A have a look at the Aztec Rebels, a family-oriented bike membership based mostly within the Bronx

“Look at what you built, we started with four men and now check this out,” Sergio Garcia, the sergeant at arms of the Aztec Rebels membership, informed Andrés Lucero as he pointed on the packed get together, whereas their youngsters ran across the area and girls chatted at one of many tables. Andrés did not say something, however his eyes mentioned all of it — the delight of seeing his dream turn into a actuality, surrounded by buddies who had turn into household.

Thanksgiving evening. The South Bronx.

A small opening reveals concrete stairs that go all the way down to the basement in a quiet New York Metropolis avenue. However the silence would not final too lengthy. The scent of lime and oregano mixes with the faint aroma of beer because the sound of banda music fills the basement area. Tables are crammed to the brim with steaming bowls of pozole, and a mushy murmur of conversations weaves by the room like an invisible thread.

All of the leather-vested males look to the staircase. As Andrés eliminated his beanie, a bald eagle tattoo was revealed, glistening underneath the dim lights. He walked down the steps like an previous Hollywood film star getting into a bar, eyes mounted on the gathering.

The November wind blew in from the East River on to Intervale Avenue. However right here, Andrés’ gaze softened as he watched his folks collectively, sharing tales and laughter.

The festivities that evening have been a testomony to how far the membership had come, and likewise spoke of how Latino communities are inclined to combine into American tradition: Whereas they have been celebrating Thanksgiving, there was no turkey or gravy, however reasonably pozole, hen and black mole, conventional of Puebla, the place a lot of the Mexican inhabitants in New York is from. However to really perceive the Aztec Rebels, you must look again at how Andrés and his brother, Eddie Lucero, began their journey in a really totally different South Bronx.

Andrés based the Aztec Rebels with Eddie after studying the tradition and politics in a Bronx motorcycling membership known as The Roadrunners. They dreamt of making an area the place they might hear their very own music, communicate their language, and be understood. “I started hanging out with The Roadrunners when I was 19. Eddie was 12, and he would tag along everywhere we went. My brother grew up in that club. He has always lived the life of a biker, so, in a way, we learned what a motorcycle club was. That’s why we were able to start our own club on the basis of what an actual club is.”

After deciding on brown to be the membership’s coloration and designing the Aztec eagle insignia, the Aztec Rebels MC was formally based in 2016 with 5 founding members. They’ve since expanded to over 20 full members and 5 prospects from each borough of NYC. Most of them stay within the Bronx and Staten Island — “La Isla,” as they colloquially name it.

Each full member goes by a generally years-long course of that begins with an invitation, changing into a prospect and studying the foundations of the membership by a present member earlier than gaining their three distinctive vest patches. A flier for the membership reads: “We accept every nationality. You don’t need a motorcycle to enter, but we do expect you to get one eventually.” The Aztecs, nonetheless, are primarily Mexican, speckled by just a few Ecuadorians and a Honduran member.

Every has a unique story and connection to Mexico.

“For me, the journey here was more of a game, an adventure through the desert,” Andrés says when recalling his migratory journey. “I came in ’86 and have always been looking for the opportunity to improve my situation, even when I was a kid. I was 12, and for me, it was just normal. I didn’t see the danger back then, but if I had to do it again, I would be very scared, because I’ve heard a lot of horror stories from recent migrants.”

His dad and mom had arrived 5 years earlier from Piaxtla, a city of 15,000 within the mountains of Puebla. They began a material manufacturing facility in uptown Manhattan and rented an condo on Southern Boulevard within the Bronx. “I come from a pueblo — I was never from the city — so it was a really drastic change to arrive here and see all the people. Especially in that time — the Bronx was in the middle of the drug pandemic. Crack.”

Within the ’80s, the South Bronx nonetheless bore the scars of fires that burned complete neighborhoods to the bottom the prior decade. “There were a lot of burnt buildings. It looked like a war zone. A lot of people are using drugs in the streets. I adapt quickly, nonetheless. In the end, it didn’t scare me; I just had to get used to everything. After a couple of years, it was just normal to see what was going on,” Andrés remembers from his youth.

Mexican immigration to the USA dates again to the start of the twentieth century, with undocumented agricultural laborers touring to work within the Californian fields. Within the 1940’s, the Bracero program formalized the employment of many of those employees, who have been wanted to fill the hole created by the demand for males throughout World Struggle II. All through the century, the apply of younger males migrating to work in the USA grew increasingly more frequent.

In 1980, there have been 39,000 folks of Mexican origin in New York state, whereas 10 years later, the census registered an yearly improve of 8.8%. It’s on this panorama that so many Mexicans have constructed a house in the USA, discovering themselves and creating communities that make them really feel protected and with a way of id.

In 2020, Andrés handed the president’s badge to his brother and now spends most of his time operating a deli on Third Avenue. The again of the shop, adorned with a Virgen de Guadalupe sprayed in gritty black graffiti, doubles as his tattoo parlor. His house continues to be the condo constructing the place his dad and mom settled within the ’80s. One of many doorways belongs to Eddie.

Stern and severe, Eddie carries an virtually navy posture in his shoulders — gained by non-public safety coaching and a lifetime dwelling among the many membership — together with 5 commanding officers, they preserve the Aztecs driving. Eddie shouldn’t be solely the membership president and a commanding presence amongst the Aztecs; he’s additionally father to twin youngsters that usually spend time with the membership, when they don’t seem to be enjoying soccer with the FC Harlem. Eddie, as a part of a kind of coaching, tells his youngsters of the robust choices he generally has to make as president, and asks them what they might do. Explaining and passing on an important worth of the membership: the worth of household. He’s additionally the friendliest of the group when enjoying with the opposite members’ youngsters. He’s cherished and revered by everybody.

Riders maintain numerous stigma and stereotypes of machismo and misogyny, generally supported by long-held traditions and questionable practices. As an example, in most bike golf equipment, wives and girlfriends of the group put on vests that learn “Property of X M.C.” As president, Eddie broke that custom by writing “Protected by Aztec Rebels M.C.” on the ladies’s vests.

When taking a look at one of many Aztecs’ gatherings, one should see past the vests and the stereotypes surrounding bike tradition. Though they may look robust on the skin, the boys that type this neighborhood are accountable household males. The membership additionally supplies a household to those that, in some instances, left their households behind and began a life fully on their very own in the USA.

“People are always looking for a family, and that’s why sometimes they get into gangs. We want to be that place where Mexicans can come and be in a safe environment, without violence, but with a family,” Eddie says.

At 19, ‘Diablo,’ is the youngest full member within the Aztecs. He requested us to not use his full identify due to his immigration standing. Most, or reasonably none, of the members know his precise identify; they confer with him by the nickname he earned from his love of pace on his bike.

“I went straight into middle school and had a lot of fights. People tried to bully me because I didn’t speak English, so I just defended myself, and only then did they respect me and start hanging out with me,” Diablo remembers.

He stands proud from the opposite Aztecs just for his skinny construct and the noticeable age distinction. However he is only one of them in relation to the brotherly rowdiness and banter.

“My mother told me that the fights in high school were not irrelevant, but they meant knives and weapons. All my friends went to the same high school, but I didn’t tell them and went to a different one. Most of them are now in gangs and some of them are no longer around,” he says, whereas hanging out subsequent to a meals truck promoting birria and tacos on a freeway in Connecticut.

Since 2016, the Rebels have been gathering of their private flats, garages and basements, from Yonkers to Staten Island, or “La Isla,” as they name it. However they’ve all the time wished to have a everlasting house.

As their numbers elevated, the commanding officers began on the lookout for potential locations to hire, primarily within the South Bronx. They visited greater than 20 tons that they might use, however have been all the time turned down.

This 12 months, their efforts lastly got here to fruition. A distant avenue subsequent to the Hunts Level “marketa,” because the Latino neighborhood calls it, lastly accepted the Aztec Rebels as tenants. Eddie known as an emergency assembly on the new location with out giving freely the shock. All the boys answered the decision. They got here considering that their president was in peril. They climbed up the steps with out eradicating their helmets, prepared for something. And there stood Eddie: he mentioned. “Welcome to your new house.”

Within the subsequent couple weeks, they transformed the area with their naked palms. Most have labored in development, so it wasn’t onerous for them. They added a basic pool and foosball desk, and a TV, the place they watched the Mexican soccer league’s last between Membership América and Cruz Azul.

“There’s a different way to do things. You don’t have to follow a straight path. We broke the mold by being Mexican bikers in New York. You can be wholesome and be a family man. And you can be more than just a biker. You can be a leader in your community and help everybody out by being part of something big,” Eddie concluded.

Mayolo López Gutiérrez is a photojournalist based mostly in Mexico Metropolis. You may see extra of Mayolo’s work on his web site, mayolopezgutierrez.com, or on Instagram at @fotomayo. 

Picture edited by Virginia Lozano. Copy edited by Zach Thompson.