If you don’t know, you need to ask someone. Rudy Regalado, timbalero. Viva Tirado!
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Considering how I got a lot of positive feed back from last years impromptu Day of the Dead guide, I was debating whether or not to make another this year too. I mean, I do have a life beyond my random ramblings on this here bloggito. But then again, I love DOD and I love sharing the tradition and parties with as many people as I can. My homework will still be there after I finish. So here it is, your 2010 Dia de los Muertos guide to events you probably already know about and some you may have missed. Also, Day of the Dead is also election day. So, after you vote between a @#!*% and a turd, which I won’t get into lest I be called childish names again, start making your way to Self Help Graphics for the original Dia de los Muertos celebration, going on its 37th year and it’s free. Free !! You can also print and wear this kick @#!*% mask made by Cuéntame, the ¡Latino Instigators!, for a get out the vote campaign. I think it’s hilarious because if you can vote and don’t for whatever reason you have, then you are a cabron and you have no right to complain about how bad things are either. Also, most of these events are pretty self explanatory, soo I’m gonna cut corners and just copy and paste info with flyers and pics really. Anyway, enough jibba-jabber, on to the festivities
No one really likes Meg Whitman, for numerous reasons. So she got the bright idea to open up an office in East L.A. to ‘target’ the Latino community. Frankly, if you’re ‘Latino’ and are voting for Whitman, then your off your rocker. Her office has been picketed since day one and almost once a week by unions, orgs or people that just plain don’t like her. It’s become a regular thing, so much so that her office staff have started counter-protesting. It’s quite hilarious.
The 5th-Annual Los Angeles Archives Bazaar
Saturday, October 23, 2010
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Doheny Memorial Library, University of Southern California
Southern California history comes alive in exhibits from more than 70 historical collections and archives at the 5th-annual Los Angeles Archives Bazaar on October 23, 2010. Browse rare collections, consult with experts, and learn about the hidden stories of L.A. diverse neighborhoods and communities.
Our Eastside-is-east-of-the-river homegirl Patt Morrison is the featured guest speaker. Panel discussions subjects include: Uncovering the Legacy of David Alfaro Siqueiros, L.A. Takes Flight, Extra! Extra! Read All About It! and (ahem) Blogging L.A.
Details here.
The Metro Dream circa 1987
While looking through some old papers that belonged to my grandmother, I found this map from the early 1980s of Los Angeles’ projected Metro rail system. It was part of a promotional package sent to Los Angeles city residents. More than twenty years later and sadly only a few of those lines became reality.
The Metro 2010
View of a large crowd of people on Broadway looking south from 7th St, 1934. Photo courtesy of LAPL.
A beautiful tribute to Carmen Castellanos who passed away on August 16, 2010. Submitted by reader Estella Tinajero Medina and written by her brother Art Tinajero.
My Aunt Carmen’s first memory of America was the glorious reception she received upon her arrival. It was the summer of 1917 and her family, her mother, father and little brother, had finally arrived in El Paso, Texas after a long train ride from Aguascalientes, their hometown in central Mexico.
As they pulled into the station they saw the buildings were all draped in red, white and blue bunting. A military brass band burst into patriotic marches while hundreds of tiny U.S. flags were waiving in the hands of cheering well-wishers. Along the tracks, rows and rows of fresh-faced uniformed soldiers stood at attention in perfect alignment. For a wide-eyed, six-year old little girl, it was an over-whelming welcome that would be ingrained into her memory for the rest of her life.
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I know that Random Hero has posted the cold hard facts about Self Help Graphics & Art’s Day of the Dead workshops starting this Saturday at 11am (right below this). All his data you can get from FBing Self Help Graphics or going to their website. VyalONE’s Saturday aerosol spray-paint class has made a sign announcing this fact too (see Random’s blog). Random always says he can write better, if he gets paid for it. Me? I have a passion for art and everything Self Help Graphics, so I will give you a more personal account as to why this is one of the greatest events taking place in the heart of East LA. Above (and below when you click on “more”)) are some images of joyous Day of the Dead workshops past and the kind of artisan skills you and your little ones can gain by attending. Continue reading
Self Help Graphics & Art begins celebrating the 100 year anniversary of the Mexican Revolution with a dialogue, art, performance, pan dulce y chocolate!
Saturday, September 18, A free screening of Like Water for Chocolate/Como Agua Para Chocolate at 5pm, where delicious Mexican cooking and La Revolución fuse into mood enhancing cuisine. read more The film screening is followed at 7pm with light refreshments of pan dulce y chocolate and a short talk with CSULA History & Latin American Studies teacher Enrique C. Ochoa, whose main focus are issues of power & culture in the tortilla industry and revolución. He is the author of Feeding Mexico: The Political Uses of Food Since 1910.
After, please stay and enjoy the fiber exhibit of 100 Years of Food & Revolution until 11pm. The exhibit artists are: Leslie Gutierrez Saiz, Poli Marichal, Victoria Delgadillo & Yolanda Gonzalez. This collection of art celebrates the Mexican Revolution Centennial and acts of revolution in and out of the kitchen. The 100 Years of Food & Revolution exhibit runs from September 14 to October 15. Come feed your mind and your soul.
Tuesday September 21, catch an interview (en Español) of 100 years of Food & Revolution co-curator Victoria Delgadillo, Artist Poli Marichal and Erendira Bernal of Border Corps on Radio Insurgencia Femenina, 9pm to 9:30pm, KPFK 90.7 FM.
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So you thought you were going to check out the Grito downtown tonight, like you do every couple of years in front of city hall, eh? I sure did. But you forgot that this is the city that thrives on terrible ideas, replacing simple traditions with stupid media events that nobody can enjoy. That’s what’s happening today, the lil’ celebration to mark Mexico’s Independence has been moved to something called the “Nokia Plaza” in the totalitarian wet dream of developers known ridiculously as “LA Live”. A public event moved to private property.
Oh, and you thought you could just show up asi nomas? Ja ja, pero que menso eres! Nope, you have to buy tickets for a show of Los Temerarios, or you can go today to the Mexican Consul to get some wristbands. Because, you know, you don’t have to work or anything.
I’m not at all surprised by this selling out of our Grito tradition, but is anyone else as pissed as I am?
Screw that business, I suggest you go to Huntington Park instead.
As most of you know, I am an art activist regarding the femicides in Ciudad Juarez. After a caravan to and 3 day protest in Ciudad Juarez in early 2002, I came back to LA with a fervor for creating art and inviting others to join me in this dialogue—but mostly my choice of art as an activist tool was out of desperation to help in whatever way I could.
I have met many revolucionarias and revolutionarios on this long-ass, no-light-at-the-end- of-the-tunnel road. Many of the activists I have met are victim mothers and artists (like me) that dedicate many of their hours trying to figure out how to end these seemingly senseless murders through our words, our research, our writings, our appeals, our pleas, and our diligence not to forget these families. Its one step forward and one step back most times.
My friend and El Paso Times reporter Diana Washington Valdez (who I have mentioned many times on LAeastside) sent me a copy of her recent article for the newspaper. This week, which should be the most joyous and celebratory time for all Mexicans everywhere, because its the 100th anniversary of the 1910 Mexican Revolution—comes with a morbid reminder that drugs and power fuel the dark forces. They are the killers of any ray of hope and fairness in the world.
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Ah, so I missed commemorating Los Angeles’ birthday this past Saturday, September 4th. Ooops! Well, happy belated birthday great City of Los Angeles! I am your daughter by four generations, my body is filled with traces of your asphalt, the smog of your skies and the dust of your palm fronds. I am truly of this city.
Anyways, I’m here to remind you of another celebration, and this one I only remembered because a co-worker asked me “Chimatli, vas a ir a el desfile en East LA este domingo?” “Huh, cual desfile?” I told you in my last Botanitas post that I’ve been hopelessly removed from the social scene. “El desfile de 16 de Septiembre” she shakes her head and smiles slightly, the same disappointing gesture she makes when my tongue turns Spanish all mushy. Well, in case you don’t know either, this year Mexico turns 200 years old. There are grand celebrations being planned all over the Mexico but you don’t need to travel very far to take part in the commemorations because the Eastside is having it’s very own Mexican Independence Day Parade!
Don’t miss the Bicentennial Mexican Independence Day Parade and Festival showcasing celebrity grand marshal operatic tenor Plácido Domingo on Sunday, September 12 in East LA. Watch top Latin stars’ performances, play games, ride attractions and enjoy delicious food. The parade begins 11am at Cesar E. Chavez Avenue and Indiana Street and travels to Mednik Avenue, ending adjacent to at Belvedere Park with a festival.
-from the Metro LA site
Placido Domingo is the grand marshall which is pretty impressive for East LA. Though nothing can compare to the spectacle I witnessed when Juan Gabriel was in the parade. Hordes of fans mobbing his float, filling the sidewalks and streets so that even us spectators were crushed in the crowds. That was pure insanity and madness the likes of which I will probably never see again.
Read more about Mexico’s bicentennial celebrations here.