When the Migra comes…

Random Hero uploaded some images on his blog of a useful guide to help protect those that might be facing some of the Immigrant roundups that have been happening across the nation. It’s a pamphlet with some basic pointers to remember, info worth reading over to share with friends or family that might need some guidance, in case that day comes. Here’s a link to the Spanish version.

How pathetic is that? At a time of increased unemployment, housing foreclosures, and a meteoric rise in gas and food prices, the miserable little bastards in power think it makes sense to start busting up homes and workplaces, just to appease some other miserable little bastards. What a waste of resources. It’s sad that there is a need for pamphlets like these but I’m glad to see some seeds of resistance being planted; I don’t think the xenophobes are going to have it as easy as they imagine. If you listen to Spanish language radio you’ll know that people are always calling in to share reports of traffic stops, giving the intersections of major police activity, thus helping others from running into a legal trap. You gotta love mutual aid!

“The Vatos That Time Forgot!”

While I was enjoying SOLEDADENMASA‘s last post, I was inspired to this pendejada.

For some time, I’ve noticed a weird Chicano Phenomenon. Through my explorations of media like Lowrider Magazine, Myspace, Music Videos, Chicano Cable Shows, etc., I’ve discovered that in regions outside of So. Cal, like say, up Norte (Fresno, Sacramento) and particularly in other states (Texas, Arizona) it’s like:
“The Vatos That Time Forgot”. I mean, image wise, the Chicano homies & hainas appear to be about 20 yrs. behind the current SoCal look. It appears that the Vato look has evolved here in L.A. over the years, but outside of here it’s still predominantly the Pendletons-khakis and bandanasRetro-Homie” look for the guys & girls in that scene. Is it just me or has anyone else noticed this?
Also, It almost seems that socially & politically they are only recently going through the growing pains we did here in the 70s-80’s. Could it be that the demographic is finally reaching critical mass in other places and is only now mirroring the SoCal Chicano (r)evolution of previous generations? That would mean that we here were, to some great degree, the pioneers & prototypes for the American Chicano model in this country, even going back to the Pachuco days. That’s Cool!

tangent/addendum-I give those older Chicano generations all the respect they deserve. They had to forge a hard fought path in establishing an identity within a society that wasn’t near as accommodating or sympathetic as we have today, and they did it on Huevos alone. Here’s to you! Salúd Carnales!

One hour Walk-Out

Working as a Teacher’s Aide at Lincoln High School I’ve been hearing a lot of talk of budget cutbacks as well as very probable layoffs for teachers. When I hear how many teachers may be layed off I wonder how the LAUSD supposes Lincoln High School will manage to function with less teachers in a student body of 3000+ kids! In response the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) organized a one hour walk-out for teachers, dubbed: One Hour’s Pay for Our Kids. Even though I am not in the UTLA I also participated out there on the sidewalk of Broadway. I am pretty sure that almost every teacher was out there, plus the support of some students!

After the jump, some photos:

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Beginnings of a Strike

According to the woman handing out flyers and this LA Times article, negotiations have broken down and janitors from many buildings across the county will be going on strike. I wonder if this strike will get all the blog posts, media coverage, and celebrity endorsements that the writer’s strike had? Yeah, that’s a stupid question.

With this “economic downturn” likely to spread across various sectors, the poor are going to be asked/forced to shoulder the brunt yet again. It’s high time the owning class shared in the misery.

Taco Thurs. SAVE OUR TACO TRUCKS!!!! TODAY!!!

( I got this from a friend on Myspace. Perfect, I’m hungry. Who wants to meet up and where?)

Hello fellow taco supporters,

Thanks to all of your hard work, SaveOurTacoTrucks. org has made national headlines, from The Los Angeles Times to TIME magazine.

We’re proud to announce that Thursday, May 1st will be Taco Truck Night in Los Angeles. Take your family, your friends, or anybody else who loves tacos. Go out, get some carne asada or al pastor and support your local hard working taco vendor.

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While you’re there be sure to hand out some posters and tell your fellow Angelenos what’s happening to our beloved Taco Trucks. We’re looking to raise awareness in the community as well as provide a nice cash infusion to the hard working men and women who labor into the early hours to keep our bellies full.

Check SaveOurTacoTrucks. org for more information and suggested locations. We can’t wait.

 

 

¡Vivan Los Tacos!

Where’s my bus rider tax break? Post Tax Day Post

Prius drivers get tax breaks, why not transit riders?

“Because it’s entirely different,” a person who knows where I’m going with this, but wants to stop me, because bringing up race and class is divisive and makes people feel bad.

Well too bad.

Ever since I’ve given up my car I realized some things:

    People who take the bus are treated very shittily.

    The bus takes way too long to come.

    It is very easy to not pay and take the Red Line.

I get treated way differently than my white boyfriend in regards to not having a car. No one ever asks Bob if he has a car when he’s applying for some little shit job to make some extra cash, but that’s one of the first questions that will come out of their mouth with me.

“Do you have a car?”

I applied for a job at an environmental organization and they wanted to know if I had a car?

WTF? If I can do the job what does it matter how I do it, especially if other people there don’t have a car?

What the fudge kind of environmental agency are you anyway?
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The Beautiful and Ugly Los Angeles: Ralph Lazo

In America people like to pretend that certain things didn’t happen and they like to try to encourage you to go with that program by getting super pissed at you for bringing up “negative” memories from the past. I guess for some people facts become being pessimistic when it makes other people look like total assholes. You know the genocide of the Native American population, slavery, the Bracero Program, the list goes and on and, but today we’re going to talk about the internment of Japanese-Americans.
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