OAXACALIFORNIA: OAXACAN AMERICANS IN L.A.

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First up, enjoy a new Intro for the podcast! Followed by a few notes on the week from yours truly, including on the tragic passing of Mirna Soza while boarding L.A. Metro’s B Line on Monday, April 22nd, as well as on the Armenian Genocide of 1915, commemorated every year on April 24th.

Then, from Columbia University to USC, this week belonged to Students for Palestine! In this spirit, this episode of J.T. the L.A. Storyteller Podcast features Sarah Orozco, a 1st-generation, low-income, Oaxaqueña at UC Berkeley, class of ’24; earlier this year, Sarah actually interviewed yours truly on what it means to be Oaxacan-American in the current media landscape, the Bracero program of World War II, which brought many Oaxaqueños to the U.S. for the first time during the 1940s and 1950s, and much more!

(0:01) New intro song!
(1:18) Be sure to follow the podcast on YouTube as well!
(1:56) You can also support the podcast via Patreon
(2:29) Updates for the week of April 21st, starting with Earth Day 2024
(3:37) Shout out Mirna Soza, who was fatally attacked on L.A. Metro’s B Line on Monday
(5:34) Shout out Students for Palestine! From USC to Columbia and beyond
(6:49) Shout out the Armenian Genocide, commemorated each year on April 24th
(8:17) This week also saw both L.A. City and L.A. County present budgets for fiscal years 2024 – 2025
(9:12) At least 4 out of 10 people living in L.A. now seriously fear becoming homeless in the foreseeable future
(10:03) Remember to subscribe via YouTube, or wherever you keep up with yours truly
(11:31) With that said, this installment of JT the LA Storyteller podcast is brought to you in particular by South Central L.A. and UC Berkeley’s Sarah Michelle Orozco
(13:41) Our first question: On identities
(17:50) Challenges when it comes to identity or identities growing up
(22:37) On the question of pride for indigeneity and being Oaxacan
(25:32) On the question of remixing identities in L.A. (K-Town is Oaxacan Korean)
(28:14) How age plays a part in the work one’s involved in
(29:56) Seasonal Oaxacan Migration to the U.S. going back to the 1940s Bracero Program
(34:46) Sarah’s grandpa was also in the Bracero Program
(36:13) Gender’s influence on what one’s involved in
(41:43) The first time I saw a Oaxacan American presence online (Shout out the L.A. Public Library!)
(45:30) Oaxacan Twitter
(47:59) Oaxaqueño and Oaxaqueña Americans to follow on Instagram
(55:14) Trends and social movements among Oaxacan Americans online (Viva Palestina!)
(58:16) Shout out Tlacolulokos, the artists whose artwork covers this episode
(59:53) What it means to me to have a following online (intentionality)
(1:03:31) On cultural appropriation of the Oaxacan culture
(1:08:01) On Oaxacalifornia, the legacy
(1:09:54) Connecting back with the pueblo
(1:13:53) FIN.

Speaking of Oaxaqueñas, please also check out Areli Morales Lopez’s latest for Making a Neighborhood, “The Last Laundromat by Venice Beach,” here. Also remember that Making Our Neighborhood: Redlining, Gentrification and Housing (2021), the magazine, is once again available for purchase. Grab your copy for you and your neighborhood, here.

Last but certainly not least, to make a one-time donation to my nonprofit work for working-class communities in Los Angeles, please do so here. To support the production of J.T. the L.A. Storyteller Podcast for as little as $5 a month, check out my page at patreon.com/jimbotimes.

J.T.

DOWNTOWN L.A.’s GRAFFITI TOWERS

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In this installment of J.T. the L.A. Storyteller Podcast yours truly sits down with P, the horrible vandal, to discuss L.A. City Council’s recent approval of over $4 million to “remove graffiti covering three abandoned skyscrapers in downtown L.A., secure the site, and restore the public right of way on the adjacent sidewalks.” We also go over the state of L.A. graff’ in the era of TikTok, and how it just may dove-tail with the [2028] Olympics scheduled to come back to town soon. It’s a truly can’t-miss episode and we salute @therobinsonspace for our special studio-time!

Find our latest for Making a Neighborhood, “The Eviction Machine of Los Angeles,” here. Also, did you know that Making Our Neighborhood: Redlining, Gentrification and Housing (2021), the magazine, is once again available for purchase? Grab your copy today, which supports only more storytelling and documenting for our communities, here.

(0:01) Hey, what’s going on Los Angeles? It’s J.T. and it’s Friday, April 12th, 2024
(0:25) Before we get started, a slight correction for the record
(0:44) Re: the marches for Immigrant Rights in the United States…
(1:05) Let’s take this opportunity to go through a brief list of the largest marches ever? THE TOP 5, historically, are…
(3:48) These were definitely larger marches than the March for the Great American Boycott, or the March for A Day Without an Immigrant, but it does still stand that in Los Angeles the Day Without an Immigrant March of 2006 remains the biggest in L.A. history
(4:20) With that said, here’s yours truly along with P, the Horrible Vandal, on graffiti in L.A.
(5:07) Introductions, and a shout out to the Robinson Space for Los Cuentos de Los Ángeles
(5:32) Welcome P, the Horrible Vandal
(7:06) Shout out Koreatown since if you know, you know
(7:47) The state of graffiti today with respect to the gentrification in L.A.
(9:33) Business Insider on Oceanside Plaza, now better known as the site of the Graffiti Towers
(11:20) Is LAPD still arresting people for graffiti given all of the homelessness on the streets?
(14:28) The Broken Window Theory
(20:20) Like other subcultures, graffiti has also grown into a major industry
(25:33) To be sure though, how do we engage the youth on graffiti?
(28:41) Regulating Social Media corporations vs regulating graffiti
(32:26) Looking into muralism and other “responsible” art-making for P
(36:04) If so many outsiders can make a living off L.A., why can’t artists from here make a living too?
(38:34) At the end of the day, graffiti is for everyone
(41:19) Shout out to the Horrible Vandal for the time, and all the writers. 100 percent

To make a one-time donation to my nonprofit work for working-class communities in Los Angeles, please do so here. To support the production of J.T. the L.A. Storyteller Podcast for as little as $5 a month, check out my page at patreon.com/jimbotimes.

J.T.

You are Invited to Making Our Neighborhood: Redlining, Gentrification and Housing in East Hollywood

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With our final Redlining poster, one thing is clear:

Racist tools designed to separate and dehumanize “others” can in fact be reckoned with and even “hacked” to serve a higher calling, that is, to bring “others” together for the purpose of humanizing all of us on our own terms.

Photography for this poster is courtesy of Samanta Helou-Hernandez: @sami_helou

Design for this poster is courtesy of Crisanto Simatu: @crisanto.illustration

Our panel series this March is being hosted by the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council: @easthollywoodnc.

Find our Press Release for Making Our Neighborhood…A Panel Series, HERE.

And RSVP to the hottest event in Los Angeles this March at EastHollywood.EventBrite.com.

J.T.