Los Angeles was at one time home to the largest population of Japanese outside of Japan and the contributions of Japanese-Angelenos to history and culture are many. It was in Los Angeles that Hollywood created the first Asian-American film star. It was also in Los Angeles that a legal challenge in the Supreme Court re-shaped … Continue reading Pan-Asian Metropolis — Japanese Los Angeles
INTRODUCTION The other day, I thought it might be nice to submit a story for the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council newsletter for Black History Month. I figured I’d flesh it out and publish it here — a story about three culturally and historically significant black residents of the neighborhood. Silver Lake, in its early years, … Continue reading Black Pioneers of Silver Lake
In early January, Una and I headed north over to San Francisco to visit my sister, who was in town for a conference. I figured it might be a nice opportunity to share some thoughts about “the City.” Since first visiting in 1998, I’ve been to San Francisco many times — and yet, for some … Continue reading Where Fools Fear To Tread — A Snapshot of San Francisco
INTRODUCTION Today, on 13 December (St. Lucy’s Day), Argentina and Croatia will face off in the World Cup semi-finals. It’s safe to say, most Angelenos who care at all about association football (aka “soccer”) will be rooting for Argentina. Los Angeles is also home to the nation’s second-largest Argentine community — although it is smaller … Continue reading No Enclave — Croatian Los Angeles
I was recently contacted by Dave Stoelk from Spectrum News. He originally wanted to do a segment on the Silver Lake Croquet League for his segment, “That’s So L.A.” After talking for a few minutes, though, he thought it might be fun to instead do a segment about my maps that I make, as Pendersleigh … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Dayton Heights
A week and a half ago, it was announced on Dos Burritos‘ Facebook page that the Mendez Family had made the difficult decision to close the last location of their restaurant, which was once part of a small, local chain. Dos Burritos was founded in 1977 and, at its peak, there were locations in Downtown … Continue reading Fastfood Undead — Chains That Are No Longer Chains
Today is the birthday of John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed. It is celebrated, in some places, as Johnny Appleseed Day. Other locales celebrated it on 11 March. I’m not sure how the March date was chosen. It’s exactly one week before Johnny Appleseed died — which seems like an odd thing the celebrate … Continue reading Swinging Doors — Los Angeles’s Cider Scene on Johnny Appleseed Day
Peru (Spanish: Perú; Quechua and Aymara: Piruw) is a country in South America. It is considered a “megadiverse’ country, the habitats of which include the arid planes of the Pacific coast, the alpine peaks of the Andes, and the tropical Amazon basin. It is also home to a highly diverse human population of about 34 … Continue reading No Enclave — Peruvian Los Angeles
From the 1900s through the 1970s, large numbers of migrants to Los Angeles gathered in themed picnics organized around their states of origin known as State Society Picnics or just State Picnics (although that sounds confusingly to me like an outdoor state banquet). They were known as “State Society Picnics.” The phenomenon was huge. One … Continue reading Southland Parks — Los Angeles’s State Society Picnics
About a month ago, following the introduction of a car-free section of Griffith Park Drive in Griffith Park, I wrote a piece celebrating ten Los Angeles streets that have been reclaimed from automobiles over the past century. After that, I wrote about open streets events, like CicLAvia, that have for 20 years provided tantalizing if … Continue reading Greater Streets — Street Vacations: When Streets Get Taken Away
Eric Brightwell 