Boyle Heights is a Los Angeles neighborhood with a majority of Latinos and as American as Mexican, like its famous "Mariachi Plaza"
Before the pandemic, dozens of musicians from The Angels they met in Mariachi Plaza, the meeting place of the Latin neighborhood Boyle Heights and emblem for the "Chicanos" of the Californian city that for decades has served as a bridge between Mexico and U.S.
On any normal noon in this corner of East Los Angeles, singers, trumpeters, and guitarists would wear regional costumes while waiting to be hired for a show or surprise; Now, the virus has paralyzed that image, but life in the second most populous city in the country continues with the rhythm of its music.
In a metropolitan area of more than 12 million inhabitants, extremely diverse and where almost 50% identify as “Latino or Hispanic”, there are neighborhoods like this where the last census estimated that this percentage is 90%.
And the vast majority come from or have roots in Mexico.
Tacos, canteens, sports stores with images of footballers and wrestlers … are common pictures of Los Angeles, less media than the photographs of Beverly Hills or Hollywood -and all the accompanying mythology- but, also, very representative of the reality of U.S.
“I was born in Mexico but I have always lived here, since I was little. My parents lived here, I have grown up, I got married and I have my job here ”, he tells Efe Minerva in perfect Spanish.
In this area the difficult thing is to find someone who does not speak the language.
The feet in the United States and the look in Mexico
Minerva manages with her husband a business where she sells horchata, fresh water, ice cream, toast and other dishes.
Before the coronavirus, mariachis were the regular clientele of this place located opposite the traditional "kiosk" -stage- that The Mexican state of Jalisco donated in 1998 so that the Mariachi Square that looks at the skyscrapers of downtown Los Angeles would join the mythical Plaza Garibaldi in Mexico City.
"The musicians were 60% of my clients and now because there are no celebrations, they don't work and they don't come either," he says.
The concern about the coronavirus, especially strong in California, spreads from here to Mexico, a country with enormous difficulties in containing infections and the impact they have generated on the economy.
"I follow the news from Mexico and watch the channels in Spanish," says Minerva, who laughs when he says that he especially follows "soap operas" from Mexico but is interested in the situation there, "where many did not believe" the severity of the disease. .
Both she and the other clients are perfectly aware of the visit that the Mexican President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, will make this week to the White House.
Who has the date of the meeting between Trump and López Obrador marked on the calendar is Pedro Prieto, in charge of the family sporting goods store.
"Is day 8 true?" He asks and the answer is given.
Chicano Culture Generations
In Prieto's store soccer predominates, kits and team photographs hang on the walls while television broadcasts the game of Sevilla FC against Eibar in the Spanish league.
"I was born here in the United States, my parents are Mexican, they started the business in 1974 and now my sister and I run it," he says.
Like many “Chicanos” – a term that defines Americans of Mexican descent – Prieto, who lived 12 years in Mexico and returned to Los Angeles, feels like he is from both countries.
"Proud to have been born in the United States, and also from Mexico and my family," he says.
The activity of its sports store is a perfect example of the coexistence of these two cultures, with soccer and baseball as star sports.
"When my parents started the business, the first 20 years were almost 90% soccer and the last 20 have gone more towards baseball," recalls Prieto, who follows "political and sports information in Mexico."
The restaurants surrounding the store repeat the merger of the two countries, some with signs announcing tacos, pastrami and hamburgers, or bars that broadcast soccer matches in Spain and Latin America, in addition to NBA games.
The challenge of staying authentic
But for a few years now, there has been a topic that has occupied the talks in Boyle Heights: gentrification, the process by which the population of a neighborhood is displaced by people of a higher economic level.
That move is especially aggressive in a city like Los Angeles, where a combination of property speculation, market bubbles, and changing trends is capable of activating and degrading entire neighborhoods in the blink of an eye.
With the arrival of the subway and the absence of gangs, investors focused on this Latin enclave and the rents of many families settled for generations began to skyrocket.
But the feeling of community united the neighbors, who have managed to pause the process with actions that range from promoting rent control -applied in many areas of California-, although without avoiding conflicts with new businesses that seek to attract customers " hipster"
The fight was so famous that Netflix and America Ferrera took notice of it and created the series "Gentefied", focused on the life of a Latino family who have a modest restaurant in Boyle Heights, a neighborhood as American as Mexican, at least in soul .
By Javier Romualdo
