My L.A. County Sheriff's press pass just arrived. And last month I signed up for another three year membership to the Society of Professional Journalists. I'm not itching for many more credentials to provide me validation. Nevertheless, I inched north on Spring Street headed to Phillipes for the Latino bloggers meeting.
I figured it would be something between the meetings the Marxist-Leninists had at UC San Diego in the late 1980s trying to recruit students and a Latino fraternity pledge meeting. It turns out these online denizens just like the face time.
I made uncomfortable eye contact with shady characters and any hipster-looking men and women in the sawdust French dip lines. Maybe a glance would elicit a 'Hey, are you a Latino blogger?' 'Claro que si.' I would reply. There's Gerard Meraz. He's leading the meeting tonight. He's a legendary DJ who was one of the people behind the East L.A. backyard parties exhibition last year. I produced a radio feature about it. He writes the Pachucoville blog.
'Yes, I write a blog now.' I told him. 'No, it's not film reviews.' You know, movimiento, the Spanish word for movement, the Movement, 1960s, miento, mentir, to lie. 'Ah.' he replied. Maria Elena Gaitan showed up. She's well known as Chola Con Chelo. She put in a lot of time at these Phillipes booths with the ASCO East L.A. art provocateurs in the 1970s, she says. She writes the East of the River blog, to put in writing the performance art she's done for decades.
Unassuming Cindy Mosqueda walks in wearing a college sweatshirt. 'You are letting your canas grow.' someone says, apparently in response to one of her blog postings on Loteria Chicana. Abelardo de la Peña sits down, El Padrino, several people suggest. His Latino L.A. has been documenting the goings on of the Eastside for a decade or longer.
Alicia Escalante writes the Swapmeet Chronicles blog. East L.A. Community College student Erick Huerta writes the Just a Random Hero blog. L.A. Times reporter Jesus Sanchez, recently bought out, writes in The Eastsider L.A.
Want to rile this group up? Ask 'What's the Eastside?' It's like banging on a Tasmanian Devil's cage. Meraz shoots from both hips about hipsters gentrifying Silverlake and Echo Park and about the colonialist-like forces that are erasing the Mexican and Central American presence in that area. The Echo on Sunset Boulevard is the Nayarit, he says, just look at the sign that's still there! What about generations ago when Latino immigrants replaced the previous ethnic group? Man, talk about upending the animal's cage! It was great discussion. Meraz says the group started started about a year ago, where there seemed to be a critical mass of L.A. Latino bloggers.
Meraz and others say that some people "not from the community" came and wanted to write about the group but they shooed them away. But we trust you, they tell me. The Chicano in me smiles. The writer in me, well, I don't know.
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I would've loved to have been a fly on the wall at that meeting--heck! I would've liked to have been there myself!
Adolfo, I thoroughly enjoy your reportage here and beyond!
For the record, at least 4 of those folks you mention contribute to the group blog LA Eastside. (www.laeastside.com) I assume they just forgot to mention it. ;)
Now as to you, Mr. AGL, yer on my *hit list for lacking vision: http://chanfles.com/blog/?p=27
Good Day!
Hey! I've been looking for you. I went to Phillipes last night and no Adolfo. Well, maybe next bloggero meeting. Yep, it is true--we have our shoulders to the barricade at the 1st street bridge---no hipsters, gentrifiers, corporate cookie cutter stores, those unconscious to social ails, shopaholics, etc., needed on the eastside. We will let them know when there are vacancies for those positions available. The socially responsible in Silver Lake and Echo Park have already warned us about the evils of a (samo) Hollywood-make over for ELA. They are being reduced into living in vacant flavorless neighborhoods and regret it everyday. Remember the mini-mall craze? Ay!
This is the very reason the educated Latinos in Los Angeles and are very computer literate, very involved in political issues in the city, are very active in their communities and network citywide don't attend these type of gatherings. We were born and raised in ELA. We speak ENGLISH, greatly respect our Country and are law abiding citizens. We resent being called Chicanos and any derogatory, stereotype names. WE are against illegal vendors who have ruined our neighborhoods and demand rights they haven't earned. We resent the illegals receiving our hard earned taxes for WIC and Welfare payments and take advantage of the system yet pretend to play the victims. We have become the silent voice in our own city. There is a movement and it is to have the illegals stop over crowding our schools, taking advantage of our health care etc. They call us racist for being Latino and standing up for our city.
Ayy... that was three years ago. Mi penitencia?
Maria;
As a college educated, computer literate, 2nd generation Mexican-American, (or Chicano, or Pocho, or whatever) who is not fluent in Spanish, and whom happens to be a charter member of this group–-just relax. "It's not a gang, it's just a club."
Estimada Maria,
You write, "educated Latinos . . . speak ENGLISH," etc. You might want to proof read your English for grammar, style, punctuation, and capitalization before publishing so it is clear that you are a well educated English speaker from the way you write, not because you say you are. Or maybe you can ask a Latino bloguero to go over your posts for you before you publish them.
as soon as you left, by coincidence we all got into a really good conversation about "El Oyo" and telling Eastside ghost stories.
Thanks for the mention, Adolfo. I was in and out of the meeting rather quickly, so I didn't participate in any real discussions.
If the group suggests that I am "El Padrino", it's something I was not aware of.
"El Viejo del Internet" is probably closer to who I am.
Also, LatinoLA.com is a user-generated site where contributors document their own goings-on, inner thoughts, opinions, rants, shows of support, etc. We've been at it for nearly 10 years, and though the Eastside is part of our 'beat', LatinoLA is all of L.A. and beyond, even Echo Park, Mar Vista, Pacoima and my hometown Wilmington.
Pleasure meeting you. Hope to see you again soon.