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December 20, 2010 | 3:55 PM | By

For Los Angeles, a ‘multiplicity of corridos’

Art by Gajin Fujita, courtesy of LACMA

I didn’t have a chance to make it to a performance Saturday afternoon by Ozomatli at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where the band performed the top entries in a contest seeking the “The Corrido of L.A.” But the lyrics to several of the corrido entries are posted on LACMA’s website (under “submissions”), and they’re worth perusing.

The contest, a joint project between LACMA and the University of Southern California, was held in honor of the centennial of the Mexican revolution. Students in grades 7 to 12 from throughout the city were asked to submit songs written in the traditional Mexican narrative ballad style, in any language, that best captured the essence of Los Angeles.

Not surprisingly, many of the corridos submitted dealt with immigration, itself a central theme of Los Angeles. One 11th-grader from Boyle Heights’ Roosevelt High School wrote a song about last summer’s tragic massacre of Central and South American migrants in the northern Mexican border state of Tamaulipas. Several others wrote about the experience of undocumented immigrants. More than one entry among the top ten dealt with “el sueño Americano,” the American dream.

Many entries, though not all, were in Spanish. Another Roosevelt student, Veronica Zelaya, submitted a song simply titled “Yo soy un ilegal,” with lyrics that begin:

Yo soy un ilegal (I am an illegal)/que ha venido a luchar (who has come here to struggle)/para a mis padres ayudar (to help my parents)/y no se como empezar (and I don’t know how to begin).

The narrator risks drowning in the “Río Bravo” (how the Rio Grande is referred to in Mexico), “Pero ni modo que hacer (but oh well, what else to do)/por un sueño americano (for an American dream).

Other entries dealt with similarly heavy topics, but not all. Saul Sandoval, a San Pedro High School student, submitted the “Corrido de Los Lakers:”

La noche 17 de Junio del año 2010 siempre voy a recordar (the night of June 17 of the year 2010 I will always remember)/los Lakers vencieron a los Celtics 83-79 (the Lakers beat the Celtics 83-79).

As the rules went, whatever best captures the essence of L.A.

There were roughly a hundred corridos submitted, said Ilona Katzew, curator and co-head of the Latin American art department for LACMA. In the end the contest resulted not in a single corrido theme song for the city, but “a wonderful multiplicity of corridos,” Katzew said today.

“It gave students a forum to express their opinions and views about their city and their own personal relationship to it,” she wrote in an e-mail. “What made the event so poignant is that all these voices were brought together for others to hear.”

Previous posts have featured video of some of the entries.

FILED UNDER: Culture/Identity, Corrido, LACMA, Los Angeles County, Ozomatli
December 17, 2010 | 12:46 PM | By

The L.A. Corridos are here at last

Since late September, Los Angeles students in grades 7 through 12 have been composing corridos – some traditional, some not – as part of a contest seeking “The Corrido of L.A.,” a song written in the traditional Mexican narrative ballad style that best captures the essence of the city. The contest was a joint project between the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the University of Southern California, held to commemorate the centennial of the Mexican Revolution.

The entries are in, and celebrity judges Ozomatli are scheduled to perform the winning songs at LACMA tomorrow. A story on the contest yesterday by KPCC’s Alex Cohen featured two videos, including the above entry titled “Dreaming of a City” by 8th-grader Lyla Matar.

She also interviewed Ozomatli’s bassist Wil-dog Abers along with Josh Kun, director of The Popular Music Project at USC Annenberg’s The Norman Lear Center. Ozomatli will be performing “The Corrido of LA” in a free concert from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday in LACMA’s Bing Theater.

Here’s a post from last week with some audio and video of a non-traditional, hip-hop flavored corrido from a group of students who have dubbed themselves “Los Geekz.”

FILED UNDER: Culture/Identity, Corrido, LACMA, Los Angeles County, Ozomatli
December 16, 2010 | 2:15 PM | By

Shared memories of Boyle Heights’ Wyvernwood

Screen shot from the Save Wyvernwood Apartments!! page

A post from earlier this week featured a video produced by the Los Angeles Conservancy telling the story of the Wyvernwood Garden Apartments, a unique 70-acre Boyle Heights complex built in 1939 that, for much of its existence, has been home to generations of immigrants and their Los Angeles-raised families. Much of the footage was contributed by residents who are trying to save the complex, eventually scheduled to become the site of a new condo, apartment and retail development.

In passing, I mentioned a fascinating Facebook page on which former residents, some of whom were raised amidst Wyvernwood’s sprawling grassy lawns and winding paths, share memories of growing up there. The most recent entries are a few months old, but they provide such a rich slice of Eastside life, both good and bad, that they’re worth sharing in detail. Here are a few, unedited.

From Joe Diaz:

I lived there in the 70′s, lost both my grandparents there. It was a great place to grow up Lots of room to play. Had many football and baseball games there friends everywhere so much room WOW what memories. remember hanging out with my best friend Paul in his room with that big ass stereo, He would shake the room with that thing………..

From Gary Perkins:

When we moved here from Iowa we were so lost..
The neighbors took us in and befriended us..
We had never seen an Avocado or a tortilla before..
Seriously
The neighbors just kept feeding us until we became real Los Angelenos..
As i said before my experience was very positive
I have gone back there many times..
I stopped in the 90′s because it got scary
I wish i could go back there now and just walk around all the places i remember.

From Mary Arviso:

This place used to be the best place to live in the world, I wouldnt change my childhood there for anything else ! I cant believe how run down and how many stupid little gangs there are now, its just heartbreaking! My time there was from 1964 until 1982 and if it can be saved and cleaned up as well that would be great! I honestly think that is wishful thinking!

From Matthew Maldonado:

Man I joined this group so I can say this place should be burned to the ground. Besides what do you mean Garden City Community??? hahahaha I lived here 24.5 years!!!Best place to grow up and better place to take your kids and tell them, this is why I moved out!!! lol

From William McKnight:

I moved in this neighborhood in 1981. I was one of the first kids that moved into a section that was once call “grannie-land”. Back in the mid to late 70′s, they were able to keep families with children out of this area found closest to 8th and Soto just behind McDonalds. When I moved in it was well maintained, gorgeous grass and just a pretty nice spot to live. By Mid to late 80′s, gangs began to take over the neighborhood. You knew your neighborhood was rough when Pizza delivery would ask you to meet them at McDonalds. Still it was home. Leaving in 1989 was the right thing for us to do at that time. We left the neighborhood with some fond memories of great neighbors and lifelong friends I made during my stay.

I recently drove by the neighborhood. Things have changed. Fine’s Supermarket looked run down. Sears looks like it may fall over. Dacotah street school, my elementary had a different name. Things have certainly changed. At the same time, so much is still there. The Sears I bought my awesome bike when I was 11. walking to Fine’s with my buddies to buy chips and springfield soda, and having water balloon fights in the grassy fields in summertime. Seeing the renditions of what may become of this place so many people call home is absolutely scary! Urban redevelopment at the expense of low income families is a disgrace! Hopefully all families can unify and fight this cause for the sake of the community. My heart is still in Wyvernwood: though the good and through the bad.

While demolition isn’t imminent, plans were announced in 2008 to replace the 1,187 existing units, home to about 6,000 residents, with 4,400 condominiums and apartments plus retail space. The developers have said some units will be set aside for affordable housing, but many current residents, some of whom have lived there for decades, fear they will still be priced out.

FILED UNDER: Culture/Identity, Economy, Boyle Heights, Los Angeles County, Wyvernwood
December 14, 2010 | 9:43 PM | By

Video: Boyle Heights’ Wyvernwood apartments

The Los Angeles Conservancy has produced a video that tells the story of Boyle Heights’ historic and unusual Wyvernwood Garden Apartments, a sprawling 70-acre complex built in the late 1930s where generations of immigrants have raised generations of Angelenos.

The complex, which I visited a while back, is unique in that its buildings are set among vast grassy fields, giving the place a sense of space and breathability while housing about 6,000 residents. It’s an anomaly in Los Angeles, especially in this dense part of the city.

Regrettably, the complex faces the wrecking ball. The Florida-based investment company that owns it announced plans in 2008 for a $2 billion redevelopment in that would replace its 1,187 existing units with 4,400 condominiums and apartments, including high-rises, and retail space. The developer has said that demolition is not imminent, but residents have mounted a resistance.

One neat aside is the back-and-forth on a Facebook page set up by residents, where former residents trade stories of growing up there. Some say they still steer clear after gang violence hit the complex hard in the 1990s; current residents, pointing out that the violence has diminished, urge them to come back and visit. It’s an interesting conversation.

Wyvernwood residents provided most of the footage for the video through a multimedia project last year that was funded by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, working with the Los Angeles Conservancy and the Los Angeles Media Collective.

FILED UNDER: Culture/Identity, Economy, Boyle Heights, Los Angeles County, Wyvernwood
December 9, 2010 | 4:15 PM | By

Dream Act: Is it still alive, or isn’t it?

Photo by Leslie Berestein Rojas/KPCC

Participants in a vigil and rally for the Dream Act in downtown Los Angeles Tuesday night, December 7, 2010

This morning, when the Senate voted to table action on the Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, which would grant legal status to certain undocumented college students and military hopefuls, a group of students and other supporters of the bill who watched the vote take place on C-SPAN in downtown Los Angeles breathed a sigh of relief.

As they saw it, the Senate’s move to shelve its version of the bill, and vote at a later date on the version approved last night in the House, would perhaps give them more time to call legislators and drum up support.

But there are different interpretations of what occurred today. Some news reports have characterized the Senate’s move as essentially leaving the bill to die a slow death. One NPR piece described the bill as having “very likely died” today.

Other stories characterized the move as a strategy taken in order to avoid a certain demise today in the Senate, where Republican votes in support were lacking, and give the legislation a slightly better chance. One story in the Washington Post read:

Instead, Senate Democrats voted to pull their bill, allowing them to take up a version identical to the House bill. If the Senate were to pass that version, the legislation would go directly to President Obama for his signature, skipping the process of reconciling the two chambers’ measures.

So what is it? Those advocating for the measure see it as the latter.

“We wanted more time to work on Republican targets,” said Lynn Tramonte, deputy director of America’s Voice, an immigration reform advocacy group in Washington, D.C. “We wanted the Senate to bring up the House bill. It just makes it easier if the Senate takes up a bill that the House has already passed. We wanted the Senate to do this.”

Shelving the bill also allows time for Congress to resolve a tax cut deal struck between Republican lawmakers and President Obama, which has been rejected in the House, but which GOP leaders have established as a priority before supporting other measures.

“Everybody knew that Republicans were ready to vote against the cloture motion this morning,” Tramonte said. “A lot of reporters were ready to write the obituary on the Dream Act already, so they just fit what happened today into that frame.”

So far, though, “the advocates are all in line, saying this was a good move.”

The Dream Act’s fate is now to be determined later this month, possibly next week. And while the obituaries today may be premature, the bill still faces an uphill slog in the Senate, where it’s unlikely that already stiff Republican opposition will be swayed.

Among the points raised by GOP leaders opposing the bill have been concerns about fraudulent applications, an increase in overall immigration as beneficiaries eventually sponsor family members, and cost. A recent Congressional Budget Office report concluded that the Dream Act would reduce the federal deficit over the next decade. However, costs would rise over the long term as beneficiaries start becoming permanent legal residents and U.S. citizens, making them eligible for government programs available to other Americans.

Jorge-Mario Cabrera of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles said he was still optimistic that there might be some concessions made by GOP lawmakers, especially if the tax cut issue is resolved.

“The House surprised us last night, and the Senate might well surprise us too,” he said.

FILED UNDER: Health/Education, Politics/Justice, CHIRLA, Dream Act, Los Angeles County
December 9, 2010 | 12:39 PM | By

‘Live to die another day:’ With Senate Dream Act vote tabled, students go back to the phones

Photo by Leslie Berestein Rojas/KPCC

UCLA graduate student Carlos Amador addresses media at a press conference in downtown Los Angeles following the Senate's vote to table to Dream Act until next week, December 9, 2010

The Senate’s decision this morning to table a vote on the Dream Act was greeted with optimism and a bit of relief by Los Angeles students and graduates who celebrated the bill’s victory in the House last night, after a long day of making calls to legislators for support. Now, they go back to the phones.

“Last night’s vote in the House was an historic vote,” said Carlos Amador, 27, an undocumented UCLA graduate student and one of the leaders among the local students pushing for the bill. As for the Senate, “we know it’s a tough battle, but we know that we can make it.”

Amador, along with other college students, graduates and Dream Act supporters, spoke to reporters at the UCLA Downtown Labor Center, where dozens spent yesterday calling legislators from a makeshift phone bank.

Several of the students gathered again today to make more calls before the anticipated Senate vote. While a decisive vote was expected today, the Senate voted to table the measure until later this month, possibly next week.

The stakes are high for many of the young people campaigning for the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, which would grant conditional legal status to undocumented youths who attend college or enlist in the military, provided they arrived here before age 16 and meet strict criteria.

Many of the students making calls yesterday at the UCLA center in downtown Los Angeles are undocumented; others have family members and friends who are. One college graduate making calls yesterday, a U.S. citizen, said she was there for her best friend, a young woman brought to the United States by her parents when she was a baby. She said her friend wasn’t there making calls because she was at her housekeeping job.

Those watching C-SPAN on a large screen at the center this morning expressed relief following the Senate vote, which they feel buys them more time. Senate Democrats will need 60 votes to overcome a filibuster, meaning that more Republican votes, now lacking, will be needed. A few more days gives supporters more time to make calls and drum up Senate support, students said.

“This is a good thing,” said a Cal State Fullerton graduate named Patricia, who did not want to give her last name because of her undocumented status. “Why rush it?”

But she and others know it’s iffy. As the Senate vote to table was announced, Amador tempered his optimism with dark humor. “We’ll live to die another day,” he cracked.

Student organizers in L.A. said that a national advocacy group logged a record number of calls yesterday, about 50,000, to legislators from Dream Act supporters. They planned to keep making calls throughout the weekend.

FILED UNDER: Health/Education, Politics/Justice, Cal State Fullerton, Dream Act, Los Angeles County, UCLA
December 8, 2010 | 6:28 PM | By

Joy and tears as Dream Act clears House

Photo by Leslie Berestein Rojas/KPCC

Students in Los Angeles react to news of the Dream Act victory in the House, December 8, 2010

Jubilant students in downtown Los Angeles reacted with joyful shouts and tears as they watched a C-SPAN broadcast with the results of the Dream Act vote in the U.S. House of Representatives, which just approved the measure.

A Senate vote is expected tomorrow. If the bill clears both chambers of Congress, the legislation will provide conditional legal status for undocumented youths who arrived here before age 16, provided they attend college or enlist in the military and that they meet strict criteria.

Dozens of students, many of them undocumented, manned the phones all day at the UCLA Downtown Labor Center next to McArthur Park, calling legislators for their support. Tonight, as the vote count was reported, excited students cheered, cried and hugged one another.

It’s a tentative victory for them, and they are cautiously optimistic. So far, there has not been sufficient Republican support in the Senate for the bill to pass. The students will return to the center tomorrow at 7 a.m. to await the Senate vote, expected to take place in the morning.

“We have another fight tomorrow,” said Matias Ramos, an undocumented UCLA graduate.

FILED UNDER: Health/Education, Politics/Justice, Dream Act, Los Angeles County, UCLA
December 8, 2010 | 3:51 PM | By

Students wait as Senate Dream Act vote delayed until tomorrow, but House still votes tonight

Photo by Leslie Berestein Rojas/KPCC

A homemade poster on the wall of the UCLA Downtown Labor Center, where about two dozen student activists are calling legislators and awaiting a vote on the Dream Act, December 8, 2010

The Senate won’t be voting on the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act now until tomorrow, according to a spokesman from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s office. Meanwhile, the House continues to discuss the bill, with a vote still expected tonight.

For the college students and graduates who have been calling legislators all day from a makeshift call center in downtown Los Angeles, some since 6 a.m., waiting another day for the Senate to vote means another early morning. But those still around this afternoon at the UCLA Downtown Labor Center were unfazed, hoping the extra time might work in their favor. While the bill stands a chance of passing in the House, its prospects appear dim in the Senate, where more Republican votes are needed for cloture.

“Compromise needs to be realized,” said Matias Ramos, 24, an undocumented UCLA graduate who now lives in Washington, D.C., where he works for a small Dream Act advocacy group. “That is the silver lining, that there may be a compromise.”

The Senate is now expected to vote on the measure in the morning. The Dream Act would grant conditional legal status to qualifying undocumented youths who either attend college or join the military, and who arrived in the United States before age 16.

FILED UNDER: Health/Education, Politics/Justice, Dream Act, Los Angeles County, Sen. Harry Reid, UCLA