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East L.A. wants its Own City
Drawing on cultural pride
(AP) — East L.A. — birthplace
of the lowrider, Los Lobos and
Oscar de la Hoya — is to Mexi
can-Americans what Harlem is to
the black com m unity. Now it
wants to become its own city.
Commonly mistaken for a part of
Los Angeles, East L.A. is actu
ally an unincorporated section of
Los Angeles County, with more
than 130,000 people — 96 per
cent of them Latino — packed
into 7.4 square miles.
C ityhood proponents co m
plain that East L.A. is treated as
an afterthought by the county
Board of Supervisors, and they
w ant the com m unity to take
charge of its own destiny.
"W ere a nationally branded
area," said Diana Tarango, vice
president of the East Los Ange
les Residents Association, the
prime backer of the effort. "We
should be making our own deci
sions about planting trees on the
street or putting up light poles."
While outsiders often see the
area as gang-plagued and pov
erty-ridden, East L.A. possesses
cultural and political symbolism
for Mexican-Americans.
Fernando G uerra, director of
p ro je c ts and c o rn e r grocery
stores.
In the 1960s and '70s, the com
munity was the focus of the bur
geoning C hicano civ il-rig h ts
movement. '
In 1970, police and thousands
of Chicano anti-Vietnam war pro
testers battled in the street, and
Los Angeles Times colum nist
Ruben Salazar was killed in the
melee. A park in East L.A. is
nam ed for him. A boulevard
nearby carries the name of Cesar
Chavez, the migrant farmworker
leader.
East L.A. is a fusion of cultures
north and south of the border.
Spanish is the predominant lan
guage, but it is a hybrid version,
Spanglish, punctuated with His-
panicized English words: "breka"
for break, "marqueta" for market,
"cora" for quarter.
W hile nortena music booms
from downtown stores. East L.A.
has also produced artists such
as Los Lobos, who have com
bined Mexican oompah sounds
with A m erican rock rhythm s.
Lowriders, often with customized
Chicano-theme paint jobs, cruise
the streets.
Pedestrians cross Whittier Boulevard in unincorporated East Los Angeles. A group o f resi
dents has launched a campaign to make the area a municipality governed by its own elected
officials and ordinances, instead o f by the county o f Los Angeles. (AP Photo)
the Center for the Study o f Los ju st over the border, though lages: a backyard rooster can be
Angeles at Loyola Marymount these days there are nearly as heard crowing, or a man peddles
U niversity, pronounced East many Salvadoran pupuserias sell the rice-based drink horchata
L.A. "the epicenter o f Latino ing filled tortilla patties as Mexi from a shopping cart. Brilliantly
colored murals of the Virgin of
can taquerías selling tacós.
culture."
Neighborhoods seem plucked Guadalupe and Aztec chieftains
For decades. East L.A. has
been a first stop for immigrants straight from Latin American vil d e c o ra te w alls o f h o u sin g
Among the com m unity's fa
mous sons are boxer De La Hoya
and actor Edward James Olmos.
Olmos came full circle when he
starred in the 1988 movie "Stand
and Deliver" as the real-life East
L.A. teacher Jaim e Escalante,
who turned barrio kids into cal
culus champs.
Proponents of cityhood hope
to draw on that cultural pride. The
bid marks East L.A.'s fourth at
tem pt at in co rp o ratio n since
1961; the last one was in 1974.
T aran g o and o th e rs say the
movement failed because of po
litical infighting.
Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Ca-
lif„ who supports cityhood, said
she is encouraged this time be
cause residents are w ell-orga
nized and informed.
"It has a great chance of pass
ing," said the congresswoman,
whose district includes East L.A.
"But they will need to allay fears
that incorporation will mean an
increase in property taxes."
Voters probably won't get their
say on cityhood for two years
while the issue wends its way
through the bureaucratic and
political process.
Latin-American Film Festival States
The L atin-A m erican Film Festival, Oct. 16-23, gives
Portlanders a chance to see 17 films dealing with Hispanic
people and cultures.
The annual cinema showcase explores and exposes new
perspectives from Latin culture by bringing full-length feature
films, documentaries and short films, creating a cinematic cel
ebration that can be enjoyed by native Spanish, Portuguese,
and English speakers, and other lovers of the Latin culture.
Selections are in Spanish or Portuguese, subtitled in En
glish, and aimed at multiple age groups. The films represent a
view of the political, economical and social perspectives of
Latinos across the continent and in the United States
The films will be screening at three venues: the Northwest
Film Center at 930 S.W. Salmon St., Living Room Theaters at
341 S.W. 10th Ave., and Regal Cinemas'Broadway Four at 1000
S.W. Broadway.
For more information and a list of the featured films, visit
pdxlaff.org or call 503-200-8343.
of Mind
Onda Gallery, 2215N.E.
A lberta St., presents the
exhibit “States of Mind”
during October, featuring
p ain tin g s by A lejandro ‘Five Flowers ' by Alejandro Ceballos.
C eballos and sculptures
Frame has been working as a
by Tamae Frame, Kevin Poe, Sara
professional jewelry artist since
Swink and Maria Wickwire.
C eballos paints w hat he calls 1992. She was bom in Japan and
"primitive form" which is bom of a worked as a jewelry designer in
spontaneous and spur-of-the-m o- Tokyo before moving to the U.S.
ment feeling. He has been exhibiting Poe is a member of the Pacific
since 1991 in Sonora, Guadalajara. N o rth w e st S c u lp to rs G u ild ,
Mexico City and the Portland Met Swink makes ceramic human and
animal figures.
ropolitan area.
Feed the Young' by
Sara Swink.
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