Hola Boyle Heights! Your community reporter, Alex Medina, is here to share some happenings in and around the neighborhood to get you out and about this season!
Orgullo shines bright on the Eastside
Events in and around the neighborhood celebrating the LGBTQ+ community might be coming to a close, but Pride on the Eastside is here to stay. As June reaches its end, I’d like to share some of our coverage from this year’s month-long celebration of Orgullo.
Event-wise, this month we were at both Orgullo Fest in Boyle Heights and Queer Mercado in East Los Angeles. You can read more about the neighborhood’s Pride parade and festival, covered by our reporter Ricky Rodas, here. At the monthly market, our summer intern Carol Martinez asked patrons and vendors at the event what queer love looks like. You can read those responses here.
Wife-and-wife team Sky Gaven and Nancy Uninanti Ventura run Gaventura Capital, a Boyle Heights-based business that offers financial literacy services and aims to address generational poverty in the neighborhood. The two also wrote a children’s book all about money management. You can learn more about the couple by reading this story by our reporter Carmen Gonzalez.
Over in El Sereno, there’s a unique grocery store that really stands out on Huntington Drive. It’s called El Sereno Green Grocer, a locally-curated shop owned by queer couple Erika Crenshaw and Patricia Torres. The store offers fresh produce, ethically-sourced cultural foods, and sweet treats from fellow neighborhood businesses. To learn more about the shop, you can check out this story by yours truly.
We’ll have another Q&A next week, so make sure to keep an eye on our website so you don’t miss it. I hope you all had a great Pride month this year!
Happenings in the Heights
Friday, June 28
From 2 p.m. until everything’s sold out, Re/Arte (2123 Cesar Chavez Avenue) is hosting a fundraiser selling Colima-style ceviche and tres-flores jamaica. Later in the day, the neighborhood bookstore is hosting Notes from the Chicana/o/x Underground, a series featuring conversations with artists, thinkers, writers and leaders involved in different movements. This time around is all about international student movements, and Alfonso Vásquez from CDMX-Tenochtitlán, poet activist Edoardo Olmi and political poet Matt Seddillo will be there for the discussion. The event will run from 6:30 through 8 p.m.
The Paramount (2708 Cesar E. Chavez Avenue) is hosting The Quakes, an American psychobilly band, supported by The Blackjackits and The Lucitones. You can grab a ticket for the all-ages show, with doors set to open at 8 p.m., for about $30 online.
Sonidero Night is back at Don Quixote (2811 Olympic Boulevard) for those looking to dance the night away to the vibrant beats of the genre beginning at 8:30 p.m. Tickets for the 21+ event, presented by Dinastina Reina, will be sold at the door.
Saturday, June 29
At the Eastside Mott Street Urban Farm (1001 S. Mott Street), East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice is hosting a community action in response to a USC study that found a majority of homes involved in a state-led Exide clean-up still have high levels of lead There’ll be various activities, workshops, blood lead tests and more all centered at the free environmental justice event from 9 a.m. through 2 p.m.
1st Street Pool & Billiard (1906 1st Street) is hosting Double Dose, a night of intense music, matches and mayhem. There’ll be in-ring fights, live music and more to enjoy throughout the night. You can grab a ticket online for $30. Doors open at 7 p.m.
In Lincoln Heights, Self Help Graphics & Art is hosting an Open Studio experience at the organization’s remote office (2440 Daly Street). You’ll get to participate in a worm farm workshop with interdisciplinary artist, mental health advocate and urban gardener Zoe Blaq. For my fellow karaoke lovers, BiciCrófono L.Á. will also be there with a mobile karaoke platform. You can register ahead of time for the free event online, though walk-ins are also welcome.
Sunday, June 30
For those looking to give back to the El Sereno neighborhood, “Ooxoor” Aweeshko Community Garden (5154 Wadena Street) is hosting a family land tending day from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Volunteers are encouraged to bring their own tools. Water and food will be provided.
As always, let us know what you think of the newsletter and send us events to include in future editions. We’ll be taking a brief hiatus next week because of the holiday, so we’ll see you back on the 11th. Have an amazing weekend!
