la rueda chillona consigue la grasa

Well, that's a literal way of saying "the squeaky wheel gets the grease." I don't think there is such a phrase in Spanish, but c'est la vie.

Chicago has a large Latino population, with several essentially off-limits enclaves throughout the city (off-limits to honkys, that is). Hell, most of West Chicago qualifies as such.

But the largest part of that not-white-not-black group, Mexicans, is relatively voiceless. According to the IFF report "Opportunities and Challenges: A Community Perspective on Nonprofit Services for Latinos and Community Need" (a rather ungainly title, it must be said), Mexicans comprised over 73% of the Latino population of Chicago in 2000. The second-largest group was Puerto Ricans, at 9.9%.

However, at Western Avenue and Division Street, just past Wicker Park-Bucktown-Ukrainian Village, there is an enormous steel sculpture of the Puerto Rican flag that spans the street and dominates the visual field. Every summer, the entire area (Humboldt Park--still not white-friendly after dark) is shut down for a week for the Puerto Rican Festival.

There is no "Mexican Festival" in Chicago. There are no giant Mexican flags looming over any part of the city. I find this interesting.