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Category Archives: Identity
My mom was arrested for illegally selling tamales
“You know they cannot do this, without permits, they cannot do this without making sure the Health Department is on board, and the impact it has on the community—you have restaurants that are there with permits and so forth, they have the proper equipment, they have sinks, they have restrooms and then you have people on the streets that are vending illegally and it’s against the law. And now basically what the officers are doing is enforcing the codes,†said Hollenbeck Division Police Captain Anita Ortega. ~ Quote from the EGP News Article “We were treated like common criminals.”
“Although I can understand the plight of the illegal vendors, I am totally against the fact that they have been allowed to conduct business in Boyle Heights and other communities in Los Angeles. It is important to note that these individuals are taking away from the legal business owners who are doing everything that is require by law that includes paying taxes, insurance, rent and often employing others from the community. We need to take a stand and demand that the various agencies that should be taking steps to stop these vendors (police, city and local government taxing agencies, health department and local electeds) should be doing just that….ensure that all laws are enforced….no excuses. It should be noted that most of the City of Los Angeles does not have have this problem due to proper enforcement. We only ask for the same enforcement actions. We need to protect our business owners and the community members against the health hazards and fraud that is associated with illegal vending. Our neighborhoods deserve better. I look forward to our elected representatives to do the right thing and get a handle on this situation. There is no middle ground on this issue. This needs to be stopped NOW.” ~ Comment posted from the same article by Renee Chavez Continue reading
A basic guide to immigration
~click to enlarge ~
Free Bumper Sticker! NO Arizona!
Show your frustration about the new Arizona immigration law SB 1070! This FREE sticker from Presente.org includes free shipping.  Why? because we don’t stand for laws that promote racial profiling.
More Mayday March
Pass the DREAM Act now
Art by Nico of Los Poets del Norte
When I was kid, I was always told in school that you needed to go to college to get a better quality of life. Teachers always encouraged me and my fellow students to pursue a college education. They would ask the class, “what do you wanna be when you grow up ?” I always said that I wanted to be a vegetarian, because I love animals and I wanna help them. The teacher would then correct me and say, “ohh you mean veterinarian, silly.” The class would laugh and we would move on to the next kid who wanted to be a doctor, a lawyer, an astronaut, a dentist etc. Never once in my life growing up did it occur to me that in order to be anything great in this country, that I am proud to call my home, that you needed papers. I figured that if I did like my teachers said, I got good grades, applied myself and worked hard I would get into a college and make something of myself. Lies. Fucking lies. Continue reading
Radio Sombra presents: “Corazón del tiempo” (this Friday)
Daniel Hernandez at IMIX
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’.”
Continue reading
Ernesto Yerena: Hecho con Ganas
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.
Jesus in Boyle Heights
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 ?
Mexifornia here I come, right back where I started from!
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Wow! We must be becoming visible at last! Mexifornia, the paranoid fear of the Joe Arpaio’s, Walter “my radio is speaking to me in Spanish!†Moore, the forgotten Lou Dobbs, and the author of “Mexifornia†Victor Davis Hansen, who had to build a fence in front of his central valley home to keep the Mexicans from throwing beer cans into his yard.
On this xenophobic and paranoid produced Mexifornia driver’s license is a picture of one of the great actors in American and Mexican history, Alfonso Bedoya, who was a modern day Chicano, being born in Sonora, schooled in Houston Texas, residing for many years in Los Angeles.Â
“Badges? Badges? I don’t have to show you no stinking badges!†One of the great lines in film history, from one of my all time favorite movies “The Treasure of the Sierra Madreâ€, about three gringo wetbacks that travel into the Sierra Madre of Mexico searching for gold but end up finding other treasures (except for poor Humphrey Bogart),
Seeing Bedoya on a driver’s license gives me great pleasure, I feel so good I feel like listening to a song to celebrate. I’ll also share it with you.
And get ready for an onslaught of this type of nativist racism when the coming ussue of immigration reform is debated.
Chicano Jewish School to Open in Boyle Hts.
The Breed Street Shul in Boyle Hts. has announced that they will soon begin classes for local residents to convert to Judaism. The goal is to tie Latinos to Judaism so that when Latinos have more political power they will continue America’s support for Isreal.
Ricardo Montoyiswich a recently converted Chicano Jew said, “This will help re-establish the Jewish presence in Boyle Hts. and hopefully lure Canters back to the heights!” Montoyiswich, who will be teaching several classes at the Shul, said his life has changed for the better since he made the switch. “As an actor I was having a hard time getting work, but out of no where, once I converted, I started getting all these cool gigs.”
Some of the classes that will be offered include: “Putting Down Those Whiny Santos,” “How To Leave La Virgen and still Love Your Mom,” “Circumcising The Chile: Grin and Bare It,” “Menorah and Dradle Care for Chicanos (Don’t smoke it and it’s NOT Pon),” and “How To Trace Your Distant Jewish Roots.”
Sleepy Tonatiuh, a next door neighbor to the Shul and proud Aztec dancer said, “This ain’t right. They should be teaching people about the people on this land and how this land was stolen, just like the Isreali’s stole Palestine.” He plans to protest the classes once they open by having his danza group do ceremonies during class time. When asked for a response, Montoyiswich said, “Sounds like that indio needs to see the play “Palestine New Mexico” and learn how Indians are Jewish.”
Will there ever be peace in the mid Eastside?