Category Archives: Personal

D.R.E.A.M. Graduation at City Hall

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I have been helping put this together the last few weeks and on behalf of Dream Team Los Angeles, I want to invite everyone reading this post to come to city hall on Tuesday and be witness to an amazing event.    From the press release.

Students Participate in West Coast DREAM Act Rally Day

Urge President Obama and Congress to Pass DREAM Act this year, 2009!

WHAT: DREAM Graduation Ceremony held in Los Angeles, CA in solidarity with the United We Dream Coalition’s National Day of Action in Washington D.C., in support of the DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act.

The DREAM Act is a bi-partisan legislation that if passed, would provide undocumented college students a path to legalize their status after meeting strict requirements. These requirements include that the student must have entered the country before the age of 16, graduate high school or obtain a GED,  have good moral character (no criminal record),  and have at least five years of continuous presence in the US. The students will then have six years within which they must obtain a two-year college degree or voluntarily complete two-years of military service, in order to have the chance to adjust their conditional permanent residency to U.S. citizenship.

WHEN: Tuesday, June 23, 2009

12:00 p.m. – 1:00p.m. – DREAM Graduation and Press Event

WHERE: Los Angeles City Hall Lawn

200 N. Main St. Los Angeles CA

WHO: UCLA student speakers will discuss the importance of the DREAM Act.

Undocumented students will provide testimonials of their journey as undocumented.

Wendy Carrillo, will be the Masters of Ceremonies

Kent Wong Director of the UCLA Labor Center will be the Key note speaker

Opportunity for interviews with members of the community, speakers, students and

allies.

WHY: Highlighting the achievements of our nation’s undocumented youth and the vast support for passage of the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act.

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For The Record…..

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In regards to this whole Eastside vs. Westside discussion, I want to restate something that keeps getting ignored and lost in the scuffle. I have said this many times in the past, but I thought perhaps, this merits it’s own post. SOME people seem to need to have things plainly spelled out for them (and even then, ‘stan pendejos sometimes!). I shall repeat this for the LAST TIME. Speaking for myself, my point of view and belief is that…..

THIS IS NOT AN EASTSIDE CHICANOS vs. WHITE PEOPLE THING!

THIS IS NOT AN EASTSIDERS vs. WESTSIDERS THING!

THIS IS NOT AN EASTSIDERS vs. NEWBIES THING!

THIS IS AN EASTSIDERS vs. A FEW IGNORANT AND/OR INSENSITIVE SCHMUCKS THING!

…THE LAST TIME I CHECKED, I FOUND THAT ABOUT 90% OF WHITES AND WESTSIDERS (and even most NEWBIES) HERE IN L.A. ARE TOTALLY COOL HUMAN BEINGS WHO HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH ALL OF THIS!

I hope this provokes some of you to rethink your oversimplistic conclusions. As for the majority of you readers who do get it, Thanks! 🙂

EXTRA! BREAKING NEWS ON EASTSIDE-WESTSIDE CONTROVERSY!

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Al Desmadre here, reporting from Silver Lake, CA. This evening, (Wed. June 10, 2009 at approximately 7:00pm PST) at a public meeting of the SILVER LAKE IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION held here in Silver Lake, 4th District City Councilmember Tom LaBonge made a stunning and revealing statement that I believe calls for an L.A. Eastside Extra! AY! Witness News Report!

But first, a little background on Councilmember LaBonge.….

Thomas J. LaBonge born in Silver Lake, Ca., he is a member of the L.A. City Council and represents the 4th district. His district stretches from North Hollywood to Hollywood and Griffith Park and Wilshire Blvd. He is Chairman of the Arts, Parks, Health and Aging committee, Vice Chairman of the Public Works Committee, and member of the Audits and Governmental Efficiency Committee and the Ad Hoc River Committee for our city. Before he was councilman,  Tom LaBonge was Director of Community Relations at the Department of Water and Power, Special Assistant to Mayor Riordan, and Chief Deputy to Council President John Ferraro. Tom LaBonge calls himself the Cheerleader of Los Angeles. His reputation for adding history lessons in City Council meetings is well known. A graduate of John Marshall High School, Tom LaBonge received his Bachelor degree in sociology from Cal State L.A. Some call him “Mr. Los Angeles“. Believe me, this man knows and loves this city like no other.

So, tonight, as Councilmember LaBonge spoke to those of us in attendance describing how a number of Westsiders have been moving into his and Councilmember Garcetti’s 13th District, he was heard to announce;

“By the way, THIS IS NOT THE EASTSIDE!, Silver Lake, Los Feliz,…That is not THE EASTSIDE.”

WOW! HA! HA! Well, you could have knocked me over with one of the empty paper cups from INTELLIGENTRIA Coffee Shop that I find strewn on my lawn every day!!!… So- I couldn’t wait to spill this news here! Requests have been made to Mr. LaBonge to follow up on his statement, and I will add any additional info from him as it becomes available. In the meantime, all of you hipster wannabees in SL/EP/LF calling yourselves eastsiders, can continue to BITE ME! 🙂

What happened to Broadway?

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I am kind of sick of all this gentrification speculation about the Eastside being white-washed. It will take a lot more Clorox and wood-fire baked pizza to change East Los than yuppies have yet to offer in the American Southwest, so I don’t sit at home biting my nails that Nana will be evicted (well actually, she won’t, the house was paid for by Tata’s VA loan for pre-storming Normandy in WWII).  Even so, chuppies (chicano yuppies, a.k.a.  chicanos with degrees) have already gentrified these areas, but they are ingrained in the cultura and still buy elotes, so it isn’t as much a hard fit (in fact, I would say the same about Whites who are genuinely down with these areas).  Not that the genuine concerns of locals doesn’t matter or isn’t valid, but I think we need to focus on the tangible changes gentrification has already brought to the Latinoscapes of Los Angeles, specifically the Eastside’s center of gravity: Downtown.

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I am actually ALL for the demographic diversification of Los Angeles; even my beloved Eastlos with all its sheltered ethnic enclave delights.  The truth is the quality of life in East Los has degraded since its multicultural times of yore, and although ignorant pundits of conservative mantras have tried to pin it on Mexicans since the decline coincided with the rise in Latino immigration; it is much more obvious that the downward slide had much more to do with the middle class drain on the community that began with White Flight and continued with the ban on segregated housing covenants in 1955 (thats when my grandparents moved to the newer Maravilla housing tract on the Monterey Park/East Los border, as did many East Los middle class residents).  Along with the decline in more economically stable residents, came the decline and eventual outright withdrawal of Corporate America, and the amenities that come with them, from this area.  This decline in economic revenue as well as citizens with the resources to devote their extra time and energy to improving the community had a devastating toll on the community.

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Legends Of The Eastside Sound- An Interview With Mark Guerrero, Part 1

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[audio:https://laeastside.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/get-your-baby.mp3]
Once upon a time, during the late 50’s to the 60’s, weekend nights at Eastside gyms, halls, and youth centers were taken over by dances featuring a young breed of musicians who got on stage and beat out the rhythms of Soul, Blues and Rock & Roll to frenzied crowds of teens making the scene.
That era and that music that became known as “The Eastside Sound” is woven into the historical and cultural fabric of Eastsiders. It has an identity, and a flavor that comes through in a rich shade of brown better heard while cruising in a Ranfla, or by spinning some scratchy 45s and dancing with your Háina.
There have been recent noteworthy chronicles about this Eastside musical heritage such as the book “Land of a Thousand Dances” and the recent video documentary “Chicano Rock! The Sounds of East Los Angeles”. Nevertheless, I have always felt that the Eastside scene was worthy and deserving of something much more in depth. There were overlooked people, places and details that I wanted to help discover, chronicle and preserve for posterity. And, since it doesn’t look like Ken Burns will be undertaking that project anytime soon, I decided to take some steps in that direction all on my own.
I sought someone from that era who could tell me more about it from a front lines, first-hand perspective. “Who could paint a mental picture for me of what those times were like?” I asked myself. Then, I came in contact with Mr. Mark Guerrero.
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Dewey Tafoya at Eastside Luv

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So I braved the poetry and the “wine bar” scene and came away quite energized by this gathering of Eastsiders; people that mostly come from a history of having land stolen, not willing to accept our name be taken as well. It’s late at the moment and I have to get my feo rest but I wanted to post this video so you can all get an idea of what went down in BH. (I hope to post more on this event tomorrow.)

It seems some people have had issues with the title of the event, as they think it might be inappropriate. Where you from? – that inescapable loaded question of my youth. What they don’t understand is the reality of how non-gang members experienced the question, having to say “I’m from nowhere” just to avoid getting beaten up, or worse. Intimidated to being from nowhere. Which is no different when newcomers to the city tell me, not ask me, that the term that has defined our reality is suddenly their domain, that they’re gonna tell me about some “fluidity” and their new logical reasons why I’m, yet again, from Nowhere. Yeah, fuck that.

I was especially awed by Dewey’s piece because the last time I spent much time with him was at Hollenbeck , where we were friends cuz of our fondness for Heavy Metal. I’m glad that all these years later we still have something in common: an understanding of where we come from,  and pride for our Eastside. Nothing like shared experiences to teach you the value of something as simple as a term.

Eastside, presente!

Japanophilia, or the obsession with Japan

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Anyone here obsessed with Japanese culture (i.e. anime/manga, cherry trees, samurai, kendo, taiko, karate/judo/aikido, sushi, teriyaki, Kurosawa, “Beat” Takeshi Kitano) and things related to it (Little Tokyo, Comic-Con) and consider themselves or have been called a Japanophile?
I find America’s rising obsession with Japan so interestingly ironic. 20 years ago in elementary school and throughout high school, anyone who looked remotely Asian was called Chino or China.
My mother and other Japanese tenants in nearby apartment buildings in Boyle Heights were and still are called Chin@ by neighbors.
Nowadays, elementary and high school students carry “manga” (Japanese comics) books with them and are fascinated with Japanese culture. Some high school students I’ve worked with are so obsessed with Japan that they are studying the language via podcast and the internet on their own so that they can one day travel there.
An American Caucasian friend of mine who now lives in Tokyo with his Japanese girlfriend has told me that he feels most at home when he arrives to Narita Airport. Another Mexican American/Chicano friend has told me he believes he was Japanese in his past lifetime because of his deep interest in Japan and the culture.
Oh, how I wonder what it would have been like to be “cool” for bringing salmon and riceballs to school in my pink New Kids on the Block lunchbox while envying my classmates who had normal sandwiches and bags of pepinos.

An article by Oxy professor, Morgan Ptelka. http://www.discovernikkei.org/forum/en/node/1709

Carne Asada with Ethier

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So we headed to the game and me and my dad sat in the Lodge section, but not where we normally sit and man there were tons of kids. It was the Ethier jersey giveaway and Kid’s day so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised about it. I got sunburned within the hour I was there, but watching the Dodgers get three runs in the first made it better.
We had great pitching by Chad and through 7 innings. The Dodgers didn’t have all their starting line up in there giving Manny, Martin, Furcal, and Blake the day off. They still prevailed and won the game 7-3….by the end of the fifth inning me and my dad moved to where my niece was sitting, just in time for when the camera man was there and I was on the jumbo screen wooo hooo.. I got a few texts and then saw some people that had seen me and let me know! THANKS camera guy..
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