LA Eastside

When I took my first trip to Europe I did what everyone does and checked out some travel books for some information and ideas. They’re useful in giving you a general sense of a place. On a whim I thought “let’s see what they say about Los Angeles” and man was that a bucket of hot water: this travel book racket is run by fools with money. Or sometimes just fools. I quickly realized that those that portray our city, in all the various ways you can, tend to do so either for money or because they have the money to do so. Its pretty messed up. My consternation to the lousy representation of our city is one of the main reasons I started my shitty website CHANFLES! (and later an even shittier blog) a decade ago. Who am I to decide to document this supposed glamorous city? I am a nobody in a metropolis that believes celebrity is a life-force. But I’ve learned through the process of experience that those that feel entitled to represent our city, no matter how many months ago they arrived, have nothing better to offer. My take can’t be that bad, can it? And therein was my mistake, trying to present an alternative understanding of LA to the ether, before becoming a somebody. Cuz nobody cares unless they care about you. Nobody cares what the nobodies think.

And then it’s time for the Cosmic Flip concept that my long lost friend Heriberto was fond of discussing : maybe the lack of importance makes it super important. I won’t delve into this serious filosophizing, but it was something to that effect. In any case, I think I’ve done my small part in describing my city. But in the end, the bastards with the money still own the bullhorn: they get to blurt out their inanities all over the place. I’ve been keeping watch.

So finally, the point of this post. I’m going to show you a sampling of travel books/guide books to LA to see how they deal with our lil’ historic community known as the Eastside. How do you think we will fare?

BTW, there’s a bunch of pics ahead, so plan your reading accordingly.

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It would seem that everyone and their mom is going to be in Downtown this Saturday for the May Day march. I myself will also be there of course, but what about after the march is over. Then what ? Well, jump on board the Goldline and make your way East of the river and indulge in a night out in Boyle Heights. Marching, chanting and holding up signs can take its toll and work up a hunger. Well what better way to end a protest than by supporting the Boyle Heights Street Vendors Association. The street vendors are officially back. All the hard work from East Los Angeles Community Corporation’s Community Organizing Department will culminate into what is sure to be a great night of some of the best antojitos in L.A.

137 N. Soto (soto st. and Michigan Ave) between 6pm and 10pm.  Help us support street vendors who are struggling to make a living and fighting for the right to work in their own community. (Bring Cash, no credit cards accepted)

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Last month a few of us dedicated library patrons gathered for a very poorly attended panel discussion at the Mark Taper Auditorium.  Did you know there is a lecture auditorium called the Mark Taper at the Central Library?  The next day and week [following that panel] there was an on-line discussion extolling the excellent people of San Francisco for both promoting and attending their library functions—in droves too!  My brother, who works at the Central Library says that there is more power in using the library and its services, than launching the biggest rally in support of keeping it open.  Many of us bloggers on LAeastside and you readers have been dismayed with the recent cutback attacks on our library system.  This week, there is a very interesting award winning author speaking at the Central Library (details below) on my favorite subject: the border wars and Ciudad Juarez.  If this is not your thing, attend one of the other FREE lectures coming up through the Aloud Series, or check out a book or video, reserve a computer, take the metro downtown and enjoy the architectural splendor and art at the Central Library.  Keep the library abuzz with our presence!   RSVPs are required to attend the Aloud lectures and it only takes a few moments to reserve your seat/s at (213) 228-7025 or online. (more…)

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From one of LA Eastside’s favorite bookstores, IMIX:

IMIX Books Presents: Talking Mexico And Blogging With Daniel Hernandez
Wednesday, April 14, 2010 at 7pm
5052 Eagle Rock Blvd (@ Colorado) Los Angeles

Let’s welcome award-winning Mexico City-based journalist, Daniel Hernandez back to his old stomping grounds in Los Angeles for “Talking Mexico and Blogging with Daniel Hernandez: On the narco war, the political scene, and ‘who gets to tell the story’.”
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Reading about John Fante Square being inaugurated on 5th and Grand I remember the passionate racial fights between Bandini and his Mexican girlfriend. Soon after, Kerouac comes into mind smoking marijuana in the desert heat of a Mexican afternoon, the gratifying pleasure he felt after eating the refried beans made by his Mexican girl. These page-turned memories rising on the same heat-rippled smoke of mirage like driving on the 15 into The Cajon Pass. Back in the city, Hunter Thompson’s friend, Oscar Zeta Acosta’s, attorney-rants in Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo, the Juarez prison cell, the judge demanding for him to learn his father’s language: Spanish. How many other aspects of American literary culture have been ignored, or forgotten, even by Chicano Studies courses, let alone more traditional literature classes, I ask myself?

Submitted by M. Saldivar Galindo

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Franklin St, Lower Allston, Boston, Massachusetts

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Last weekend of art activism– A Prayer for Juarez closes.  This Friday and Saturday doors open at 7:15pm for final viewing of the protest art exhibit. Casa 0101 Annex, 2102 1st Street, Boyle Heights.  All events are FREE!

Friday, March 26, Film  Screening of El Traspatio/Backyard from Mexico. Not yet released in the US.  Stars Jimmy Smits & Ana de la Reguera. [Mexico, 2009 - 122 mins].  Screening starts at 8pm

Saturday, March 27, Award Winning Reporter Diana Washington Valdez updates us on the latest from Ciudad Juarez, from an insider’s point of view. Starts at 8pm.

Diana Washington Valdez, an investigative reporter for the El Paso Times, has covered the murders in Ciudad Juarez since 2001. In her book The Killing Fields: Harvest of Women, Washington Valdez contends the killings are part of a circuit of parties hosted by prominent Juarez citizens. Former FBI official Frank Evans said, “Diana Washington Valdez is a witness to the truth.” Ms. Washington Valdez has taken the message about the femicides in Ciudad Juarez to 30 cities in the United States and other countries. She is featured in the documentary Border Echoes, produced by Lorena Mendez Quiroga of Los Angeles and in Bajo Juarez by Alejandra Sanchez and Jose Cordero. Both films feature author Washington Valdez’ examinations of the Texas-Mexico border atrocities. Diana Washington Valdez has been interviewed for features on CNN, the New York Times, Aljazeera, Televisa, Channel 4 (London, England), and other news media.
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IMIX Books has been open for about 6 years and has served the community extremely well. But times are very tough and we need your help. A fundraiser is being held on Friday February 19th.

I met the owner, Elisa, when she worked at Premiere Aztlan in the Montebello Town Center more than 10 years ago. We have been good friends ever since. This woman is dedicated to books and to the community. She worked at Sisterhood Books, Midnight Special Books, Premiere Aztlan, etc. Remember those places? She later had a space at Mercado La Paloma off 37th and S. Grand. She then opened IMIX Bookstore in Eagle Rock and has provided an invaluable community resource. Besides a fine selection of literature and progressive titles, how many artists has this bookstore helped?

In these desperate economic times, mom and pop stores are hit the hardest. IMIX is one of the last independent bookstores in the ELA/NELA area. In fact, all the bookstores where she was once employed are gone. We will not let IMIX Books suffer the same fate, will we? Our community helps our own, right? See you there.

Suggested Donation is 15$ (sliding scale). No one will be turned away at the door. Children free!!

*Note: you can also donate here*

**chimatli wrote about IMIX here.

***flyer borrowed from DJ Phatrick

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It’s a bit late, and other people have covered it but here’s a few pics I took of the recent LA Anarchist Bookfair at beautiful Barnsdall Park. Yes, when we’re not burning and looting, we do take some time to catch up on the latest theories and practices to be found in print, its ammo to fuel the anger. Haz click para la rabia!

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Stop-Wake Up (Very awesome video filmed in Los Angeles and popular Hi-NRG song)

Over at my personal blog, I’ve been doing a series of posts based on a book I’ve been reading called Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco. I was fascinated to read the chapter on Hi-NRG or what I’ve come to call “Chicano Disco” (my nod to the moniker “Chicano Oldies”) and the music’s influence on a generation of Eastsiders.
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