Apr 2009
Marches - March 25, 2006
April 27, 2009
More than 500,000 people marched in Los Angeles on March 25, 2006 to protest federal legislation that would crack down on undocumented immigrants, penalize those who help them and build a security wall along the U.S.' southern border.
J Emilio Flores photographed the march.
Student Walkouts - March 24, 2006
April 23, 2009
On March 24, 2006, five hundred students from Huntington Park High in Los Angeles walkout of school to protest proposed federal legislation that calls for building a 700-mile-long wall along the Mexican border and making felons of undocumented immigrants. Hundreds of other students from Garfield, Roosevelt and Montebello high schools also walked out.
J Emilio Flores photographed the Huntington Park High students.
J. Emilio Flores' Caravana De La Libertad 2003
April 20, 2009
In September of 2003 J. Emilio Flores rode the Immigrant Workers' Freedom Ride with some of the 18 buses that traveled from several US cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami. Nearly 900 workers and their supporters arrived the nation's capital.
Inspired by the freedom riders of the 1960s the immigrant riders used their bus tour to gain support for legalization of undocumented workers, better working conditions and reforms to hasten the reunification of families.
Graffiti in Los Angeles 1983
April 17, 2009
Here is another scan of an old print I pulled out of my print box.
This photo reminds me that not enough has changed for immigrants in my lifetime. The next few posts will be photos of the marches and walkouts of the last few years..
José Luis Villegas' Home is Everything
April 13, 2009
Home is Everything: The Latino Baseball Story by photographer José Luis Villegas and writer Marcos Breton is, according to Villegas, "A complex story about mostly Black Spanish speaking men, immigration, and baseball, the vehicle that drives the story."
"The main part of the story is the contrast of two kids that grew up together - Miguel Tejada and Mario Encarnacion. Encarnacion was the can't miss prospect and Tejada who was signed as a favor to a scout with the Athletics. The two had careers that went in opposite directions. Tejada went on to be MVP in the American League and a multi-millionaire while Encarnacion struggled in the minor leagues, finally getting a taste of the major leagues before being traded and cut loose. Encarnacion went on to try and restart his career in Taiwan, where he died from a undiagnosed heart problem. Tejada paid to have Mario's body returned as well as paying for his funeral."
It took Villegas 10 years, begining in 1993, to find a publisher. Simon and Schuster published the first book, "Away Games" but it was a word driven book, with a small insert of black and white images in the middle of the book. Sports Publishing later was planning to publish the book but killed the project just a couple of days before it was to go to press because they weren't comfortable selling a book that was Latino driven.
In a Sportsshooter.com story, Villagas states, "The Latin population is the fastest growing in the United States; it's unfortunate that none of the publishers had the desire to use our project to tap into that market. I understand that book publishers are in the business to make money. I just haven't seen very many projects published that could tap the Latin market, as well as catch the attention of people of other cultures like this one. I'm perplexed."
It was not until the project was pitched to Cinco Puntos press did the bilingual (Spanish and English) book with 86 photos get published in 2003.
Villegas also co-authored a book, "Far From Home", pulished by the National Geographic in 2008. The book is half text and half photography. Half the images in the book are Villegas'.
Villegas' work, will be exhibited at the Baseball Hall of Fame opening over the Memorial Day Holiday, through the end of the year.
Captions: (above) Mario Encarnaccion of the West Michigan Whitecaps watches the game from the bench in Lancing, Michigan in 1996. (below) Miguel Tejada is blessed by a Pastor in Santa Domingo before Game 4 of the Dominican World Series in 2006.
Taco Bell Sign
April 09, 2009
Taco Bell used the symbol of a sleeping Mexican wearing a sombrero until it was sold in 1978. Pepsi then changed the logo to a Mission Bell. Over 30 years later the racist logo is still proudly displayed at a Los Angeles Taco Bell on Washington Blvd. in Los Angeles.
Barreras Chicharrones
April 03, 2009
I exit the northbound 710 freeway at Avenida Cesar Chavez several times a week. For years as I waited to turn left or right I would look right at the painting of a pig cooking in a pot on Barreras Chicharrones. I kept telling myself that I need to shoot a photo of the sign. Time went by and one day, as I headed south on Ford Blvd., I stopped my car in the intersection and snapped a picture of the sign.
I thought nothing of it until several months later I looked at the building and it had been painted dark brown. The pig was gone. I went home and searched for the photo and did not feel at ease until I saw the smiling pig boiling in the pot.