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Los Angeles Times
10-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
11 places connecting Angelenos to their Latinidad
Feb. 10, 2025 8:48 AM PT Sometimes you just want to talk to people who understand you — at places that are inclusive and where you feel comfortable and accepted. Maybe you want to learn more about your culture and language, or want to see your community represented onstage in nuanced and uplifting ways. There are plenty of places in Los Angeles to experience Latinidad. For LGBTQ+ into Latin music, theater lovers seeking stories about Latinos or gay vaqueros looking for a place to let loose, those spaces may not be easy to find. From a community garden in East Los Angeles to a Mexican American museum and event space in downtown L.A. to a Brazilian capoeira and cultural center on the Westside, here are 11 ways to experience Latinidad in L.A. neighborhoods that have a little something for everyone. No matching places! Try changing or resetting your filters Showing Places Downtown L.A. Cooking school Check the calendar at L A Plaza de Cultura y Artes before visiting because there's always something going on at the museum, event space and cooking school. LA Plaza opened in 2011 thanks to the late L.A. County Supervisor Gloria Molina. Since then, it's hosted an ongoing exhibit about the history of Mexicans and Mexican Americans, an annual summer dance series, outdoor concerts, movie screenings and — with the opening of LA Cocina de Gloria Molina in 2022 — Latinx cooking classes in addition to food and wine Cocina also provides a free culinary program for young people looking to learn cooking skills in its chef's kitchen, earn a certificate and network with chefs and restaurant owners to hear about food industry careers and jobs. Route 501 N. Main St., Los Angeles, California 90012 Route Details East Los Angeles Gardens When Miguel Ramos, 37, bought his East Los Angeles home in 2017, they had a vision for a community space that would create connection to the land and their ancestors. They transformed the outdoor space into a community garden by planting corn, tomatoes and squash along with California native plants and herbs. Ramos invited artists, storytellers, activists and urban farmers to use the space to teach free Ramos operates Casita with partner Ellie Guzman and their toddler. They have a community garden where they grow their own fruits and vegetables to share with neighbors. They host seasonal events that include learning how to make your own community garden and how to start composting. To schedule a visit to Casita del Barrio or find out about upcoming events, visit Instagram . Website Details Avocado Heights Activist Group There's no better way to get in touch with your Latinidad than to fight for your way of life. Since its creation in 2020, Avocado Heights Vaquer@s has worked on grassroots campaigns in Avocado Heights, South El Monte and Pellissier Village. Through AHV and Union de Ranchos (co-founded with Nayellie Díaz), Samuel Brown-Vazquez and team have organized volunteers to protest the expansion of a battery recycling plant, stop the L.A. City Council from banning rodeos, and be a watchdog of development projects that displace families. 'Our community is primarily immigrant, working class,' Brown-Vazquez said. They're 'just as interested in rodeo as they are in having clean water, clean air.' The group meets the second Saturday of every month in Whittier. To get involved or for more information, email unionderanchos@ . Details Nonprofit Growing up in South L.A., Cynthia Gonzalez, 44, was one of a few Salvadoran kids, and her classmates weren't always kind. Over time, she grew proud of her heritage and realized that she needed to be the representation she had always wanted. She started Salvies Who Lunch in 2018 as a hashtag after getting together with a group of friends who bonded over food and culture. She's now produced more than 40 events, including three annual ones — Pupusafest (which is now Púchica Fest to include all Central American countries) celebrates food; Joteria is an LGBTQ+ festival at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes; and Chévere is a visual arts festival. You can also find SWL at Angel City FC' s home games, and kindergarten through fifth-grade students at participating schools can join the Bichitos & Bichitas Club , an after-school program that teaches and celebrities Central American culture. Website Details Party Massiel Muñoz gets choked up when she talks about the people who come to the Puerto Rican and Dominican food and dance parties she throws with her cousin and business partner, chef Victor Ramos. Many of their guests came to L.A. by themselves to work in entertainment or other professions. The root of Capicúa , named after a term used in the Dominican Republic when a player wins a game of dominoes, is togetherness and food, she said.'We're fortunate enough to have our family here. For someone who doesn't, just knowing that they can come to these spaces and feel safe. A lot of people show up alone,' Muñoz said of their monthly event. 'We have this saying, people come alone, but you're going to leave with what we say 'primos,' cousins in Spanish.' Website Details Los Feliz Party 'Let's go, lesbians!' That's the rallying cry of D.J. Leslie Ortiz — D.J. Les — the founder of Toxica Fridays, a weekly Latin dance party for lesbians. 'Toxica' is a play on the stereotype of lesbians having toxic relationships, but it's all good vibes and everyone is welcome at Mi Corazón restaurant in Silver Lake.'It's definitely open to anyone' who wants to have a good time, Jeremy Swan, who owns Mi Corazón with his wife Vanessa Swan, Friday, the party at Mi Corazón restaurant begins with dinner at 8 p.m. At 9, Ortiz and her crew begin their Latin music set and at 10, tables are pushed out of the way and the dancing gets going. Ortiz hosts Toxica events, lesbian brunches, and private parties all over Southern California. To find out about her next event, check out her Instagram . Route Details Culver City Dance Studio What started as a single-student capoeira class in the late 1980s has grown into a multicultural community of adults, teenagers, parents and children. Joselito 'Amen' Santo is a mestre de capoeira — the highest level in the Brazilian dance-like martial art — a master drummer, and the director of Ballet Folclórico do Brasil, one of the Music Center's performing artist groups. He opened the Brasil Brasil Cultural Center to share his Afro-Brazilian culture, but it's evolved over the years. In addition to capoeira, adults and kids can take classes in parkour and jiu jitsu, or they can learn Portuguese, take part in vibrational healing or come to a social event. 'This space attracts people from all over the world,' he said. 'It's not just Brazilian or American. It's a melting pot.' Route Details Downtown L.A. Live Theater Group 2025 marks the 40th year that the Latino Theater Company has worked to tell stories from underrepresented communities. Since its founding by award-winning director José Luis Valenzuela, LTC has opened a five-theater complex in downtown L.A.'s Historic Core, started a Summer Youth Conservatory, continued to host a free vocational training program for L.A. teens and young adults, and created the National Latinx Theater Initiative that received a $9-million grant in 2023 to support Latino theaters across the country. And it's a great place to see compelling original works by Latinxs for Latinxs plus works by non-Latinos. 'The plays are political because our lives are political,' LTC marketing director Xavi Moreno said. Thanks to the LTC's Impact Inititiative, Los Angeles and area community college students can enroll to get six tickets plus $10 guest passes. Regular tickets run from $10 for previews up to $45. Route Details Vermont Square Museum Nestled in a house in South L.A., the Garifuna Museum of Los Angeles (GAMOLA) offers a place for people to revisit their language and culture or discover it for the first time. Descended from African people enslaved by the Spanish, Garifuna people can be found in Central American countries and right here in Southern leads tours by appointment and hosts poetry readings and educational programs while working to promote Garifuna Lewis is Garifuna and has been with the museum since its opening in 2011. She wants people to know that at GAMOLA, 'we're reaching out to the diaspora to let them know they have a place.' Route Details Hollywood Bar They have it all at Club Tempo : drag shows, male dancers, mariachis, live music, DJs playing everything from reggaeton to pop. But what's really special about the club is that it welcomes queer more than 30 years, the two-story bar in Hollywood has been a haven for gay Latinxs who identify with Latinx cowboy culture. Whether sporting Tejanas — cowboy hats — and boots and dancing to norteño music on one floor or chilling with friends at the bar, Club Tempo has something going on most nights. Check out Instagram to find out who's performing, when they have happy hour and what time to go to avoid cover charges. Route Details Chinatown Cafe No place in Los Angeles captures the city's resilient spirit better than Homeboy Industries. For more than 35 years, former gang members have found hope and a second chance thanks to Father Greg Boyle. Boyle, a 2024 Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree, started the gang intervention, rehab, and job-training program out of Dolores Mission Church where he was pastor. Thousands of men and women have gone through the Homeboy program, and many work for the organization's food and retail businesses. You'll find Homeboy chips, salsa and guacamole in grocery stores nationwide and freshly baked breads and pastries at Homeboy Farmers Markets . You can grab a coffee, pastry or sandwich at Homeboy Diner on the second story of City Hall or visit Homegirl Café in Chinatown for breakfast and lunch. Route Details
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Column: Vandalize an Italian American museum during an immigration protest? Bad move
The latest act in the play that's life in downtown Los Angeles greeted me when I parked at a Chinatown lot Wednesday afternoon: Students protesting Donald Trump and his anti-immigrant policies. A group of about 60 were marching up Spring Street before taking a right on Cesar E. Chavez Avenue toward Olvera Street, chanting and blowing horns and cheering any time a car honked in approval. They waved Mexican flags and Salvadoran and Venezuelan ones, with nary an Old Glory in sight. I wasn't there to cover the kids, though: I wanted to look at graffiti. On Monday, during a "Day Without an Immigrant" rally, people tagged all over El Pueblo, the city's birthplace. They defaced the Chinese American Museum and a tour office. The Pico House and the first fire station in the city. Interpretive signs that ring the Old Plaza. Businesses across the street from Cielito Lindo. The parking lot for LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes. The placas were almost all the same, referencing Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the president: "F— ICE." "F— Donald Trump." Read more: Hundreds of L.A. students join immigration protests; buildings vandalized, rocks thrown, LAPD says The place that got it the worst was the two-story Italian Hall. A brick wall that faced Cesar E. Chavez was a palimpsest of scrawls — the anti-Trump and anti-ICE tags, "ICE Out of LA" with L.A. in the style of the Dodgers logo, a heart with initials inside, a ghostly red "Viva la Raza," a "Viva Mexico." The historic structure, built in 1908, houses the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles. Back in the day, the hall hosted the very kind of radical politics the students were espousing in this week's protests, with legendary figures like Emma Goldman and the Flores Magón brothers addressing crowds in English, Spanish, Italian and other languages. Defacing a shrine to immigrants of the past while fighting for the immigrants of today — it was a sad irony I wanted to discuss with the museum's executive director and co-founder, Marianna Gatto. Dressed in all black with a warm smile, she took me on a short tour. A permanent exhibit told the history of L.A.'s Italian American community, which Gatto says is the fifth-largest in the country. Display cases held mementos famous — a Tommy Lasorda jersey, an empty can of StarKist Tuna, which was founded in San Pedro and provided many Italian immigrants with jobs — and personal, like folk dresses and civic club badges. The free museum hosts over 300,000 visitors a year, the majority not of Italian heritage. "You can't tell the story of what's happening right now without the story of what happened in the past," Gatto said. We were in front of what she said is the museum's most popular display: artifacts from when Italian Americans were the despised immigrants of the day. In her hands were 19th century cartoons depicting Italians as mustachioed rats swimming onto American shores. Before us was a photo of two Italian men who had been lynched, hanging from a tree. "When I watch visitors here stay and read everything, I find it encouraging," Gatto said. Earlier in the day, the museum had hosted a group of students from Baker Elementary in El Monte. "You see them making connections to what happened to Italian Americans in the past to their own stories," she said. The problem, as evidenced by the graffiti outside, is that not enough people are doing that. Ethnic studies is in vogue in California and set to become a graduation requirement for high schoolers in 2030. But the Italian American experience rarely figures here, unlike on the East Coast or in the Midwest. Although the California Legislature apologized in 2010 for the state's mistreatment of Italian immigrants and Italian Americans during World War II, Italians barely merit a mention in the ethnic studies model curriculum. They're acknowledged as one of many European immigrant groups, with the longest section a proposed assignment on whether Christopher Columbus was a "hero or criminal." Omissions like this lead to the type of vandalism that happened at the Italian American Museum, said Cal State Fullerton Chicano studies professor Alexandro José Gradilla. He muttered "híjole" (Oh no!) when I told him about the graffiti there and in other parts of El Pueblo. "The failure is not with the young people [who tagged]. It's with us as adult activists," Gradilla said. "We haven't showed them the history we should be giving them — that all the successful civil rights movements happened as coalitions. Tagging up other people's places is not the way." Read more: Latinos Can Look to an Italian Legacy Gatto was more charitable about the lack of knowledge about Italian American history, especially in Los Angeles. "L.A. history is not known," she said as we continued our tour. "Ask the average person, 'How did Los Angeles begin?' and they'll probably say 'Hollywood.'" Gatto, who gave her age as "late 40s," said she grew up in an era when Italian Americans celebrated the "good" ones among them — politicians, judges, Frank Sinatra — and not the hardships they suffered. "They were once this," she said, referring to the anti-Italian hate display, "and didn't want to be that, so they ran away from that." But during her childhood in Silver Lake and Los Feliz, Gatto said, the white kids didn't think of her as white, and "the Mexican and Filipino kids were like, 'Why are you hanging out with us?'" The descendant of immigrants from Sicily and Calabria gained her passion for Italian American history after visiting the then-boarded-up Italian Hall as an undergrad at UCLA and Cal State Los Angeles and telling herself, "This needs to be a museum, and I need to be the director." The museum did come to pass, after local Italian Americans fought to save Italian Hall. In 2010, after working as a high school teacher and a curator for the city of Los Angeles, Gatto became head of the Italian American Museum, which moved into the hall in 2016. "For me, this isn't a matter of ethnic pride, but the story of Los Angeles," she said. Lincoln Heights, one of L.A.'s traditional Italian American neighborhoods, "was split in half" by the construction of the 5 Freeway shortly after Gatto's father's family moved there in the late 1940s. She said some Italian Americans look skeptically on the immigrants of today: "They'll say, 'We came over legally,' and I tell them it was different back then, and we need to listen to the immigrants of today." I asked about the vandalism outside. Gatto stressed that she wasn't conflating the protests with the graffiti. "We're immensely supportive of everyone's rights to free speech," she replied. "We're hoping people will just respect what's here and be more thoughtful of how it impacts us." Sadly, vandalism has become fairly routine at the Italian American Museum. People have repeatedly broken the vestibule windows. Someone once tried to set the building on fire. This past weekend, a woman entered a temporary exhibit about Italian American inventors, stripped naked and stole a plastic mouse. Workers have removed some of the graffiti from the "Day Without an Immigrant" protest, but some was written with a type of spray paint that requires a more extensive — and expensive — removal. The pandemic eviscerated the Italian American Museum's finances, which have yet to rebound. Some board members lost their homes and businesses in the recent fires. "Let's say we get damage of $10,000," Gatto said as we stood near a small replica of a Zamboni ice resurfacing machine, invented in the city of Paramount by Italian American Frank Zamboni. "Do you know how many kids' workshops that funds? We serve people who don't go to the Getty. They don't feel welcome at the Getty. At other places, $10,000 won't get you a napkin." She offered a tired smile. "When we're fighting constant vandalism, it takes away from our resources to do the stuff that's more important." I asked if she was going to seek criminal charges against whoever tagged up the museum on the day of the protest. Gatto immediately shook her head no. "As an educator, I'd like to see this as an opportunity to educate. It's a scary time for a lot of people, and it's going to get harder and harder," she said. "Prosecution isn't the answer, but let's discuss what happens when you do deface property. It's a blemish to what you fight for. I love to see young people participate, but let's do that the right way." We said our farewells, and I walked down the stairs back to Main Street. A man was urinating three doors down, in front of Sepulveda House. I strolled around El Pueblo one final time before returning to the Old Plaza. Honks and yells were audible in the distance. Another evening of protests was launching. Esteban Barrientos, a Guatemalan immigrant, was sitting on a bench, waiting for a friend to arrive at Union Station. Read more: Column: Why waving the Mexican flag at immigration rallies isn't wrong "It's not good," the 64-year-old said of the vandalism. "I'm not against the messages, but you have to give respect to history. I hope that they [students] learn." Nearby was 17-year-old Janelle V., who marched in the protest I encountered earlier that day. The Orange County resident only gave her last initial because she had ditched a school field trip in favor of the protest. She said the experience was "empowering and gives me more motivation to join more." I asked about the graffiti all around us. She looked at the Mexican flag in her hand. "It's sad," she finally replied, "but that's what comes with protests." Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
