Last time I reported on the Breed Street Food Vendors, I was telling everyone to show their support by signing the petition to get an evening farmers market going here in Boyle Heights. Well I’m ecstatic to report that not only were there enough petitions turned in, but the L.A. City council approved the motion to get this farmers market up and running. Whether you agree with this move or not, it doesn’t really matter because you aren’t the one’s that are struggling to make ends meat, hiding from police and wonder when you will be able to make a living selling your home made dishes and sharing them with everyone else. So, come to Corazon del Pueblo and find out what the future holds for street vendors.
For a long while, I’ve been questioning the intended efficacy of public protests. I often wonder if the days of marching and holding signs and the persuasive effect they used to have on those in power is long gone. Public protests still serve a purpose though, they create a sense of solidarity with other like-minded folks, walking on empty streets with thousands of other people is an interesting way to take in the city, creative sign slogans are entertaining and inspiring, and protests can sometimes turn into riots. With these things in mind, I headed Downtown this weekend for the Anti-Nazi Protest with a Bay Area friend in-tow. I wanted him to experience Los Angeles style oppositional politics, a sorta intro to “This is how we do it.”
Last night I was hanging out at a youtube party, where various folks pick a music video to share with the gathered crowd. It’s all the rage these days, didn’t you know? Vicente from the bay area shared this ridiculous video that had us busting up for minutes, which I thought was the stupidest video ever. A paletero without a properly insulated cart? Not even a damn ice chest? Plus no bells or horns either on the shopping cart, nobody’s gonna know the paletero is coming around. Even the poorest and dumbest ambulante in LA knows that this shit ain’t gonna work. What’s wrong with them fools from Frisco? At least they paid a visit to the laundromat, otherwise known as the functional local plaza.
This morning I can’t remember any of the other videos so I guess this was the best one of the night. Enjoy!
Little known random fact about me, I use to be a raspado vendor. I kid you not. This was when I was trying to figure out what to do with my life after graduating high school. You know, taking a year off or three from school to get my head on straight. I worked as a street vendor and I learned some life lessons that cannot be learned anywhere else. Even when I was a kid, the raspado man would be a sight for sore eyes when school let out. My favorite all time flavors are rompope, vanilla, strawberry, then all three combined with some lechera on top Mmmm, mmmm.
El Chavo is usually talking sense, except when he goes blasphemous by throwing some corporate cheez in tamales. But, on the subject of that staples center concrete wonderland, he has never been more spot on. his cold, calculating description is muzak to my eyes. Shiny cement cesspools. Is there any way around that? Parks and libraries getting shut down and these commercial camps get ballyhooed. But those are public, this is private! Huh? Just so cold and sterile. Remember when De La Soul said, “neighborhoods are now hoods, cuz nobody’s neighbors…” Well I do. It’s a brothel without the “fun,” even though patrons do get fucked one way or another. L.A. Live. Music, dining, sports, living? Whateverz, as RHS students say. The grey buildings and grey walls and grey floors and those giant televisions. “OMG, they put Christ Miss lights on the bald trees. What a nice detail.” I dont want my trees trimmed, or anything else trimmed. Let’s keep it real. “Hey, where you going?” Oh, to go watch television. Outside. Television? Outside?
Acerbic naysayer? What are the solutions? What would you replace it with? What am I now, a city planner? Those assholes should be losing their jobs. Solutions? For starters, don’t be calling a concrete commercial center (or as their site claims, “a one of a kind entertainment campus,”) a haven. I’m not the one lying. Fuck you very much.
Who runs that dump? The Dutch East India Company?
I hope the Lakers and Kings lose. Everyday! Enjoy the video.
I found this on Cesar Chavez and Eastern on the side of a liquor store. I first saw it riding the bus going to school and this sign stood out like the jewel that it is. I made some edits on photoshop, but only to bring out the colors. To me, this says it all right here. The tagging of gang bangers, crews, tagging crews and corporate companies. The dog eat dog competition of getting up, being seen and having your stuff be seen by everyone. Being a rockstar right ? It’s funny that this piece of advertising, covered in tags from head to toe, seen as an eye sore by everyone, never got taken down. Even as the wall it’s next to it gets buffed out every morning after it’s tagged up, they leave advertising like this alone because if it were to get painted over, the city could possibly be sued by the company or the store owner. I’m not entirely sure how the laws regarding murals/advertising works. No one does and that’s part of the problem right ? The city is so desperate to stop this problem that they’ll make an example out of anyone they catch. Even if you may or may not be beautifying the city with cool kitty cats.
Does your boss work less than you but take home a bigger paycheck? Is somebody zipping around in a private jet at your expense? If the corporation is making money at the end of the day, that means they’re not paying you the full value of your labor – that’s where corporate profit comes from! So if you need something in your workplace, take it. You earned it!
It could be a paper clip, or some cash out of the register, or full-on embezzlement. If you’re a barista, grab a bag of coffee; if you work at a garage, get a wrench set. If you’re unemployed, take something from someone else’s workplace! Unemployment works for the bosses, too – it forces people to take any job they can, and sends the message to other workers that if they don’t knuckle under they’ll be in for it too.
You could share it with your friends, or give it to your family – the family you never see because of your job. You could use it yourself, to do something you’ve always dreamed of – maybe something making use of all that potential you would fulfill if only you didn’t have to work for someone else all the time.
Steal something from work! Break down the divisions that separate you from your co-workers. Work together to maximize your under-the-table profit-sharing; make sure all of you are safe and getting what you need. Don’t let the boss pit you against each other – in the end, that only makes all of you more vulnerable. Build up enough trust that you can graduate from taking things from work to taking control of your workplace itself!
Chances are you already steal from your work – if not physical items, at least time on the clock. Good for you! But don’t stop there – think of how much more you could take, how much more you deserve. (text by someone else. I “borrowed” it.”)
Broadcasting out of somewhere East LA comes Radio Sombra. Their site says:
“From the shadows comes the light!â€
An independent community internet radio station that will bring a new voice to the communities in East Los Angeles.
Programming will be open and accessible to the community.
From community organizations to political artists like Zack de La Rocha, Radio Sombra will keep it real on the dial.
As a way to fund the project, Radio Sombra will  be presenting Film Nights on varied topics at Centro de Comunicación Comunitaria.
Man Uno and I were at a corporate lunch last year and were asked to share with the table a childhood memory. A memory from Tijuana entered my mind immediately. Man Uno went first and his memory was about being in Tijuana too. I realized at that moment we all have Mexico memories to share.
Here’s one of mine:Â Canicas
I grew up in San Diego, South Bay to be exact, 2 exits away from the border. When I was about 4 years old my abuelita still owned apartments in Tijuana and we’d go down a few times a week. They were more like shacks that she rented with dusty wood floors, some with out houses and those with indoor toilets had to pour a bucket of water in them to make them flush.
The Guelaguetza (from the zapotec word “guendalizaaâ€) between the villages in Oaxaca means “mutual help†or “Shared Offeringâ€
I first went to this spot last year, my homie knew that I really liked mole, so he recommended Guelaguetza because he said the mole there was really good. I am used to more pipian style mole because it is spicier, so I wasn’t sure how I would like a sweeter Oaxacan style mole. To my surprise the mole, and everything else was delicious.
Ernesto Yerena has ganas. At 23 years old, he is garnering attention in the art world for his unique artistic style and in the Latino/a community for his involvement and advocacy for immigrants rights. His visual style incorporates vibrant colors, blending backgrounds, stencils of iconic figures like Fidel Castro, Cantinflas and Cesar Chavez. Yerena’s work also highlights the cultural richness of the Latino/a community in his works by featuring everyday people like musicians. He’s currently working on his latest piece of astronaut Jose Hernandez, commissioned for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. Individuals Yerena admires because of the ganas they have to accomplish the great things they are recognized and known for. It’s what pushes him to do what he loves and to continue to push his limits, his will to the next level, but Yerena admits that it isn’t easy.
I was riding my bike home from work and I spotted the reenactment of the crucifixion at Mariachi Plaza. I took some video of the event. You can see part one here and part three here. All I can say is that people are “passionate” about Jesus. I’d hate to see what would happen if they saw the Devil protesting at this event ?
