Instead, during his peak between Grammy nominations and being a guest artist on several radio hits, the singer released a follow-up to his album, an EP: Suncity. The title-track touts in Spanish, “take me to the sun city, where I left my heart.” The singer also reveled his new endeavor to begin the The Great Khalid Foundation helping to bring music education into local schools. The day-to-day operations would be spearheaded by his mother, who had since retired from service at Fort Bliss, but decided to make El Paso a lasting home.
Khalid’s decision to stay based in our area and reaffirm his commitment to our community puts this Paseño in the empty shoes left behind by Sherman Hemsley, or Al Jourgensen. A transplant who for all intents and purposes can (and maybe even should) live somewhere else, but willfully chooses to make El Pasoans their neighbors. Khalid did not create or initiate the positive “El Paso Proud” mantra –– that started to form in the early 2000’s –– he just helped it spread. Giving us the leverage to at least hint to people around the world, that our reality is not as one-dimensional as we’ve been portrayed. Only time would tell if we’d be able to share our own multi-generational perspectives at the same scale.
For centuries El Paso del Norte has been a jumping-off point or crossroads for millions heading from coast to coast. For generations locals had to leave to find their upward mobility, regardless of their sentiments about their home. More often than not, Paseños have been able to find success, purpose, or even just contentment in other places. The decline and stagnation of our home in the last half of the 20th century reaffirmed the idea amongst inhabitants that progress was easier to find outside of it. Rightfully so, those who left tend to think of their birthplace as an impediment to the race of life, or at least look back at it, thinking it’s “behind.” Those sentiments spread amongst relatives and locals to create a vacuum-effect that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts. Even those who look back on their home longingly, are often forced to realize that their career or personal advancement wasn’t sustainable there, so it becomes a moot point.
But of course, there’s continuously a new batch of locals calling this place home for the first time. Usually “transplants” without generational ties to El Paso, migrate from across the country for financial reasons. Whether a job, an obligation, or retirement, it’s usually attached with a specific motivation for the move. Even with Khalid’s embrace of the culture and the community, as a minor in a Fort Bliss-stationed family, it wasn’t his choice to relocate to El Paso. Following his quick rise to stardom and legitimate benefits for being based in a major metropolitan hub, no one would have faulted the young superstar for moving onto greener pastures.
Just as quickly as El Paso was able to accept Khalid and help him change his life, he was able to return the favor. El Paso del Norte has been plagued by generations of stagnation. Despite the sprawling land absorption and exponential increase in population over time; cultural growth, legitimate progress, and identity have been hard to pinpoint. The accomplishments by El Pasoans during the end of the 20th century all included a part in their story where they left. That culture of leaving didn’t just happen with education, business, or creative pursuits, but also individual progress. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. A place to find meaningful employment, a partner, raise a family, or whatever brings purpose to an individual.
The lack of awareness or cultural acceptance of our enclave has isolated us in more ways than just the physical sense. Pop culture references have been far from accurate. Whether it’s the sleepy old village seen in Tarantino’s Kill Bill, or No Country For Old Men, not much had changed since Clint Eastwood found himself in El Paso in the classic Dollars Trilogy (50 years earlier). On the other extreme, our home is often seen as “the chaotic drug war zone” in dozens of TV shows and films. Any way you slice it, El Paso del Norte has been plagued by horribly inaccurate portrayals and a lack of proper representation. Luckily, it’s not too difficult to understand why.