Me and “the flats” have along history together (btw, that foto is from flickr). I lived there in the PJs for several periods of my life and had familia who stayed there as well until they tore down the projects, after we left I still came around to cause trouble, make money and pick up on girls as a “weekend warrior”. When they tore down the largest collection of projects on the west coast in the late 90s/early 2000s, they squeezed much of the barrio into the smaller more run down neigborhood between the Pico Gardens and Aliso Village complexes, helped push the existing gangs into other neighborhoods (which never disappeared) and made a lot of people angry and bitter. I have mixed feelings about this because the area was pretty rough and a concentration of trouble is a bad recipe, but for christ’s sakes they didnt even replace the new complexes with a competent number of low income housing units, opting instead to section 8 folks away so that their cholito kids can start up clickas in other complexes around LA, real smart. I believe they tore down 600 units from Aliso village alone and replaced it with 400 units, half of which were market rate.

A bit of history and info on this area: It was always a pocket of poverty since the pueblo days of LA. it was the low land between Boyle Hts and the LA River, and attracted poor immigrants, mexicans blacks and indios as the land flooded a lot, originally even the poorest farmers let their animals graze in the location. I didnt know until recently, but the flats actually was sort of L shaped and extended to the area where the Estrada Courts (VNE) projects lie, all at the foot of the hill starting boyle hts and east of the LA River. This area was carved up big time when the freeways, and specifically the East LA interchange, were built in the 50s, but in my world the flats went from the hollywood freeway (top of the Alisos) to the lower end of the Pico Gardens projectos (under the whittier blvd bridge). I read that back in the day molokkan russians also had a strong presence in the area, and up until the racial beefs of the late 80s/ early 90s, the projects were the only ones in East LA with a large black community (which had implanted a strong love for LA’s black culture and population in me that is sadly not present in a lot of Latinos).

So anyways, I took some flicks when I was down there recently checking out the goldline. I rarely stop by and say hi to the folks I knew, as that was the “bad me” part of my life and most of my maintained contacts were involving illicit activities or gang drama, things I now avoid as a soccer mommy. Here is the tip of my picture trove iceburg, maybe one day I’ll pull out my childhood project pics (which my mom had thought she destroyed years back out of the embarassment of the fact that we lived there, thats a whole nother story and therapy session).

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Sigh.

First Tía Chucha’s Centro Cultural and Bookstore was booted from it’s original location in San Fernando. The space is now reportedly a laundromat.

Now, Antigua Cultural Coffee House will close the doors of its El Sereno location. They’re “getting evicted or just simply not being granted a contract extension.” In three weeks they’ll be gone… but never fear, their Cypress Park location will open later this summer.

Yancey, co-owner of Antigua, calls his coffee shop “the envy of the West side.” I can’t argue with that as evidenced by my reaction after my first visit in August 2006. Since then, I’ve found a coffee shop in Culver City where the owner notices when I haven’t visited in a while. It’s cool, but it’s no Antigua.

I visited Antigua a few weeks ago for a monthly meet up with fellow Latin@ bloggers. The meetings are a fun time to just catch up, support independent small businesses on the Eastside and talk about current issues. The next gathering will be at Antigua on Wednesday June 18th at 7 pm. For more info, check out Eastside Scene.

If you’ve never been to Antigua or met a fellow blogger, you should stop by. I always leave the gatherings feeling that the trek from Westwood was well worth it.

Email announcement from Yancey, co-owner of Antigua after the jump.
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Seems we can’t get a break. We are looked at or portrayed as if we are undocumented, meek, sellouts, uneducated, gangsters, and now a study says our teens are doing more drugs, having more sex and most likely to commit suicide than other groups.

Hispanic teens try drugs, suicide at higher rates

By MIKE STOBBE – 22 hours ago

ATLANTA (AP) — Hispanic high school students use drugs and attempt suicide at higher rates than their black and white classmates, according to a new federal survey that shows a continuation of a disturbing trend.

(and then)

“In addition, Hispanic students were more likely than either blacks or whites to attempt suicide, ride with a driver who had been drinking alcohol, or use cocaine, heroin or ecstasy.”

(and then)

“Experts were unable to come up with an explanation for why Hispanic behavior trends differed. However, they speculated that school environments many Hispanics face may differ considerably from what adolescents of other races encounter. Earlier research found that Hispanics and blacks more commonly attend highly segregated schools than whites or Asians.” Continue reading →

A few years ago I was wandering the halls at LACMA when I came upon the unmistakeable figure of Mr. Cheech Marin lounging nonchalantly among the art pieces. I stopped, trying to formulate how to put almost 40 years of personal gratitude and adulation into a simple, non-intrusive sentence, when he turned towards me, smiling, with his eyes squinting into those impossibly thin slits, and croaked: “What’s up, Dude”? At that moment, It dawned on me that all I had to say back to him was “What’s up, Man?” right back, and just let the sincerity and genuine affection in my voice speak for itself. There’s no need for ceremony when you meet a genuine “Dude”. And Mr. Marin is just that. Having read in JUXTAPOSE magazine about his intense personal collection of Chicano Art, I asked him about it, and he told me about having his collection on a nationwide traveling exhibition. The guy has great taste. Now, here’s a chance or us to see some of that classic Chicano artwork through Cheech’s squinty eyes.

pictured above: Chaz Bojórquez, Chino Latino, 2000, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 72 in., collection of Cheech Marin

Los Angelenos/Chicano Painters of L.A.: Selections from the Cheech Marin Collection

June 15, 2008–November 2, 2008 | LACMA West

The Cheech Marin collection is notable for classic examples of Chicano art produced from the inception of the Chicano movement to the present, with a concentration in painting from the 1980s and 90s. This exhibition will present significant paintings and works on paper by such Los Angeles-based Chicana/o artists as Carlos Almaraz, Chaz Bojorquez, Diane Gamboa, Gronk, Gilbert “Magu” Lujan, Frank Romero, John Valadez, and Patssi Valdez.

Discussion | Cheech Marin and Chon Noriega 

Sunday, June 22 | 2 pm

Chon Noriega, UCLA professor and LACMA adjunct curator, and art collector/actor/activist Cheech Marin discuss the current state of Chicano art. Additionally, they address the place of Chicano art in history, Marin’s own collection, and developing the Latino audience. This conversation is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Los Angelenos/Chicano Painters of L.A.: Selections from the Cheech Marin Collection, which opens June 15.

Bing Theater | Free, no reservations | Don’t go straight to this show

www.lacma.org/art/ExhibMarin.aspx

 

 

 

 

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