Austin, TX

‘An extension of who we are.’ Texas lowriders cruise with pride in family, Latino culture

Published

7 months ago

July 13, 2024

‘An extension of who we are.’ Texas lowriders cruise with pride in family, Latino culture

Austin lowrider Steve Guzman bought his first rig, a candy-apple red Chevy pickup, when he was 22. He’d just come home from serving in Vietnam. Back then, Guzman said, Austin’s lowriders fought bitterly.

His friend, Manuel Medina, lived in Montopolis, across the river from Guzman’s East Austin neighborhood. Neither would drive across the bridge.

“We had different parts of town,” said Austin rider James Sanchez, and the attitude was, “Don’t come to my side.”

But as Guzman, Medina and Sanchez grew older, Austin’s lowriding scene began to change. The bridge’s boundary grew porous. Families married across the river. As pride in their cars had once kept the neighborhoods apart, the art of lowriding brought them together.

“Time has healed,” Guzman said.

The gray in his beard reflected colors from lowriders parked nearby. Today, Guzman, Medina and Sanchez are members of the old guard. Their pride lies as much in their cars as in the next generation of lowriders who, they hope, will inherit them.

Lowrider clubs proliferated in Texas in the 1960s

On a recent Sunday, lowriders from across Austin and throughout Texas cruised through the capital to celebrate the uniquely Latino tradition. Their rally point was a new exhibit at the Bullock Texas State History Museum.

More: Five reasons to visit the Bullock Museum’s lowriding ‘Carros y Cultura’ exhibit

The exhibit, called “Carros y Cultura,” celebrates Texas lowriders: the art, culture and people.

Lowriding’s origins lie in 1940s California, where the elaborately decorated cars arose as an expression of Latino pride. The culture came to Texas about 20 years later.

That’s when Austinites, like Steve Guzman’s grandfather, first started putting bags of cement in the trunks of their cars to get closer to the pavement.

Now, there are close to 100 lowrider clubs in Austin alone, Guzman estimated.

‘Never did we dream that we would be at the Bob Bullock museum’

About 70 riders from as many as 30 clubs came to show their cars on Sunday, cruising past the Bullock museum, around the Capitol, down South Congress Avenue and across the bridge. Then they posted at Fiesta Gardens’ Chicano Park, in Austin’s Holly neighborhood, to party.

Lowriders of every shape and size cruised the streets: some richly ornamented, some glowing. Others rolled down South Congress with one wheel cocked high in the air: a maneuver known as “three wheel motion.”

The celebration grew as a way to take “Carros y Cultura” back to the streets, said an adviser for the show, Monica Maldonado.

Maldonado is the founder of MAS Cultura, a nonprofit dedicated to uplifting Austin’s Latino community through art. Lowriding, she said, was one of her first inspirations.

“But never did we dream that we would be at the Bob Bullock museum,” she said just before the cruise. A bubble-gum pink lowrider slipped past. Maybe it was the bright sun, reflecting off its paint, but tears began to well in Maldonado’s eyes.

“I’m here. I’m an Austin native, and to see our culture celebrated and bringing everyone together — there’s really no words for it,” she said, blotting her eyes.

Portraits of families rendered in paint and chrome

Each lowrider tells a story with their car. Many are passed down through generations as family heirlooms: symbols of dedication and reminders of the beauty in perseverance.

“West Texas” Eddie Velarde, a member of the Majestix Car Club’s San Antonio chapter, has been restoring his 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme for 18 years.

When he bought the car, his daughter, Selena, was just 6 months old. This year, she graduated from high school. Velarde hopes she’ll inherit the lowrider when he dies, he said, as a memory of his hard work.

“I look at this car, and it’s a symbol of times when bills went unpaid, when money was short. Life was hard, but we made it.” Velarde said, running his hand over a portrait of his daughter painted on the Oldsmobile’s trunk.

Paintings of Velarde’s mother, father and wife adorn other panels. He’s dedicated the car to his family, he said: “It’s an extension of who we are.”

Like Velarde, longtime Austin rider Trampia Guzman grew up “in the life,” he said: “I was born to it.”

When Trampia Guzman’s father followed work to fields in the Northeast, he’d call home, asking his young son to rotate the tires on his car. Lowriding was a way of life for them.

‘This is an art, and it’s miraculous’

The art gave rise to other creations.

Trampia Guzman’s grandmother taught him to sew when he was 5. He started making zoot suits, a uniquely baggy and square cut style that began among Chicanos from El Paso in the ‘40s.

Now two of Trampia Guzman’s suits are on display in the Bullock museum’s lowrider exhibit. One of them, cut from shining gold cloth, he made as a memorial to his grandmother. The material came from a set of drapes that had hung in her home all of his life.

He admired the cloth as a boy, he said: His memory of his grandmother had always been sitting in a chair in front of the golden drapes. Now, he wears the suit each year on the anniversary of her death.

Stories of love and dedication spring from the lowriders.

Trampia Guzman’s wife bought him one to restore on their 20th wedding anniversary. He said he cried when he saw the car taken apart for painting; he was so overwhelmed. His friend, who goes simply by “Gizmo,” helped him paint the car.

“This is an art, and it’s miraculous,” Gizmo said, turning his head with a grin. “You see that red car over there?”

He pointed to a pearlescent cherry cruiser, sitting low to the ground.

“That one got struck by lightning. It almost burnt all the way down, but we saved it.”

Carros y Cultura

When: On display through Sept. 2

Where: The Bullock Texas State History Museum at 1800 Congress Ave.

Info: An exhibit showcasing Texas’ unique lowriding culture, featuring ornately decorated cars, motorcycles and artworks from the Latino community

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Austin, TX

Yellow Jackets Fall to No. 1 Texas in Championship Match

Published

11 hours ago

January 26, 2025

Press Room

Yellow Jackets Fall to No. 1 Texas in Championship Match

AUSTIN, Texas – The Yellow Jackets faced the number one team in college tennis on Sunday but fell 0-4 to Texas in the championship match of the ITA Kickoff Weekend at the Austin Regional.

In doubles action, Texas jumped to a quick 1-0 lead on the day, claiming doubles courts one and three. The duo of Sebastian Eriksson and Jonah Braswell got a 6-3 over the Tech pairing of Gabriele Brancatelli and Robert Bauer, before the No. 7 ranked doubles team of Lucas Brown and Timo Legout got a 6-4 win over No. 19 Krish Arora and Christophe Clement.

In singles action, the Yellow Jackets were unable to stop the Longhorns’ momentum, eventually dropping three singles matches, and falling 0-4 in the championship match.

No. 90 ranked Nate Bonetto faced Legout, who is ranked No. 3, but fell 1-6, 1-6, putting Texas up 2-0.

Branctelli took on No. 2 Sebastian Gorzny, but dropped his match 3-6, 2-6.

Sebastian Eriksson of Texas closed out the win for the Longhorns, defeating Georgia Tech’s Gianluca Carlini 6-1, 6-3.

Tech will be back in action Thursday, Jan. 30, as they welcome Georgia State to the Ken Byers Tennis Complex for a match at 4 p.m.

#1 Texas 4, Georgia Tech 0
Singles

#3 Timo Legout (TEX) def. #90 Nate Bonetto (GT) 6-1, 6-1
#2 Sebastian Gorzny (TEX) def. Gabriele Brancatelli (GT) 6-3, 6-2
Pierre-Yves Bailly (TEX) vs. Christophe Clement (GT) 6-4, 4-0, unfinished
#20 Jonah Braswell (TEX) vs. Krish Arora (GT) 7-5, 1-0, unfinished
Sebastian Eriksson (TEX) def. Gianluca Carlini (GT) 6-1, 6-3
#116 Lucas Brown (TEX) vs. Richard Biagiotti (GT) 6-3, 2-3, unfinished

Doubles

#7 Lucas Brown/Timo Legout (TEX) def. #19 Krish Arora/Christophe Clement (GT) 6-4
Sebastian Gorzny/Pierre-Yves Bailly (TEX) vs. #44 Nate Bonetto/Gianluca Carlini (GT) 6-5, unfinished
Sebastian Eriksson/Jonah Braswell (TEX) def. Gabriele Brancatelli/Robert Bauer (GT) 6-3

Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.

For the latest information on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, follow us on X (@GT_MTEN), Instagram (GT_MTEN), Facebook (Georgia Tech Men’s Tennis) or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com

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Austin, TX

3 Takeaways From Texas A&M Aggies Crushing Loss to Texas Longhorns

Published

20 hours ago

January 26, 2025

Press Room

3 Takeaways From Texas A&M Aggies Crushing Loss to Texas Longhorns

When the Texas A&M Aggies were referred to as a “second half team,” this is not what it meant.

What started in Austin as another runaway win for the Aggie basketball team ended in heartbreak for the 12th Man, as Longhorns guard Tramon Mark hit in a layup off the glass with just three seconds left, capping off a 22-point comeback for Texas in Austin on Saturday.

The loss brings the No. 13 Aggies to 15-5 on the year and will likely result in a drop of their ranking in the AP Top 25.

Wade Taylor’s 15 points and Manny Obaseki’s 13 were the only points in double figures for the Aggies as the overall defensive collapse truly did the Maroon and White in at the Moody Center.

Jan 25, 2025; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies guard Wade Taylor IV (4) drives to the basket against Texas Longhorns guard Julian Larry (1) during the second half at Moody Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images / Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

With that, here are some takeaways from the game.

Free Throw Woes Continue

The Aggies only attempted eight free throws in the contest, but they only made three of them, with the 37.5 percent displayed another upsetting performance from the line by the Ags. With the margin of this defeat, one can only imagine how the outcome would’ve been had the team been efficient at free throws today.

Improvement Beyond the Arc

What the Aggies lacked in free throws, they made up for in three-pointers, shooting 52.2 percent from downtown, making 12 of 23 shots.

Taylor IV led the way, sinking five of his eight three-point attempts.

Lack of Discipline?

The Longhorns, on the other hand, went 14-17 from the charity stripe off of 15 fouls by the Aggies. There is a good chance that this played the biggest role in the Texas comeback, and so the word from Buzz Williams to his men should be make free throws and prevent the other team from shooting free throws of their own.

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MORE TEXAS A&M AGGIES NEWS:

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MORE: Texas A&M Aggies Impress 5-Star OT on Visit

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Austin, TX

Thousands gather for annual Texas Rally for Life at Austin Capitol

Published

1 day ago

January 25, 2025

Press Room

Thousands gather for annual Texas Rally for Life at Austin Capitol

Thousands descend on Texas capitol for pro-life march

Around 4,000 people marched down Congress Street Saturday to continue a push for even tougher abortion restrictions and to urge the funding of pro-life pregnancy centers.

AUSTIN, Texas – Roughly 4,000 people marched to the Austin Capitol Saturday carrying signs that read “Choose life” and “defund planned parenthood.”

It’s part of the annual Texas Rally for Life, which falls on the week of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion; however, that has since been overturned, and Texas now has a near-total abortion ban.

Thousands of pro-life supports march in Austin Saturday.

Local perspective:

After marching around the capitol, people dropped off baby supplies for pregnancy centers. Organizers estimate that more than 40,000 diapers and 13,000 wipes were donated.

With a near-total abortion ban in Texas and Republicans making up a majority in the Texas and U.S. House and Senate, this year’s march feels more like a victory lap for participants. They’d like to build on that.

What they’re saying:

“I hope today sends a message that we in Texas are pro-life,” said Amy O’Donnell, the communications director for Texas Alliance for Life.

“It communicates to the public, to Texans, that this issue is important and we’re speaking for the unborn,” said Kate McDonald, who was with the Leander Area Republican Women. “Those that can’t speak for themselves. It’s an important issue that we need to continue to fight for.”

They discussed funding for pro-life pregnancy centers and the Texas abortion law itself.

“We are always one election away from losing our gains, and the reality is that our work is far from over,” said O’Donnell.

Just this week, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick called on legislators to further define Texas’ law on how ill or at risk a pregnant person has to be to receive an abortion.

“We’re also working to make sure that doctors are clear of our law,” said O’Donnell. “We hear a lot of misinformation that our laws don’t save women’s lives.”

Thousands of pro-life supports march in Austin Saturday.

The other side:

Democrats have asked for clarity on this too.

“So we can ensure that those who have pregnancy complications will be able to get the health care that they need to have,” said State Representative Donna Howard (D-Austin).

While there was no counterprotest at the capitol, the ACLU of Texas said it’s still fighting back.

“At the ACLU of Texas we are committed to fighting for reproductive justice in Texas,” said Blair Wallace, the policy and advocacy strategist for the ACLU of Texas

Wallace said a top priority right now is training people through the Texas Abortion Advocacy Network to learn how to fight for pro-choice despite the state’s ban.

“We’re building a powerful movement of advocates and working to push back, you know, against things like criminalization and expanding access to care because we know that the Texas we know can exist and will exist, it just really takes all of us coming together,” said Wallace.

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