Joanna's Journeys

By a 39-Year-Old Tucson Girl Who Still Believes in Her Barrio When I think about my childhood on the southside of Tucson, it’s not just the houses or the schools that come to mind first—it’s places like Anita Street Market . That little corner store was more than just a place to buy tortillas and soda. It was where life happened. And hearing now that Anita’s might be struggling to stay open breaks my heart in a way that’s hard to explain unless you grew up here. I can still remember walking there on hot afternoons, the desert sun burning through my sneakers, a couple of crumpled dollars in my pocket. Anita’s had that old screen door that would creak loud when you opened it, the little bell jingling to let the señoras behind the counter know you were there. The smell hit you right away—fresh pan dulce, tamales wrapped in foil, and the sweet, dusty scent of old wooden shelves packed tight with everything from canned goods to piñata candy. For a lot of us, Anita Street Market wasn’t ju...

  By a 39-Year-Old Tucson Girl, Still in Love With the Music… and Tony I was just a 10th grader at Sunnyside High when I found it—by total accident—scrolling through the AM dial late one Sunday night in 1994. Back then, I had this little black boombox I bought with babysitting money. It wasn’t anything fancy, but that radio meant freedom . It meant escaping my noisy house, escaping the drama, and getting lost in the music. That’s when I landed on Power 1490AM —and my life changed. It was like the radio just whispered my soul back to me . A soft voice came on the air, smooth as silk, and he said, "You're listening to Sunday Night Slow Jams…" I was hooked. I stayed up every Sunday night after that, sometimes under the covers with my headphones in, pretending to be asleep when my mom peeked in. Those Slow Jams? They were everything. They told the stories I didn’t know how to say out loud. About love, about heartbreak, about that ache in your chest when you liked someone ...

  By a Proud 39-Year-Old Latina from the Southside Growing up in Tucson in the '90s and early 2000s, the radio was everything. Before smartphones and streaming, it was that beat-up boombox on my dresser, the stereo in my mom’s minivan, or the Walkman I’d sneak into class that brought the world to me—especially the world of music. And for me, a girl growing up on the southside, the voices coming through those speakers weren’t just DJs. They were family . They were my connection to the city, to my culture, and to my own coming of age. Here are my all-time favorite DJs who shaped my childhood, my identity, and my soundtrack. R Dub! – The King of Slow Jams Let me start with the man, the myth, the legend: R Dub! If you’re from Tucson and you don’t know R Dub!, were you even paying attention? I first heard him on Power 1490 , and then later on KXCI , KRQ , and of course, 97.5 The Vibe , where he still hosts six night a week, as well as now all over the world on 200+ stations. He was...