Loving Los Angeles

IT IS very important to know the history and background of the place in which we call “home” because without that deeper history there lacks any legitimate stance to belong to or own Los Angeles. Time and time again we see “I love L.A.” T-shirts and stickers that can be argued as either fashion statements or forms of personal statements but if we take a deeper look into the phrase can someone truly love a land without deeper knowledge of how it was discovered, divided and ultimately flourished? After recently viewing videos of a barren downtown covered with dirt roads, the production of a popular transit system in the 1940’s, the desegregated locations for various ethnicities, the Chavez Ravine land conspiracy, the Watts Riots in the 1960’s, the contribution from the Chandler family, the romanticized construction of Olvera St. and much more, a Los Angeles migrant like myself can only begin to appreciate the land and city for what it truly was and now is. Once you learn about how and why a place like the Dodgers Stadium was built, your association to it becomes completely altered and your experience in Los Angeles becomes heightened to a more enlightened level. After speaking with a close friend- a diehard Dodger’s fan who reps an L.A. sticker on her car- about the families who were relocated from Chavez Ravine for what later became the famous Dodgers Stadium, she was shocked and seemed somewhat disturbed because her perception of this place that she had been to year after year was altered. Although she may have claimed to have loved Los Angeles and the Dodgers before I filled her in on the story I can only hope that knowing a little bit of that history helped her understand her love for them even more. Exposing ourselves to Los Angeles’ history can only help create more passion, love and respect for those who helped build such a multifaceted and diverse city filled with art, culture, music, film, fashion, sports, journalism, education and much more.
-- Jayme Dolan

With So Much Sunshine, Who is Left in The Dark?

AFTER WATCHING the various videos about Los Angeles’ past, I was most inspired by the Chavez Ravine story. Throughout our discussions in class, there has been a lot of emphasis on what it means to be from LA or move there from somewhere else. Many themes that arise are pursuing fame and fortune, endless opportunities and possibilities, and the LA “boosters” who marketed Los Angeles as a place of beautiful weather, agriculture, and growth. After watching the story about Chavez Ravine, I could not help but think about how so many people—who were forced to move out of their homes so that the Dodger’s Stadium could be built—were completely left out of this picture. As I researched further information about this event, I realized how much of a façade was placed over Los Angeles to make it look like the city where dreams come true, while many residents who could have used the “endless opportunities” the most, were denied them and suffered from Los Angeles’ growth while others prospered in their place.
Reflecting on this aspect of Los Angeles history, I thought about if there has ever been a time when I or someone I know has experienced such injustice—I couldn’t think of a thing, nothing that comes close to what Mexican-Americans faced during those times. This, I thought, is the prejudice reincarnated. Although my peers and I have not directly experienced Chavez Ravine or the Zoot Suit Riots, there is something to be said in that it happened not too long ago, and it is an issue that is regarded as being something of the past; yet many of the Chavez Ravine residents could be alive and well, maybe even living in Los Angeles to this day. It seems as though the story of Chavez Ravine has been considered a ‘blip’ in the image of “The City of Angels” which must be forgotten to preserve face. Artists like Vincent Valdez have attempted to make the Chavez Ravine story present in the Los Angeles mindset, yet it seems all too clear that LA prefers rejecting negative history and replacing it with another shiny billboard of how much better it is today from yesterday.
Had I not taken a class which emphasizes these historic Los Angeles events, I may have never known the tumultuous past of the people who believed in the LA dream and were betrayed by it. It is extremely important for those living in Los Angeles to remember where our population has come from, and the suffering that has occurred for those in pursuit of taking advantage of what LA promotes and claims to offer everyone. With so much sunshine, no one should be left in the dark of Los Angeles’ past.

-- Lauren McHale




(photo caption, top: Aurora Archega, carried out by the police, with all of her belongings, on May 9, 1959, photo caption middle: photo caption: Chavez Ravine is now the home of Dodger Stadium, which was built for the L.A. baseball team in 1962.
Credits: The City's Project, Flickr Stream
photo caption, bottom: Artist Vincent Valdez and "El Chavez Ravine"
photo credit: Genaro Molina, Los Angeles Times )

Poor Man's Shangri-La

THIS IS the project that provided the working framework for artist Vincent Valdez's mural; the saga of Chavez Ravine unfolding, panel by panel along the body of a lowrider (yes, it was a lowrider) ice cream truck. Completed in 2007, the truck, El Chavez Ravine, was commissioned by musician, Ry Cooder. We'll discuss the neighborhood, Chavez Ravine, and the project a little bit more down the line but here are some song samples, drawn from the album, that tell the story of an old Los Angeles neighborhood, now vanished.
The song, "Poor Man's Shangri-la" is an aural establishing shot, if you will, of a time and place in Los Angeles more than fifty years ago and a dramatic story of eminent domain.
The lyrics unscroll below. Pay close attention to Cooder's storytelling devices, how he places you in a time, place, era, moment with specific details --

"Tell you 'bout this friend of mine that you don't know
He lives way up a road that's lost in time.
Don't know his name, or where he's coming from,
Only thing you know, he's a real gone cat,
This friend of mine.

He don't have no uptown friends, or drive a Cadillac,
But he's got cool threads and a beat up car.
All his downtown friends like me ride around in the back
'Cause he's a real cool cat, yeah he's a real cool cat,
This friend of mine.

La Loma boys will run with you,
Do anything that you want them to,
If you need a friend 'cause you're feeling blue
Palo Verde girls never let you down.

Na na na na na, living in a poor man's Shangri-La.

Firme guys in their firme cars,
Underneath the moon and stars.
The city lights way down below.
What's that sound? What's that light
Streaking down through the night?
What's it mean? It's a red cloud over
Chavez Ravine.

Orale, UFO, come gliding low.
Se cayo up Chavez Road.
Space Vato, square cat.
Say, "Caramba, partners, where's the party at?"

I heard about the cool jerk, and the alligator,
Tokay wine, Mary Jane, and Lil' Julian Herrera.
I want to learn to dance, make romance.
These La Bishop girls might take a chance.

My friend says, "No, be cool, bro.
If you want to dance slow,
Learn to ask a mi hermana con respeto."

UFO got a radio.
Lil' Julian singing soft and low.
Los Angeles down below.
DJ says, we got to go.
To El Monte, El Monte, pa El Monte.

Na na na na na, living in a poor man's Shangri-La"

Here's an evocative PBS slideshow showcasing a collection of photographs made by Don Normark in 1949.
Where does the music take you? In a nutshell, what other L.A. songs transport you to a time or place?
-- L.G.

(Music Credit: Lyrics by Ry Cooder/William Garcia/Gene Aguilera Hi-Lo Shag Music [BMI]/Wagamita Music [BMI] Carmelita Music)