You learn something new every day

~ Thursday, March 15 ~
Permalink
Chavez Ravine Residents Make Peace With Dodgers

i guess people dont hold grudges as long and hard as my dad does. I think it amazing that these people can forgive such an act as this, but i know they will never forget. They are able to make peace with the dodgers and i think it is beautiful that they can literally extend olive branches to each other. i really admire the strength of these people and their ability to be so forgiving.

I never realized that the dodgers had such a rich history and that the stadium was built on such a troubled, cultured, and meaningful land. i couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to have people playing and watching baseball on my home, but i have realized that the dodgers aren’t really at fault (in my eyes at least). It is really because of the greedy developers and businessmen, but that is beside the point. It has passed, and i have been able to forgive whatever i have the authority to hold a grudge on, but i will never forget the history of my family and their lives before the dodgers came to Los Angeles. 

Tags: Peace Dodgers Chavez Ravine forgiveness
Permalink

I really like these videos!! i think it is really interesting to hear about Chavez Ravine from the director of the documentary about it and especially from former residents. The part when the lady says it was like “dancing on a grave” really impacted me and made me realize how badly some people really feel about this - it males it much more real to me. These people have so many memories of the Chavez Ravine and it makes me very aware and compassionate of their situation. 

Tags: Chavez Ravine documentary
1 note
Permalink
I found this on the LA Times blog website (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror/2007/week34/page/2/). Some people had nowhere to go. I feel so bad for these families with sick relatives or not enough money to build their lives back up after this happened. And i guess people did know that there would be no housing built for them. I bet it felt like a slap in the face. Who could do such a thing to all these people and not feel guilty?? Is money really THAT important in the world that we would knowingly and directly sacrifice the well being of other human beings in order to profit? and look at the advertisements right next to the article…summer-time savings car-nival?? really????? is that really appropriate??? 

I found this on the LA Times blog website (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror/2007/week34/page/2/). Some people had nowhere to go. I feel so bad for these families with sick relatives or not enough money to build their lives back up after this happened. And i guess people did know that there would be no housing built for them. I bet it felt like a slap in the face. Who could do such a thing to all these people and not feel guilty?? Is money really THAT important in the world that we would knowingly and directly sacrifice the well being of other human beings in order to profit?

and look at the advertisements right next to the article…summer-time savings car-nival?? really????? is that really appropriate??? 

Tags: Chavez Ravine Dodgers 1957 carnival
2 notes
Permalink
I dont know if its very clear, but this is one of the eviction notices that was given to a person living in the Chavez Ravine. I know that this was so long ago, but i feel like this was such a sad occasion and i couldn’t even imagine how these people must have felt. I was kind of searching why this was all allowed and it is because of eminent domain,  which is the ”right of a government to take private property for public use by virtue of the superior dominion of the sovereign power over all lands within its jurisdiction” according to merriam-webster’s online dictionary. I know its law, but i feel like this is so unfair. If i was to be evicted so they could build something on this land that i have lived on my whole life, i would be so upset. At least i know that my family would be able to afford a new house, but this isn’t just my house, its my home, my history. That’s what Chavez Ravine was to all those people.

I dont know if its very clear, but this is one of the eviction notices that was given to a person living in the Chavez Ravine. I know that this was so long ago, but i feel like this was such a sad occasion and i couldn’t even imagine how these people must have felt.

I was kind of searching why this was all allowed and it is because of eminent domain,  which is the ”right of a government to take private property for public use by virtue of the superior dominion of the sovereign power over all lands within its jurisdiction” according to merriam-webster’s online dictionary. I know its law, but i feel like this is so unfair. If i was to be evicted so they could build something on this land that i have lived on my whole life, i would be so upset. At least i know that my family would be able to afford a new house, but this isn’t just my house, its my home, my history. That’s what Chavez Ravine was to all those people.

Tags: eminent domain Chavez Ravine Palo Verde 1950 Los Angeles
2 notes
Permalink
Ry Cooder Album Review

Music too!! 

But like i said, there is more than just one project about this. I found this music album by Ry Cooder that is titled Chavez Ravine. I found this website that has a review of the CD and it says that says “The story is potentially strong, and goes right back to Cooder’s early roots, when he grew up in Los Angeles. Back in the early 1950s there was an area of the city known as Chavez Ravine, which was home to Mexican and other immigrant groups; it is portrayed here as a cultural melting-pot that was destroyed by the authorities, making it sound like an American equivalent of such apartheid-era South African neighbourhoods as Johannesburg’s Sophiatown.” So i guess he was really affected by this too; i think it is so cool that he is able to make music from his experiences and the things that has trouble him and his family almost 60 years ago. I have yet to listen to any of the songs, but when I do I will make sure to talk a bout them and link to them!!

Tags: chavez ravine Ry Cooder
Permalink

more than just victims know

I didn’t think that many people thought much of the victims of the Chavez Ravine, however, there are people out there that are better versed in LA’s history than i am. There have been some projects devoted to these people and document their past lives and the troubles of the eviction.

I found this guy, Don Normark, who made a whole photo essay of just the people in the Chavez Ravine. I think they are only of the people before the whole battle for the valley started, but I was really interested in seeing how these people lived back then. Look at these pictures 

 

i mean…Don Normark is just some white guy, why was he here taking pictures of these kids and falling down houses? I wonder if he actually knew these people or if it was just a photo op. But i gotta give him credit, these are pretty kick ass photos. I want to look for his photo essay book the next time i go to the book store,  maybe I’ll be able to learn a little more about him.

Tags: Don Normark chavez ravine LA Photography
1 note
~ Thursday, March 8 ~
Permalink
"Orphans of the Ravine" LA times article

People are moving on.

This article i found from 2008 totally describes what i was just talking about. Though this was a tragedy, it was not meant to be. I guess my father may be bitter, but i think somehow younger generations become more protective of their parents or sore about things that happened in the past because of our pride. Some of the former residents such as Virginia Pinedo and David Fernandez and his wife, Aurora (who I think is the woman in the pictures with the police) have since come to terms with the events and now support the dodgers in baseball.

That really surprised me. I was shocked when i read that “Although [Pinedo] has yet to pay her way into Dodger Stadium she no longer blames the team for stealing the last years of her childhood.” Like, I find it amazing that they have the ability to have forgiveness for such an impactful, life changing event.

This article also mentions that a lot of the people that were evicted from Chavez Ravine made a group called Los Desterrados (the uprooted), i really want to see if any parts of this group is still active today. I wonder how all these people are living now, are they happy? have most of them succeeded after such a brutal event?

Tags: Chavez Ravine peace Los Desterrados
~ Wednesday, March 7 ~
Permalink

a little over my head

I guess that research wasn’t too thorough…I didn’t even realize that the initial plan was to build a new housing community, “Elysian Heights.” I still think it was wrong of them to destroy these homes, but if this was their plan, it could have been very successful and helpful to these people. Guaranteeing them a place to live? That could have helped them build a stronger community i guess. 

But that didn’t happen. I guess this all went down around the time of the McCarthy trials and the Red Scare (don’t I sound smart? shh…i just learned that in APUSH). This made the government think that this was a socialist move. HELLOOOOOO ARE YOU CRAZY?? because of the fear of being blacklisted, and the power and money of those that wanted to bring in the Dodgers, all of these people who were guaranteed housing were screwed over and left in the dust. unbelievable. 

Tags: Chavez ravine Elysian Park
1 note
Permalink

I’ve been doing some research and have found so many youtube videos and pictures about the battle for Chavez Ravine…they are sickening. I can’t believe what was done to these people - my people. Regardless of race, gender, or age, this was a crime against humanity that probably forced so many people out onto the streets.

I mean…they dragged people out of their homes; homes that they had been living in since birth. 

I don’t understand how anyone could have supported this or why anyone would be so heartless as to destroy the lives of people to build a baseball stadium - to make money.

Tags: Chavez Ravine eviction greed
~ Tuesday, March 6 ~
Permalink

Crazy Things

Well, today i was talking to my dad and we somehow got on the topic of the Dodgers. He HATES the Dodgers. I always wondered why but never really thought to ask, until today.

He went on to tell me about where our family comes from…you might think, “what the hell does this have to do with the Dodgers?” but thats exactly what i was thinking too. 

I always knew my family has lived in Los Angeles for a long time, but i never knew that the Dodgers stadium stands on their homes. I WAS SHOCKED. It turns out my relatives were victims of the eviction and demolition of the Chavez Ravine - “a valley that was home to generations of Mexican Americans” as PBS says. 

i had no idea that people used to live were the baseball team of Los Angeles plays, but thats why i am making this tumblr now…because we learn something new everyday, and i am going to use this tumblr to record all the information i get about where i come from. 

Tags: Chavez Ravine