One of the attendees at Renascent was actually a man I met just the weekend before, who had actually been detained at Adelanto Detention Center for some six months within the last year and a half. He brought his wife and ten year old son, and on seeing the origami workshop led by my friend Junko, his son quickly sat down to participate. It was a joy to be able to provide a healing space for them.
Another attendee was a woman who lived nearby and just happened to be coming back from work at about the minute that dinner was being served; when she asked what brought on the festivity, I replied that it was a celebration of immigrants everywhere. She was surprised but also delighted to hear it; then she asked me where I thought she was from, and I answered that I thought she was Iranian. Sure enough, I guessed correctly, so she smiled, took a seat, and enjoyed the chipotle-infused chicken, rice and coleslaw prepared by the Leyva brothers of Community Cookouts.
Yet another attendee was Lupe, who I had also met just in the week leading up to the big night. Lupe was a local vendor in the neighborhood who’s now served our community–including with her license to vend–for over three years. It just so happened that she already knew the Leyva brothers through her time in the vicinity, which I was undoubtedly thrilled about. When I told her that she was one of our VIPS for the evening, she received the honor in kind and soon proceeded to provide me her contact info in case I know of opportunities for her to vend later.
I also had a galvanizing encounter with Jamie, a local musico who’s known the path between Vermont/Santa Monica up to Western/Santa Monica for even longer than I have, spanning some thirty years or so. When he came up to me to tell me of how he knew not only my mother from her time at the newsstand, but also Don Pedro and Doña Lupe, who owned El Gran Burrito before it became the LTSC Santa Monica/Vermont Complex, his brilliant eyes and charming laughter assured me it was because he’s not just a joy to be around, but also his own philosopher. Of course, as with Lupe, I connected with him so that in the days and nights ahead we can join forces to bring even more folks to break bread with us.
These were just a few of the tiny, yet infinite victories I experienced at what turned out to be this radiant melange of young professionals, families, elders, and more of the people who’ve always made Los Angeles the absolute world for me. It dawns on me now that it was just like when my jefita was first teaching me the ropes as a teen, as I stood alongside her at her stand meeting and speaking with one and all of the people who paused for a moment to pick up a magazine or two, if not a token for the bus, or who just needed to chat with someone for a minute before resuming their journey across the concrete jungle. Whoever they were, we were ready to serve them, and it’s this spirit, I suppose, which has not only endured but evolved to lead me to celebrate only more of the vendors who adorn Los Angeles today.
As the neighborhood undergoes yet another transformative decade in its history—in which even more new arrivals make their way through—it’s this legacy which I seek to continue to keep breathing for all to see and hear. As with Renascent, it’s not because anyone in particular asked me to do it, but it’s because this innate part of me knows that people everywhere deeply value the ability to see themselves in the stories of others, and to serve more than just themselves, but all.
Do rest assured, then, that Renascent has reignited that spark for the mission of Quién Es Tu Vecindario not just in yours truly, but in just enough of my peers too, to the point that our next event is already in the works! I look forward to inviting all of The City once again for it, but before then, I’m going to rejoice for just a little longer over this milestone moment in Los Cuentos de Los Angeles.
J.T.
