Boyle Heights Xmas Greetings

Eddie Ayala - PRESENTE!

The Chicano community mourns the loss of its champions for our cause through life celebrations, tributes, memorials and Dia de los Muertos altars. Many notables and non public figures have passed on throughout the fifty plus years since the birth of the ELA Chicano movement and many more will soon follow. Activists, academics, professionals, artists, business owners and community members - young and old - have contributed to the vastness of our cultural collective. Each and every one deserving of recognition and appreciation for their involvement, passion and pride in their Chicano/a/x identity. This time we are gathering to celebrate the life and legacy of Eddie Ayala who passed away at the age of 63 the day after Dia de los Muertos, 2023. I met Eddie Ayala at the tail end of the 1970's East LA backyard party scene where local Chicano music icons rocked cover songs and our socks off for a mere $1 entrance fee. Although entertaining and audience drawing there was a need for...

L.A.: Once Upon A Multicultural Arts Haven

Los Angeles in the 1980's and 90's was a time of multi cultural, multi district, multi sexual orientation creation and collaboration. Art, music, dance, fashion, performance art, theater, graffiti art, murals, indy filmmaking, print media all leaving their mark on the map of this vast LA-LA landscape. These were the pre FundMe days when if you had a project in mind you either applied for an arts grant, found a benefactor or you held fundraisers. A lot of time and effort was donated by artists themselves. There were plenty of arts supporters who gave their time and money as well. Why? Because local arts kept our city authentic and alive with a true sense of how our cultural and ethnic differences were alike in so many ways. That's not to say there weren't outlying areas that didn't wish to participate in the grand scheme of a melting pot theory. They were there in the comfort zones hiding behind curtains and valleys which was just fine for us without a monocultural...

Setting Your Inner Bruja Free

As a child of the early to mid 60's I had become familiar with the association between the female gender and witches. Some of my favorite television shows and cartoons had witches as their main characters, many movies had witches as villains, songs were even made about witches. There was a lot of light hearted portrayal of witches so why was being called a witch meant as an insult. I guess it had to do with a deeper wickedness than I wish to delve into at the moment. I just remember hitting the point where I refused to wear a witch costume ever again. It was after an annual halloween costume parade at Rosewood Park in City of Commerce we attended as a family. I have a vague memory of myself and other children walking around home, first, second and third base in an array of store bought and homemade costumes as parents cheered us on. In the center of the field was an effigy of a witch tied to a post in a bonfire pile which was lit once our costume parade was over. I suppose wa...

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