I knew the street as Brooklyn when I was a child and to this day cannot let the words Ce sar Chavez Avenue roll off my tongue without some sense of loss. A tribute to our transforming landscape and the struggles it took to get there, this new boulevard is still dotted by our diverse past. Down Boyle St. from Ce sar Chavez is the plaza where proud mariachis strut and pose, hoping for a good day's work so that they may pay the bills.
In these uncertain days, I am reminded of the neighborhood I was born in, Boyle Heights, because of the rich history of resistance and diversity it represents.
There sits a charming used bookstore called Libros Schmibros, a non-profit lending library whose name recalls the neighborhood's multicultural past and present. Where Jewish immigrants who once came from New York brought with them their beautiful little piece of Brooklyn, now brown children read in the shade of skyscrapers while musicians strum their guitars.
A new president was elected - not by the people directly, but by a system that is a relic of a time when it took months to travel the same distance now covered by hours. Perhaps the dawn of a new era awaits Californians who sit on the edge of a nation whose racism and antisemitism has been awoken from its steady but lumbering sleep walk.
The Brooklyn Theater on Ce sar Chavez Avenue. It was demolished a few years after 1987, when this photograph was taken. Photo courtesy of the Herald-Examiner Collection - Los Angeles Public Library.
These uncertain days, I am reminded of the neighborhood I was born in, Boyle Heights, because of the rich history of resistance and diversity it represents. The place where you could dine on kosher burritos, and now Korean tacos, seems to define the California experience. It is also a deeply American one to me.
The nation today seems as embittered with progress as California once did in the age of Proposition 187.
The role of California in this, as it has always been, will be to join with the other forces of modernity around the country, protect the road we have already traveled, and pave through the barriers we will see erected by the forces now gathering in Washington D.C. To oppose attempts to further suppress voter participation in those crucial states in our union.
California has wrestled these demons before, and I must clearly say we still have work to do ourselves. But the nation today seems as embittered with progress as we once did in the time of Proposition 187, the save our state referendum that, too, sought to resist our nation's destiny. We should be reminded that, a mere 22 years ago, Proposition 187 passed quite easily, and on its coattails was re-elected a governor now synonymous with pettiness and failure, Pete Wilson.
Young Latinos protest Proposition 187, which California voters overwhelmingly passed in 1994. Photo courtesy of the Gary Leonard Collection - Los Angeles Public Library.
The day after this years election, California Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de Le n (D-Los Angeles) and California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) in a joint statement voiced their sadness at our country's desperate attempt to revive old ghosts. Today, we woke up feeling like strangers in a foreign land, because yesterday Americans expressed their views on a pluralistic and democratic society that are clearly inconsistent with the values of the people of California, they wrote.
Governors Jerry Brown (left) and Pete Wilson (right). Photo courtesy of the Gary Leonard Collection - Los Angeles Public Library.
At the rumored involvement of Kris Kobach from Kansas - the author of anti-immigrant legislation in Alabama and Arizona, who intends to institute a Muslim registry - our state's highest ranking Latino official issued a warning. California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said, Mr. Trump's selection of Kris Kobach to the immigration transition team sends a deeply troubling message that telegraphs an imminent assault on our collective voting rights and civil rights. In a statement, today, Secretary Padilla gave no signs of compromise with the likes of Kobach and Bannon, calling them direct threats to American liberty, multiculturalism and equal opportunity.
Leaders across California seem unified and steeled to resist. Gov. Jerry Brown and mayors across the state have issued statements declaring that any attempts to turn the clock back will be resisted. From New York to Chicago to Phoenix to San Francisco, the diverse humans of our earth pumps through our country's veins as the lifeblood of our still young nation. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, a man of Mexican and Italian stock, has also taken to the airwaves to declare that Los Angeles, too, will stand against those who would tear our families apart.
A street called Brooklyn fondly rests in my memory, as what it represents has made an indelible imprint on our state and on our nation, never to come back, but never to leave.
Comment
A collaboration between the USC Libraries and KCETLink, Lost LA features the member collections of L.A. as Subject, a research alliance dedicated to preserving and telling the sometimes-hidden stories and histories of the Los Angeles region.
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
I knew the street as Brooklyn when I was a child and to this day cannot let the words Ce sar Chavez Avenue roll off my tongue without some sense of loss. A tribute to our transforming landscape and the struggles it took to get there, this new boulevard is still dotted by our diverse past. Down Boyle St. from Ce sar Chavez is the plaza where proud mariachis strut and pose, hoping for a good day's work so that they may pay the bills.
