I’ve seen loads of Huell Howser episodes. But a friend recently mentioned this one that I had never seen. If I haven’t seen it, maybe you haven’t either. Huell visits the old Sports Arena (now the really nice home to the new Los Angeles Football Club) for a Super Show of Lowriders. It’s an awesome episode highlighting some aspects of Chicano culture. I really like the bike at the 14:00 minute mark, with the Jesucristo wheel, some fish in the bike seat, and a live scorpion to get some attention. Enjoy!

Click on this link to see the full episode.
https://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/1994/09/04/visiting-201-lowriders/

…you know that resistance to gentrification is more crucial than ever. Thank you cops, for letting us know which side you are on.

As if we didn’t already know.

Thanks to the hard work of the good folks at the IWW, the Black Rose Historical and Mutual Aid Society, some solid local comrades, and caring anarchists from around the world, Rafael Adames, killed by the LAPD back in 1913 during what came to be known as the Christmas Day Riot, finally has a marker for his grave.

A simple but touching commemoration was held today at Odd Fellows Cemetery in Boyle Heights to acknowledge this fallen comrade. A bit of history of the incident in 1913 was discussed, some of the details about the challenge to actually find the grave site were shared, and a poem from Pluma Roja about Rafael Adames was read.

Police proceeded to hit others in the crowd as they began to disperse. At first the crowd did not fight back. However, angered, the crowd began to respond by pelting the police officers with rocks. Police then began to open fire into the crowd.

The disturbance moved from the fountain in the center of the Plaza to the top of Sanchez Street on the south side of the Plaza near the Pico House. During the commotion, a Mexican anarchist and member of the IWW, Rafael Adames, was shot. The officer that shot him, Alfred Koenigheim, claimed that Adames was pointing a “vicious-looking .38” at a fellow officer. It was for this reason that he claimed he opened fire at Adames. However, no gun was ever found.

Raphael Adames was taken across the street to the IWW headquarters on Los Angeles Street in Chinatown. They laid him down on a bench underneath a picture of Karl Marx, where he soon passed.

Nothing ever changes.

In this current era where the people that run Los Angeles and shape its identity have found it easy to ignore the working class, dismissed the needs of the poor in order to gain favor with tourists and those that benefit from the shitty job industry, it is important to remember that we don’t have to put up with this BS.

One hundred years in our past or in the just-as-ugly present, the same struggles exist, only slightly different. It’s important that we acknowledge Rafael Adames and his part in Los Angeles history. Even if just to remember that we can still write a new page into the books.

If you would like to pay your respects, head over to the Odd Fellows Cemetery on Whittier near Indiana. Click on the link below to guide you to it.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Odd+Fellows+Cemetery/@34.0231418,-118.196605,18z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x80c2cf48cb45fae3:0x41338d9e7703bac7

The grave is near the bend of the one road into the cemetery. Where you see the black dot.

Near the guy with the Carta Blanca bottles.

“It’s official, SILVER LAKE IS NOT THE EASTSIDE” according to those who attended the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council meeting tonight. We thank our friends to the West for helping clear things up over on that side of the River.

Huevos Divorciados at Liliana’s on the Eastside.

Huevos Rancheros at Flore in Silver Lake.

The Eastside is still east of the river. Never Forget!

Not my usual 2 minutes of random street corners, but I thought this one might be of interest. A makeshift memorial for Olivia Gamboa, a bus driver killed in an early morning crash. People seemed to be moved by this tragic accident, showing their empathy for another working person, someone they might have encountered at some point on their way to and from work.

Rest In Peace Olivia Gamboa, fellow worker that helped us get to our destinations.

More info here http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-bus-driver-killed-20130612,0,1359034.story

We were driving thru the Westside today, somewhere along the border of Silver Lake and Echo Park, when we thought we saw something stupid headed our way. Sure enough, and cuz I had my camera handy, we were able to take a picture of some innocent dolt dressing up as a Mexican captain of sorts on his way to some shitty place to drink his shitty Tecate beers. Oh yeah, it’s Drinko de Mayo! We of the Chicano variety are not so learnededed on this American holiday so we decided to seek out an experience. Might as well get to know the Ethnic people that live in your city and figure out why they do the things they do.

We went to some place to enjoy the great food and festivities of Mexico but it turned out we were at the one in the Salvadorean neighborhood. Crud! They meant the MORE west location. Someday we shall all know the same terrain.

Still we partied it up 5 de Mayo style with an order of mushroom and cheese omelette…

…some Johnny cakes that have corn in ’em…

…a veggie sandwich…

…and a chocolate shake. Chocolate is a Mexican thing, no? I’m sure the Poblanos would be proud of this choice.

Next we went to La Cuevita in HLP but it turned out it was closed. We were sure it would be open to provide us beer since it does have a Mexicany theme going, but we were wrong. My compa asked “where do white people go on Cinco de Mayo?” Clearly, we were out of the cultural loop.

After some brainstorming and some business to attend to in Downtown, it was decided that Villains Tavern must be a place to celebrate the Drinko festivities.

They did have some tequila specials but we stuck to the beer, even if it is a bit pricey. Unfortunately, they serve it in crappy mason jars. I guess they are poor and this is the white equivalent of saving mole jars. I guess I need to hone my solidarity skills with the white working class. I did overhear some people greeting their friends with the phrase “Happy Cinco” and I felt like a voyeur. Mission Accomplished!

Later we headed over to Señor Fish, he knows how to wear a sombrero properly!

In the parking lot a tomato plant was struggling against the concrete and gentrification just to bear fruit. We spotted some jitomates breaking out into the world, surely some sort of metaphor for the Mexicans trying to exist within the concrete jungle of Los Angeles? Or maybe its just a rotten tomato that found a good grave.

I guess there was some sort of big party being planned for later cuz the tables we were at were “reserved” for 7:30. We sat near some other Chicano folk and they were also drinking IPA’s, and it was funny/odd/necessary to remark that the folks drinking the Mexican brews were our amigos of the Gringo demographic. More power to them.

Fortunes were read. Destiny was averted.

Later it really did get crazy packed. I asked the doorman if this was normal for a Sunday night. He said it was only because it was 5 de Mayo.

Los Angeles is really diverse, you can learn something new about the different ethnicities and cultures that live here almost daily.  I am glad I was able to experience and learn about this important American holiday in an environment that can truly celebrate it’s historic meaning.

I’d heard rumors oh for many, many years that at long last another issue of SSP would see the light of day. I didn’t believe it, and still don’t, but CT is so convinced of its resurrection that there is an actual “Publication Release” planned for Saturday, March 9th 2013 at 8pm over at Espacio 1839 in Boyle Heights. Seeing is believing buddy. Notice it doesn’t say Release Party? I did. O pues.

If you don’t know, Sal Si Puedes is one of the best literary magazines to come out of the Eastside. I did a review of issue #3 waaaaayyy back in 2005, you should go read it.

See, doesn’t that sound interesting? It might take another decade for the next issue to come out so if I were you I’d hurry in to get my copy. The going rate is $10 but if you mention that you heard about it on LA Eastside, CT will let you have it for $9.99 and will throw in a free knock-knock joke. Yer welcome!

See ya there!

Check out the Facebook invite here.

Espacio 1839  
1839 1st. St (near Mariachi Plaza)
323.265.3730

Where were we? It seems like a bit of time since we last spoke. I thought it was a few weeks, maybe a month or two (tops!) but it turns out this lil’ site that couldn’t has been down for more than a year. Oh well, shit happens. Mostly it was a bunch of stupid spambots and viruses, lots of digital cleanup to do, but there was also the chance that we were going to go full throttle and GET A NEW THEME! PUNCH IT UP A BIT! GET BACK IN THE GAME! but sadly the writing was on the wall. Or wasn’t actually. Posting was getting scarce, many of the LAE participants were doing other things, and who has time for blogs anymore anyways?

We did this for fun and to bring some attention to some of the (still) overlooked communities in our metropolis. It was also to counter the crush of new LA residents jumping off the turnip truck and declaring anything East of the beach communities as “Eastside”, an erasure of history some of us found unacceptable. Since most of us were either students or workers the demands of this miserable world constantly increased taking away what little disposable time we had for posting stuff on a blog. Besides, life is elsewhere.

I didn’t want to pull an LA City Nerd and deny access to some useful posts, so I finally got the site back up so you can go back and see some of the smart, thoughtful, and incisive commentary we contributed to the discussion of our city. As well as all the silly, controversial, crass, and pointed articles that were probably even more important. There might be some new posts happening at some point since there is still much to say, and not many people are saying the things that need to be said, but the LA Eastside you once knew is no more. Pour one for the homies.

In conclusion: the site is up, it is no longer the same, only the cards know what is to come.

Nos Vemos Pronto!

So the official encampment of OccupyLA has come & gone. And the bail has been set at an exorbitant, but unsurprising $5,000. La Opinion informs us that some people have set-up shop down the street at la Placita Olvera, and the HuffPost says that some “occupiers” tried to reconvene at the Corn Fields but were pretty quickly rebuffed by the LAPD.

As many have mentioned, the eviction flew in the face of a pending court injunction to stall the eviction (though the judge later ruled it “meaningless”). Since I am never surprised that politicians, bankers, and other powerful actors in our society use the law solely for their benefit, it does surprise me when others are surprised:

8:21 pm, Lucero:  [INTRODUCES OUR ‘SOLIDARITY CLAP’]. We are Occupy LA and our First Amendment rights are being trampled on and that’s what we are standing up for. [Occupy LA “minutes,” source]

Not that I feel there should be no indignation, but as a person who has had a wealth of personal experience, and extra-personal experience with the police, courts, and the general power-structure : I know that the law is a tool for social control and not a just conferrer of justice. Mayor Villaraigosa says that (amongst other reasons), the encampment had to be shut down because he’s worried about the children. Seriously? This is the best he could come up with?

With the reality regarding the national collusion of local police departments and the Department of Homeland Security, we can very easily see that Mayor Villaraigosa is likely to be just a pawn in a national plan. The fact that some in the ‘occupation’ were won over by his handing out ponchos a month ago should take a note from history and note that the extended hand of the government is usually a ploy to assure submissiveness and the reification of the validity of their power. Wasn’t the Occupy Wall St. movement supposed to exist outside of State power? It was supposed to be, at least according to anarchist anthropologist David Graeber.

Soon into the ‘occupation’ there seemed to be a strong desire to work in collaboration with the city government. At this point it seemed like the ‘occupation’ did not need to be co-opted, they were taking it upon themselves. I sometimes feel that those who first got involved with OccupyLA did not understand that the very nature of an ‘occupation’ (as in the reclaiming of public space/buildings, not the imperialist kind) is by its very nature an ‘illegal’ operation. It assumes that private property is null & void when the commons have been so deprived to necessitate the occupation, a sort of Temporary Autonomous Zone. This is what happened in California with occupations undertaken by students, workers in the UC system in 2009 in response to tuition increases & budget cuts. They demanded nothing because they made the radical leap that posited the university administration as null & void; they became the university because the university was not meeting their needs & desires.

OccupyLA never seemed to have made such a radical leap (though I’m sure some in the encampment wanted to). It seemed they were more concerned with single-issue oriented campaigns against ‘government corruption,’ ‘greedy banks,’ or ‘eliminating the Fed.’ Although Occupy Wall Street began with the Situationist-inspired “Demand Nothing,” OccupyLA seemed ready to put out a list of grievances: an act which only further legitimizes the current order as something that need only be tinkered with, reformed, redressed. As it also seems that OccupyLA was infiltrated by the LAPD, all of this (combined with a general cop-loving) sentiment should come to no surprise.

From the first (& only) time I attended the Occupy LA General Assembly I had a sour taste in my mouth. Members were putting to task the fact that there was active collaboration with the police at almost every step of the way by the “Security Committee,” and that it should thus be dissolved. Some in the GA could not understand why being surrounded by even “peaceful” LAPD officers could be intimidating to the “99%” they so desired to bring into the fold. A sentiment I often feel is that those that have never dealt with the police are the only ones who trust the police: most of us know better.

It seems that the next radical action in the LA area may be the participation of a Westcoast shutdown of the ports, as was undertaken by Occupy Oakland in their general strike. I can only hope I’ll see you there: