Category Archives: history

Saint Patrick’s Day

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San Patricio Battalion Flag
[repost from chimatli.org, written last year]

It can be argued that St Patrick’s Day is like a national holiday in my neighborhood, despite the fact there is no sizable Irish community in this area. Here in Lincoln Heights, it’s common to see people wearing shamrock paraphernalia all year round. As was recently pointed out to me, stores in Lincoln Heights will stock green colored clothing more frequently as it tends to sell more quickly than other colors. Shamrocks magically grace the walls after long weekend nights, spreading the luck of the Irish throughout our little hood. Continue reading →

The Perfect Couple. The Perfect Job.

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When I was 25 I got divorced. The reasons for the divorce included lots of factors, but one of the factors that really helped the down fall of the marriage was my ex-husband’s misfortune of being involved in the dotbomb.

One by one his friends lost their very highly paid jobs and over priced houses. When it was his turn, he did not take it very well.

The computer industry while prior to the dotbomb was well paid, it was extremely grueling. Eighteen hour work days, seven days a week wasn’t unusual. It was standard. To lose your job when you worked so hard and had taken so many tests, was a harsh slap and a realization that this new industry was not one about community, but about money. Continue reading →

Memories of A Lost Boulevard; Ghosts of the Eastside

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The character of the E.L.A. that I knew growing up is long gone. Everything changes, evolves.
Those who lived there before me surely must have cherished their own “good old days” as much as I do mine. And twenty years from now, others will do the same.
We are beings that exist in that sliver of time between our past and future. Yet, if we were to somehow erase every memory from the past out of our minds, who would we be? The sum of our experiences, the memories of what we have lived before, are essentially the totality of who we are at this moment. So have my experiences and present memories of growing up in E.L.A. formed this person that I am today. E.L.A. is in my DNA.
It now brings me joy to reminisce, because I can relive those times. Many thanks to all of you out there who join me on these little journeys to memoryland. So let’s take another trip….

Cruisin’ Music

Continue reading →

Walter Moore Hates Spanish Speaking Mexicans

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For good reason, many people are down on Villaraigosa and his bid to be Los Angeles Mayor again. Yes, he is a disappointment, which is to be expected when you put too much hope for change in a politician. (Obama fans, get ready.) Real change rarely comes from the ballot box. Still, I don’t understand the “anyone but Villaraigosa” approach, much less when Walter Moore is presented as somehow an acceptable option, when he is clearly a man on a mission against Mexicans.

Oh wait, I mean, he just hates the language they speak, cuz it’s so Third World-ey. And really, if they can be taught to say “can I take you plate?” they can surely be forced to communicate amongst themselves in a semi-useful but stunted Queen’s Kinda English. At the very least, it’ll reassure real Americans that the help isn’t saying things you already know they are thinking. Yes, they really do think that about you. Yes, even despite that nice tip. Welcome to the other LA!
Continue reading →

LA Eastside Outings: Taking Over, Part Two

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photo by Cindylu

Welcome to Part Two of the Taking Over reviews. A couple of reviews are still making their way through the LA Eastside digital transport, so please revisit this post in the next few days. (New review from Pachuco 3000 below!)
Part one can be found here.

Cindylu:

I’ve lived just a few minutes away from Downtown Culver City since 2000 in Palms South Robertson*. Despite living here for 8+ years, I only recently started spending any significant time (and money) in the area. Previously, there was nothing to do after 5 pm and a dearth of any other sorts of entertainment.

That’s all slowly been changing. The Kirk Douglas Theater playbill featured an article about the “revitalization” (aka gentrification) of DCC in recent years. In a small area you can find several architecture firms, art galleries, a couple of theaters, and several restaurants. On Tuesdays, local growers set up a farmer’s market on a 1-block long Main Street. If you go during a weekend night, you’ll find the 5 or so blocks between the Trader Joe’s and Kirk Douglas Theater quite busy. Now, I regularly shop at Trader Joe’s, buy fruit and vegetables at the farmer’s market, watch movies at the Pacific Theater and eat at some of the restaurants. I’d never gone to a production at the Kirk Douglas until last week. And yes, I can see the inherent contradiction of watching a play on gentrification in my neighborhood due to the gentrification in the area.

Continue reading →

Why are “you people” so protective and uptight?

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Top: Slum houses on Mateo St,
The Flats before being torn down for Aliso Village
outhouse and Clover St. 1940’s
Art’s Market, DogTown 1950’s

The question is often asked by people who didn’t grow up on the Eastside, “what’s the big deal about the Eastside? “Why is it that you people are so uptight about changes and gentrification, and all the concern about Echo Park, Silver Lake, or whoever, claiming they are Eastside?

Well the photos (from the archives of the LA County Housing Authority), show some of the reasons why the people of and from the Eastside are so thin skinned and protective. None of these neighborhoods (and many, many, others), as poverty stricken and rough as they were, exist anymore except in memories.  Some of the destruction happened because there were people with good intentions who felt that tearing down neighborhoods and building housing projects was a positive step in alleviating poverty.
Some of the destruction was just an easy way to create wealth at the expense of the poor powerless people of the Eastside.

Continue reading →

The Garden, a Film on the South Central Farmers Nominated for an Academy Award

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Kenneth Turan, Times Movie Critic says in his review (August 28, 2008) “‘The Garden’ is a case study in how hardball politics is played and why it is so difficult to take on the system. Not that anyone has given up the fight. As a story in the L.A. Times this week pointed out, the battle over this piece of land is far from over. What ‘The Garden’ does is demonstrate what it’s all about and why it’s important.” Turan’s title of this piece on The Garden, a 2008 academy award nominated documentary on the 6-year struggle of the South Central Farmers is “The Garden, Turf wars flourish in South-Central L.A.” Ouch! Here we go again—diminished from urban ecological pioneers and community healers to gang banging discontents. (sigh)

I haven’t seen The Garden yet, but have heard many good things about it and the director, Scott Hamilton Kennedy, especially from friends involved in the film, Gabriel Tenorio and Domingo 7 of East LA who co-wrote the musical score with seasoned soundtrack composer Doug DeAngelis. One of the reasons the film has been difficult to catch up with for me is that it seems to be on tour, rather than part of the usual distribution schedules in local movie houses. Daryl Hannah even hosted a screening of The Garden as part of the National Democratic Convention programming. Continue reading →

New Design for Sixth St Bridge

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Sixth St Bridge – photo courtesy of LAPL.org

According to the Los Angeles Times, the unveiling of the new design for the Sixth St bridge was met with disappointment by Boyle Heights residents and the 6th Street Viaduct community advisory committee. Many feel the bridge is too modern and spare looking and lacks historical continuity.

“I said as far as I am concerned, if you are going to put this bridge with cables there, you might as well not put a bridge there at all. I would rather not see one there,” said Victoria Torres, a board member of the Boyle Heights Historical Society. “It’s very disappointing when the city is trying to push something on you that you didn’t agree with.”

The bridge is in a state of irreversible decay and is plagued by some kind of “concrete cancer” that can lead to a collapse in a heavy earthquake.

Continue reading →

Disrespect

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WAKO from Breed St. doesn’t realize what he did when he defaced the mural Ernesto has been working so hard to restore. At the risk of getting jumped, FUCK HIM. I’m on my way to school this morning and I see that stupid green paint on the mural, that isn’t even done yet and it’s frustrating to say the least. It’s like a never ending cycle that keeps going all because some idiot banger doesn’t have respect for murals that are older than him. At the same time since ELAC is under construction one mural already got trashed, the olympics mural that could be seen driving by Cesar Chavez Ave. Now there’s talk going around that since our library is going to get remodeled, the mural from the East Los Streetscapers is in danger of getting destroyed. I’ll be damn if I’ll let that happen. Stay tuned for updates.

$550 Billion Disappeared on September 15, 2008 “Electronic Run On US Banks”

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Well it didn’t disappear, but a bunch of rich somebodies took there money out of the bank within a few hours. I find that strange. I also find the lack of coverage on this strange. I unfortunately don’t have the resources to check this out, but someone who does: Maybe some unemployed journalist with some free time and an employed spouse or trustfund could check this out. Continue reading →

La Crisis 2009. A look at 15 companies that you may know.

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A look back at California's History.

A look back at California

 

Companies that might not survive, with fun commentary put in by me, so you won’t be bored.

Rite Aid. (Ticker symbol: RAD; about 100,000 employees; 1-year stock-price decline: 92%).
This is unfortunate. I will now have to walk all the way to the downtown Ralph’s to get the mind numbing kind of alcohol that makes your forget everything. They should have stayed Thrifty’s. I still call it Thrifty’s

Claire’s Stores. (Privately owned; about 18,000 employees.) On the rare occasions I do go to the mall, where will I get my cheap jewelry from? I need cheap jewelry and hair accessories made in a random third world country to go along with my  Hot Topic t-shirt of a band that started before I was alive. Who is this Pink Floyd? Who cares, they make a cute T-shirt. Continue reading →