Taking Over

I saw Danny Hoch's "Jails, Hospitals & Hip Hop" back in 1997 and was totally impressed. He left a great memory of a great performer with a keen ear for voices and dialects. Something I like to do when I travel is to pick up on the accents and cadences of people, Hoch is a master at this.

Walking up to the theatre I ran into Richard Montoya of Culture Clash who also have done great work capturing moments in a localized area with their works: "Radio Mambo: Culture Clash Invades Miami," and "Bordertown." Like Hoch, Culture Clash got the characters, accents and flow of the residents of their chosen locales.

Many people and reviews pumped up this show and being a Hoch fan I was ready to be impressed, again.

The issue of gentrification has been a running theme in my life in general, so I was ready to hear his spin on it to gather some more verbal artillery in my debates and maybe some insights into what else may lay ahead in the near future.

"Taking Over" focused on the people on the victim side of gentrification. Kiko was one of my favorites because he is like my real friend Henry, supper humble and cautious around people he sees as having more than himself. When Kiko goes to calling a production assistant 'sir,' who is working on a film on his block, to get his attention it struck a chord in me on how racial hierarchies are embedded in us and how easy some of us slip into the 'si senor' or 'yes massa' mode to gain favor. Another point that was verbalized by Kiko, and several other characters, was the issue of being invisible to the gentrifying hoards. One black female character says she was able to go into one of their bakeries and walk out with two almond croissants and no one even noticed.

The most impressive monologue was the Dominican taxi dispatcher. Within this Hoch played on Puerto Rican, Mexican and Dominican issues of assimilation, the American dream, language, and tensions. Calling his compatriots 'hicks' for not knowing the city or for being afraid of picking up drunk, gay, white clients was one side of this character who would later scold his son for speaking Spanish to him. He didn't want his kid to be perceived as an immigrant. Deep if you know what I mean. I busted up on his play on the Mexican accent while scolding a cab driver for supposedly selling tacos out of his cab.

Other impressive monologues for me were the French realtor, the Jewish developer and the white girl selling Mexican handbags on the street. Forgot their names, but that is of course not the point. The point is all of them see where they are as something to be changed into what they want or need. They don't want to just be, they want to colonize. The French guy was already looking for the new lands to change, the developer had the plan (including free rent to desirable clients) to create 'the real world' where people are only happy when there is shopping to be had, and the white girl who came for authenticity, but loved the changes she was a part of more than the people already there.

The Williamsburg of "Taking Over" is much like our downtown LA. The development is at the luxury condo level. In the Eastside, we are at the letting 'desirable' businesses have free or cheap rents. We still aren't hosting overpriced cafes, although we do have an overpriced bar.

My hope and my dream is that the Eastside and Los Angeles in general, like it has usually done, will break the mold of what the powers that be have in mind and shape a new model. Mother nature helps us with her earthquakes that shake off those with shallow roots. Our history that is in the air, smeared on the walls and runs invisible to non native eyes always raises its clenched fist of rebellion, or our open hand of "come in, we know you won't last long." We will outlive them. Out-last them by over populating them. Out-funk them and out they will go, to Portland most likely. We aren't an island. Yes many have been pushed out to the Inland Empire, but I believe many will be back. Its like the waves on our coast, there are small waves, then there are big ones. Our numbers on one level and our roots in another cannot be ignored. WE won't be 'si senor' -ing nor will we be invisible.

At the end Hoch summed it, "Stay home." Although he can't stay home, because they don't pay him in New York to tell New York stories, he knows that it really is better at home.

On one level it IS an immigrant story as twisted as it may seem. Latinos leave their homes to get job opportunities or avoid death. Midwestern kids migrate to leave right wing politics and religion, or maybe just boredom. We can't seem to stay home and fix our problems in our own homes. Sometimes the problems are not of our making, and some are just annoyances we build up. Either way we pick up and leave and go somewhere else where we can be who want to be, not who we are. Sometimes we forget the difference, and come up with something new and good, and other times into something bad and destructive.

I heard these words recently and I think they apply: Despite our best efforts, nothing will get done. Despite our worst efforts, what is needed gets done.

It Began With...

It ended with

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

This past Saturday Q and I walked down to Chinatown for the Golden Dragon Parade




















We thought were running late, but we actually got there right on time. They were running on CPT.

















This is the first of many dragons.









The Queen and her court.















Next Dragon. I love them.




















These guys got up close and would take red envelopes from peeps.







































A group of dragons. Note the giant chicken in the background.
















Commerce Casino princesses





















Taipei's float. If you can zoom in you can see her cell phone in her hand.




Tijuana's Drum Line Los Lobos



















The first group of API's for equal marriage rights. They had the largest group of marchers.




















More of the equal marriage rights folks.








They were followed by Danzantes










The Ox float!!!

















I missed a lot of peeps and no marching bands and drill teams. I was using my iPhone camera for the first time.
The parade is something me and Q have gone to on and off since she was a baby. We have a good time always.
These girls were helping to promo their sale and were just so out of place at the parade happening right in front of them. It's so L.A.




















We walked back over the bridge. It felt shorter walking home than going.

Rourke and Eastwood

Last night after G Lo and part of So. Park I switched over and caught Mickey Rourke on Jimmy Kimmel and I found myself smiling throughout the whole interview. I grew up with Mickey Rourke. One of my first girlfriends brought over a video and said we need to watch this. It was "9 1/2 Weeks" and for the next few girlfriends after that one it was required viewing. Then came "Angel Heart" and "Barfly." I then looked back at his earlier work and saw how this bad ass developed. "The Wrestler" his latest film is lyrical.

Rourke is in top physical form for a man who lived the wild life he did and is well into his 50s. He plays a pro-wrestler, 20 years past his prime. He lives in a trailer, works in an ACME market, uses a hearing aid, and puts on wrestling shows at Veterans of Foreign Wars halls. On his days off he lusts after a stripper played by the incredibly fine Marisa Tomei. After a particularly bloody and violent match, he has a heart attack which makes him see his mortality and forces him to reach out to his estranged daughter, who is rightfully very angry with daddy.

The film begins by shooting Rourke's character Randy 'The Ram' Robinson from an over the shoulder shot, giving it an almost documentary feel. The trick is used throughout the film to keep us at arms length from this caricature of man. Before we know it the film eases into a full on family drama / love story with Rourke as our flawless guide. The Ram can be a bit of 'tard but it is part of his charm as well as his weakness. All along the feelings that The Ram has to change, he deserves better, he has paid for his mistakes, he needs to be forgiven, he needs real love now are presented to us. We don't know his fate. He could just as easily walk off into the sunset with his daughter and stripper girlfriend, than crash his van and die while driving to one last wrestling match. We are cheering for him but know life is not always easy. Every dog has his day, and this dog had his days.

Rourke is doing the media rounds now that he won a Golden Globe, and I really hope he wins the Oscar. He is the type of movie star that are fewer these days. He has real talent, not just box office draw.


A week before I saw "The Wrestler" I saw a somewhat similar movie that is just as good "Gran Torino." Directed and starring another true movie star Clint Eastwood, "Gran Torino" is a slice of old Hollywood. I don't think I need to state how much I like Eastwood's Westerns and his directing. I believe I've mentioned his works here before.

When we hear Eastwood's character spew out his racial slurs, you don't know if its cute because he is an old man whose generation will all soon be gone or if its just plain ole angry white man crap. These other blog reviews say pretty much what I feel and you should check them out for a summary of what the film is about if you don't. I want focus on how Eastwood's film is similar to "The Wrestler."

Both films show the end of a man's life and the end of an era. The world changes and for the characters in both films the present and future looks like alien territory. When The Ram says "The 90's sucked" and when Eastwood realizes he has more in common with Hmong immigrants, with their old school ways, than with his own kids, both men signal that they are done living and are only surviving. They don't understand the new. They know they need to reinvent themselves but don't know how, or won't be allowed to change, or lack the energy to change. Much like in The Atlantic's "The End of White America?" by Hua Hsu (reviewed below) these white men are stuck in a moment where they are not on top and none of us know what will happen with them.

The flawed heroes of both films are only flawed because of the times we are living in. In an earlier era they would be seen just as heroes living out the last days of glorious lives. Today with our PC eyes and ears, we can see how change is good and that being a dick gets you nowhere fast.

I loved both films and plan on watching them both again and maybe again and again. They are good stories, full of rich characters, good acting and make me think that there is hope for us all. We can all change, we can break cycles within ourselves, even if we can't change the world and we can go out balls to the wall and do some good for the fans or just our neighbors. I don't want to spoil either film, so if you get it good. If not go see them.

The End of White America

According to Census data, about 50% of Latinos identify themselves as white. How one identifies themselves is shaped by tons of factors both personal and social. This is why some first generation, de-indianized immigrants check off 'white' in the Census when they get the chance. Claiming white was a step closer to being a real American, even if in reality your brown skin and almond eyes signaled non-white and thus non "American."

This is all changing according to The Atlantic's "The End of White America?" by Hua Hsu. In the article Hsu looks at how white is and will be perceived in this new era of Obama-landia. He is very good at identifing the 'real' America of McCain/Palin, who love their NASCAR and how they are a shrinking population; the white America that is reacting in blogs such as Stuff White People Like and how they suffer for being white and need to beat us to the punch line about their idiosyncracies; and mentions how studying whitness in universities is signaling a fear of what it really means to be white in a world that is more and more non-white and the result is whites hating being white. Hip Hop is given a lot of credit for helping to create this world where non-whites can move on up. Diversity and multi-culturalism is examined as well in the usual form of how will we sell junk to people who are not white.

My initial reaction to the article was that it was good, but ofcourse typical in maintaining the black / white paradgimn of looking at the world. Hsu does good research but misses the fact that Latinos have been the majority in 7 of the 10 biggest US cities since the last Census. Those numbers will have increased and will continue to change the US more than hip hop and a black looking but white by culture president. The fear, debates, distribution of resources and legislation that often punishes Latinos are at the center of what is America today. Since 9/11 Brown has been the new Black.

Perceptions of what an American is will change. Hsu wrote how advertising companies herded consumers to the middle, which was white. And that was as we know wrong. What are they now proposing? Will the new center be some 'beige' non identifiable, mestizo, with more whiter features than blacker or browner features? Will that be accurate? As manufactured as the fading white mainstream, will the new multi culti mainstream be as manufactured and false? Will it leave out the jalape~o, the chicharones and banda music? Will Latinos still check off 'white' when white is a minority?

I have little hope. Just turn your t.v. to a Spanish language station. The faces are all white despite having vast Indian and mestizo majorities in all those countries. Obama may be the first step, but we got hundreds of years of slavery and mind f*&^s to get over bending over for whitey.

(for another review of this article go here, thanks Roker)

The Brown Hands of Gentrification

I haven't been blogging much, nor reading blogs as much as before because there has been this conversation in my head and with my peeps about what are we really doing with the blogs and most recently a new magazine/newspaper called Brooklyn and Boyle.

The conversation basically goes like this: What is our point in writing about Boyle Hts or our Eastside in general? To counter the false hipster Eastside? To tell people to come and visit/gentrify/move into our areas because we live here, we can write blogs, went to school and so now it is safe?

It really got me thinking that we are helping to gentrify and alter the fabric of our communities. Ooops there is the buzz word "community."

We live in this community, it has been here before us and we came to be a part of it.

Many have begun to write and think that we need to create a community because it's not here. Only when there are others who write, went to school, like the same art and music and we take up a space and hang out will we have a community. How colonizer is that???!!!

Some of the spaces are like forts, art outposts, so to say where the natives aren't welcome, kept out by big gates or overpriced beer I can get for $2 next door.

I read in the first Brooklyn and Boyle a piece by a woman saying to come 'discover' Boyle Hts. WTF??? DISCOVER!!! We have been here, just cuz you just got here we are discovered? How colonizer is that?

We seem to have a lot of colonizer thinking in us. I know I do.

Even Luis Rodriguez's piece in the same issue struck me as an Ethno tourist map. I love Luis Rodriguez but when you write about a living and breathing place in the past tense as if people can now feel safe and its ok to go there because he was there, it felt like yuck.

BH has been here doing fine without the art spaces, the galleries, the cafes, the hipster-o newspapers, as a community for Raza who work, raise kids, have parties on the weekends, eat at the great restaurants and go to the beautiful parks. Why do we feel we need to let the world know we are here? Do we need their approval? Are we lacking tourist dollars?

I'm at home here. I don't tell peeps what is in my kitchen, the art I have up, the people that visit me. Well maybe in a way that is what this blog has been.

I'm thinking instead of selling our area to fit into some idea of community, what we as writers from areas like BH need to do is start telling the world how we see the world around us. No one ever asks us what we think about Palestine's fight; Obama-landia, or right wing Christians. No one ever asked us if it was now safe to come and visit our home, yet we can't stop selling it.

(I'm going to visit some exotic area like Reseda and write about the cool stuff I discovered like the Vietnamese Vegan Pho spot on Sherman Way and how straight their streets are.)

I guess I'm repenting for writing in this blog about Al and Bea's and other spots I love around here, they are doing just fine without my pimping them.

The other day I went to a spot and the owner's son was chatting with me. I told him about the changes that are coming due to the trains and gentrification. He didn't even blink. He just looked around at his packed restaurant full of families with kids, viejitos and mariachis taking a break and said, "I'm not worried about it. We got our regulars."

Indeed maybe us writers/artists/community builders (more like blind to community) are making this bigger than it needs to be. The regulars will be here, all visitors will come and eventually go.

As Anzaldua wrote: "This land was Mexican once, Indian always and will be again." I guess I can say this land was/is colonized Chuppy once, Raza always and will be again.