Myckenzie Smith - Myckenzie Smith: San Diego Journalist

Barrio Santuario

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Girls in Gaming

This website was created as an in-class project for JMS 430 . One of the requirements was to write periodical updates on our stories and our

&nbsp;A brief overview of Barrio Logan’s history and cultural impact in San&nbsp;Diego.

Barrio Santuario: a community built on Chicano strength

Instagram - @andrewtneel | Donations - paypal.me/AndrewNeel

Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, 3.6 GPA

Currently found at Mabel's Gone Fishing.

Photojournalist based in San Diego.

Myckenzie Smith

Interview with Andrea Montiel

seeing the world through a different lens

<h3>Background</h3>Myckenzie Smith is a first generation college graduate from San Diego State University, with a Bachelor's of Arts in JournalismHomeschooled for ten years in an RV following the 2008 financial crisis, a higher education was not in cards for Smith, until she carved the path herself.<h3>Objective</h3>With a unique perspective on life, Smith's journalistic approach seeks to highlight the nontraditional. Eager to discover and learn, Smith understands that life's stories are best told through experience. Her goal is to continue to make her own way, pushing boundariess of storytelling through an array of artistic mediums, including filmmaking, photography, writing, fashion, and music.

Meet Myckenzie Smith

When I come up with ideas for feature stories, I find myself on one of two ends of extremes in terms of creativity. I’m either juggling multiple ideas and visualizing a streamlined path riddled with endurance, or my mind is a completely blank slate, scraping the walls for an original thought attempting to build something of substance from nothing. However, I am not God nor am I the Big Bang, so this semester I found myself on the latter end of that extreme, struggling to find my grasp on a journalistic endeavor.I like to root myself in whatever story I write, as I’m sure any other writer would agree. Maybe it was my place in life or my relationship with myself, but I really struggled to find a connection with anything. I found myself coming up with topics that I would typically like, yet felt nothing for. I couldn’t visualize myself creating anything. I felt but a mere vessel to complete tasks at hand.I tried to keep it simple. Nothing groundbreaking, just a topic that I felt deserved some attention, yet still had substantial data to speculate. As I was consulting with a friend about my upcoming semester project, they told me I should write about Barrio Logan. This is where my idea was birthed.He began to tell me his own perspective of Barrio Logan as a born-and-raised San Diegan. I began to feel my feet touch the ground again, as I listened to him. What started as a joke about “if you trying to get shot, go to Barrio Logan”, turned into a conversation about how different the narrative is for people who live in the barrio versus life outside of it, just minutes down the road.The story began to write itself in my head, and inspiration was sparked.

Sept. 19

Once I found my footing with a topic, I found myself consumed with inspiration right away. The research and development process commenced. Typically, the standard order would be to research the topic, then go to the location to take photos. I intended on visiting Barrio Logan quite a few times, so I took off with my camera, set on acquainting myself with the area and documenting the experience.&nbsp;First I visited Chicano Park, which I had heard of, but didn’t understand it’s significance quite yet. I perused the main street and realized just how close this little neighborhood is to downtown. As I drove around I quickly noticed the variety of infrastructure, and its uniqueness in industrial architecture, combining residential and high commercial transit. As I stood underneath Coronado Bridge, the murals on its columns towered over me, and I knew I made the right choice.It was around this time that we had just finished creating out website. The process for building our website was, in theory, easier. However, it left me feeling confused, halting the momentum that I once had for writing my story. I was slightly thrown by my lack of understanding. Unable to understand the concept of the website I was creating for my final project, I lost my grasp on things. As a veteran “A” student, I decided to put this on the back-burner, thinking that I would eventually understand the more we engaged with the material in class.&nbsp;

Oct. 10

One month has passed and I feel quite defeated. I had made little-to-no progress with my website or my story, and lost the vision I once had. By this point, I felt completely lost in this course and was engulfed in doubts of my capabilities as a student. I became more and more hopeless for gaining better understanding of the structures of our websites and overall stories with each passing day. Attending classes began to feel pointless, with lab exercises mostly dedicated to experimenting with artificial intelligence instead of more comprehensive work related to our semester long project. I began to check out of my coursework for the semester, having not a clue of what was happening or what was expected of me. I began to feel like my professor didn’t know either.On top of the lack of structure I was experiencing, only one of my sources got back to me in a timely manner, while others were faulty in communication. I remembered the drive I had for journalism once again when I interviewed the professor of Chicano Studies at SDSU, which involved a riveting conversation about the Chicano experience. I felt my story begin to take shape, listening back to my interview for quotes. This hope was short-lived, as he was the only person I could get contact with for a recorded interview.

Nov. 7

By the end of Thanksgiving break, I was ready to be over with this semester. I had contacted almost ten organizations and businesses, attempting to reach contact with anyone who was willing to share their experience. Hearing back from no one, I decided I just had to be ok with only two sources. One of which only got back to me via email. I managed to get my story together piece-by-piece, until it finally began to round itself out in the end.Overall, it was a difficult process to write this story. What started off with me having a lot of hope for growth in my own potential quickly became a matter of settling at every turn. Having to settle so much, rather than going above and beyond, I struggled to feel any sort of quality in my school work. I was constantly reminding myself that I was not a bad student, just in precarious circumstances. I realized the semester was not nearly over, and got one last push to sprint to the finish line. I maintained contact with professors, explaining my circumstances, and I worked hard to finish my story. Looking back, it may not be my best semester as a student, but I am still proud of myself for always doing the best I can in the face of adversary.&nbsp;

<h3>Deckman's North - Lead expeditor and server</h3>Prioritizing guests' needs and curating their experience.Communication liaison between front and back of house.Leadership and direction under in a high-pressure environment.<h3>Coffee Code - Shift Lead</h3>Responsible store and all decision made during shift hours.Training new baristas on work flow, latte art, and espresso knowledge.Writing monthly reviews, ensuring barista quality development.

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In San Diego there exists a small community called Barrio Logan, home to thousands of minorities who paved and developed the neighborhood. For decades, Barrio Logan has been the epicenter of Chicano repression and resistance against injustice.Once known as just Logan Heights, the neighborhood became a place of refuge for those fleeing from the Mexican Revolution in 1910. They eventually <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.trolleytours.com/san-diego/barrio-logan">renamed the area to Barrio Logan</a>, “barrio” meaning “neighborhood” in Spanish, to reflect the community the refugees had found and created for themselves.With <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/c3f83193b64e41d29aa0530e1b92ce04">85%</a> of the community being Hispanic, Barrio Logan was often overlooked and oppressed by the city of San Diego. Ignoring the residents' needs and wellbeing for the better interests of the city leaders who were more socially and monetarily affluent.&nbsp;“One could say that Barrio Logan was subjected to environmental racism,” said Isidro Ortiz, Ph.D, Chicano Studies professor at San Diego State University.To expand on what Ortiz means by environmental racism, we must understand the effects of the industrial revolution in the barrio.&nbsp;Shortly after Barrio Logan was established, the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://chicanoparkmuseum.org/logan-heights-archival-project/logan-heights-canneries/">tuna industry saw a boom</a> in the San Diego region, attracting many families from different ethnic backgrounds in hopes to find work. This was especially the case for Mexican-Americans in the region.In 1923, San Diego built a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/organization-and-administration/installations/naval-base-san-diego.html">waterfront naval base</a> in Barrio Logan, with operations expanding during World War II. This cut off all public access to the ocean for Barrio Logan residents.According to Jasmine Zavala, Communications Consultant and researcher at Chicano Park Museum, the constant commute of military personnel in and out of the area contributed greatly to the overall noise and air pollution, resulting in “several documented cases of asthma and other respiratory issues within the community”.As San Diego continued to grow in size and population, the city struggled to maintain its waste. The city solved this by <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://themetropole.blog/2024/02/28/a-struggle-for-self-reliance-a-brief-history-of-community-plans-in-barrio-logan-1978-2023/">re-zoning Barrio Logan</a> in the 1950s from a residential zone to a mixed-use zone, allowing for them to place their junkyards in the area, further polluting the neighborhood with toxic waste.“Residents had been fighting for autonomy as the city continued to oppress the neighborhood through initiatives like redlining,” said Zavala.A cascade of actions by the city of San Diego over the next few decades continued to oppress residents of Barrio Logan.Following into the 1960s, the Interstate-5 was constructed through the middle of Barrio Logan, splitting the neighborhood in two and displacing thousands of families who had lived there for years.&nbsp;“Displaced residents received little compensation that was far below the actual value of their land and did not adequately reflect the trauma experienced by those families,” said Zavala. “Some residents did not receive any compensation.”The construction of the Coronado Bridge cemented Barrio Logan as the epicenter of traffic coming in and out of Coronado Island, leaving behind a concrete jungle. Zavala refers to this as the “turning point” for the barrio. Residents of Barrio Logan were promised a park by the city of San Diego. As they looked forward to the construction of an untraditional concrete park, they slowly began to realize the construction site was actually for a California Highway Patrol station.This was the final straw for the residents of Barrio Logan, prompting community members to organize.“[It] fueled anger and tension, prompting community members to organize,” said Zavala.

The barrio's history

<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.sandiego.org/article/chicano-park">On April 22, 1970</a>, residents of Barrio Logan occupied the construction site, forming a human chain around the bulldozers. Men, women and children alike remained as human shields, forcing the city to stop in their tracks.&nbsp;“They created human chains around the bulldozers, disrupted the whole process and refused to leave, so that ultimately, the city had to concede,” said Ortiz.These actions from the fearless residents of the city birthed Chicano Park, a nationally recognized historical landmark honoring the residents of the community and their history.Today, Chicano Park serves as the largest mural site for Chicano art, and is a symbol of the community’s strength and unity.&nbsp;The essence of the barrio’s spirit is splattered on the walls of Chicano Park. With over 100 murals on display, the history unfolds itself to the eyes of those in its presence.&nbsp; Slogans of freedom and empowerment are paired with depictions from ancient tribes to modern-day, symbolizing the battles of not just the barrio, but of Chicanos and Mexicans for hundreds of years.&nbsp;Vibrancy and color are found in all of the murals, representing the uplifting and tireless spirit of the barrio as they clung tightly to their ethos, despite the efforts of their white oppressors.Across the street is Chicano Park Museum, where visitors can find an abundance of information regarding the park’s history, celebrating the barrio’s resilience and heritage.The non-profit organization prides itself on spreading the light and spirit of the community, beyond just awareness. This can be seen in something as small as Zavala’s signature in email communications, always signing off her name with “con epíritu de communidad”.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://chicanoparkmuseum.org/about/">The museum acknowledges</a> not just the history of Chicanos, but all minorities in the barrio. They condemn the actions of European colonization, recognizing a longer history of violence against the Kumeyaay people that laid the foundation of the systemic oppression found today.“Now part of the issue is that often, residents in Barrio Logan are not homeowners,” said Ortiz. “They’re renters. So as a consequence, they don't have much say in terms of what's going to occur to the housing they’re living in.”<h4>Barrio Logan Today</h4>Today, homeowners make up less than <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.point2homes.com/US/Neighborhood/CA/San-Diego/Barrio-Logan-Demographics.html">30%</a> of all residents, leaving the rest at the mercy of the landlords and the city. A long history of residents primarily renting has left a ripe foundation for outsiders to overrule the agency of those whose families have lived there for years.&nbsp;Gentrification is an ongoing issue in urban areas, as inflation increases rent prices, incentivizing people to seek lower costs of living in poorer areas. The increase in demand for the market pushes out the locals who have lived in and contributed to the economy for years.&nbsp;“Established military contractors and bases have made it clear that they intend to stay,” said Zavala. “While active community members strive to preserve the neighborhood’s roots, commercial developers and other corporations continue to push in and build.”Evidence of commercial occupation can be clearly seen by driving through the barrio. Blue-collar workers go on break and get off of work in the middle of the night, walking in numbers across the street, no matter the day of the week.The residents and workers of Barrio Logan are testament to the resilience of the barrio. Despite decades of political neglect and environmental racism, the community has always banded together through collective action.&nbsp;Barrio Logan’s story is far from over. As industrialization and pollution continue to encroach on the community, its foundational Chicano pride and devotion towards action will continue to be its legacy.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1gR8HqpEX9vOLjLYXRItIAppmhC25qwg&amp;usp=sharing">Map of Barrio Logan</a>

Birth of Chicano Park

<h4>Lack of diversity in gaming spheres from production to gameplay cultivate an unwelcoming space for women in gaming</h4>

Girls in Gaming: Infiltrating the Boys’ Club

Video games have been reflecting the modern age for the past 50 years, rising parallel alongside technological advancements. Gaming has commonly been perceived as a boys’ activity, with many denying the narrative that girls want to play, let alone could be skilled at video games as well.However, this narrative is not reflected in society. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" class="as ky" href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/232383/gender-split-of-us-computer-and-video-gamers/?srsltid=AfmBOorlF9466OielyUU4mN02WLp_lCMBkLsEvHvEZ9DigVAmbwrKWYK">According to Statista</a>, a data tracking company, women over the age of 18 in the United States have made up almost half of all gamers for the past two decades. Yet, when asked to imagine a gamer, most will imagine a group of teenage boys engaged in virtual combat.“They just think that girls aren’t supposed to be there, like, they’re supposed to be doing something else,” said Emmery Pot, the treasurer of Aztec Gaming, a student-run organization at San Diego State University.The world of science fiction exploded in pop culture media in the ’80s, shaping society’s most primitive understandings and approaches to gaming. Popular films such as “Wargames,” “Tron” and “Jumanji” portray boys engaging in combative and immersive gaming, leaving viewers to think this is what gamers look like exclusively.While combative games are very popular, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" class="as ky" href="https://www.blog.udonis.co/mobile-marketing/mobile-games/best-selling-games">the most popular games</a> also include sandbox, simulation and puzzle games. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" class="as ky" href="https://quanticfoundry.com/2017/01/19/female-gamers-by-genre/">According to a survey</a> conducted by Quantic Foundry in 2017, women make up the majority of match-3 and farm/simulation games. So where does this narrative against girls in gaming come from?“We’re quiet, but we’re there,” said Sara Roldan, a psychology professor at SDSU, who specializes in therapeutic practices with video games and geek culture. “It’s just you have to find us.”<h3>Sexualization in video games</h3>Roldan addressed the sexualization of female characters in video games, and argued that in our patriarchal capitalist society, sex sells.“We provide a lot of the ‘goods,’ if you will,” she said. “Because of that, a lot of the things that we do is through the male gaze.”For example, Marvel Rivals is a very popular shooter-game based in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The skins for the female characters are typical to comic book style drawings of women, including provocative, skin-tight bodysuits with unnecessary cut outs.When it came to her favorite game, Andrea Montiel, director of Aztec Gaming at SDSU, said that “guys use that skin more while they’re playing (Marvel Rivals). It makes them play a character more.”While there are only a limited number of studies, existing data indicates that women are <a target="_blank" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" class="as ky" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103120303917#:~:text=Sexualization%20of%20video%20game%20characters,are%20specific%20to%20interactive%20media.">less likely</a> to play these combative games due to the portrayal of highly sexualized female characters with unrealistic body types.(below is a screenshot of the player POV as Catwoman in Batman: Arkam City, courtesy of Gamespot.)

Lack of representation

“Video games were catered to men, not to women, that’s why you see a lot of the sexualization of female characters,” Roldan said.Both Montiel and Pot noted that Aztec Gaming is predominantly full of men. The Esports Engagement Center on SDSU campus hosts many esports events for Aztec Gaming, which Montiel mentioned only two or three out of around 70 students are girls. “I feel like it kind of makes (women) more intimidated because the only people who really show up is men,” Montiel said. “It’s kind of scary.”<h3>The experiences as female gamers</h3>Beyond just the hypersexualization of female characters, many girls like Montiel and Pot have also experienced misogyny from their peers while playing. Just over <a target="_blank" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" class="as ky" href="https://genderjusticeproject.org/media-and-entertainment/2023/10/3/womens-experience-of-online-harassment-in-the-gaming-community">60% of women</a> reported being harassed while playing online games.“They just think that girls aren’t supposed to be there, like, they’re supposed to be doing something else,” Pot said.Montiel talked about being on the receiving end of many sexist remarks and disrespectful jokes in certain discord servers that were predominantly male. Pot also recalled many sexist remarks, such as, “go back to the kitchen” and “make me a sandwich” whilst playing online.These statements are not just exaggerated cliches, but true depictions of rampant misogyny in the gaming industry. While it may not be as common to hear day-to-day, the protection of anonymity allows men to verbally abuse their female peers without any repercussions. There is some <a target="_blank" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" class="as ky" href="https://ris.cdu.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/58085900/15554120221077730.pdf">predisposed notion</a> acted on by these men that women inherently do not belong in any gaming atmosphere.“(Men) don’t expect women to perform better than men,” Montiel said.This phenomenon does not only affect gameplay and society. The roots of gaming culture can be traced back to game development itself.Ashleigh Amrine, a former gameplay programmer at Amazon Games, recounts a widely common practice at gaming conventions, to which she referred to as “booth babes.”“These women don’t work for the studio,” Amrine said. “They’re hired to be hot and for people to take pictures with them.”Amrine recalled multiple instances of attending different video game conferences, where game development companies would showcase their new and upcoming products. Often, these booths featured women wearing bikinis just to attract attention from men. These marketing tactics only worked to a certain extent, as these girls could not talk to developers about anything related to the game they were promoting.“This wasn’t just an outlier,” Amrine said. “This was basically the standard for booths at these conferences for years.”Gaming has long been considered a boys’ club, ostracizing any woman who dare enter the field. Successful companies like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" class="as ky" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-58982225">Activision</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" class="as ky" href="https://www.theguardian.com/games/2025/jul/02/three-ubisoft-video-game-chiefs-guilty-enabling-culture-sexual-harassment">Ubisoft</a> have faced multiple sexual harassment/misconduct lawsuits, citing a “frat boy culture” that perpetuates unequal working conditions and pay for their female employees.

A Writer’s Quiet Struggle - A dimly lit wooden desk featuring a black vintage typewriter, an open spiral notebook with a pencil, and scattered crumpled paper. Captures the emotional solitude, frustration, and silent persistence of the writing process — moments before a story is born or abandoned.

According to Women in Games, a nonprofit activist organization, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" class="as ky" href="https://www.womeningames.org/gdc-2024-report-more-of-the-same/">only 23%</a> of gaming developers are women. This same report also surveyed that confidence in DEI efforts are decreasing amongst employees, with higher ups reporting shortcomings rather than successes in their DEI policies.This was reported in 2024, a year before the Trump Administration <a target="_blank" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" class="as ky" href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-and-wasteful-government-dei-programs-and-preferencing/">removed</a> a multitude of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs across the nation. While many companies moved forward with removing DEI programs to save on costs, CEO of Activision Blizzard confirms their values for DEI initiatives, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" class="as ky" href="https://thatparkplace.com/activision-blizzard-dei/">stating</a> that their Inclusive Growth team is “important to (their) games, (their) culture and who (they) are as a company.”“Without bringing in new blood, (the gaming industry) won’t change,” Amrine said. “I just hope that a lot more voices will be making games, and I hope that they are brave enough to make something from their heart.”~~~Below is a short clip made as a separate media assignment for JMS 550, still related to the topic.

Myckenzie Smith

Visual Storytelling

Meet Myckenzie Smith

Background

Objective