly narratives around immigrants and Latino communities, and hopes that Duenas can help push back against them. Our culture is so beautiful the women, the lowriders it's art, said Romero. We're changing the narrative. We're not the stereotypes people think we are."
Angel Romero's car features a shining purple paint job, gleaming chrome, pinstripes, white-wall tires, and a photorealistic portrait of her mother on the trunk, with a metal engraving reading Duenas in the back window. Romero founded a women's lowrider club, Duenas, to assert female ownership and reject assumptions that cars belong to boyfriends or fathers. The club grew into one of the region's largest women's lowrider clubs, defying stereotypes and encouraging women to drive. The group roots itself in Mexican-American lowrider traditions dating to the 1940s in San Jose, and emphasizes community service and cultural pride to counter negative narratives about immigrants and Latino communities.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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