OAXACALIFORNIA: OAXACAN AMERICANS IN L.A.

J.T. the L.A. Storyteller

First up, enjoy a new Intro for the podcast! Followed by a few notes on the week from yours truly, including on the tragic passing of Mirna Soza while boarding L.A. Metro’s B Line on Monday, April 22nd, as well as on the Armenian Genocide of 1915, commemorated every year on April 24th.

Then, from Columbia University to USC, this week belonged to Students for Palestine! In this spirit, this episode of J.T. the L.A. Storyteller Podcast features Sarah Orozco, a 1st-generation, low-income, Oaxaqueña at UC Berkeley, class of ’24; earlier this year, Sarah actually interviewed yours truly on what it means to be Oaxacan-American in the current media landscape, the Bracero program of World War II, which brought many Oaxaqueños to the U.S. for the first time during the 1940s and 1950s, and much more!
(0:01) New intro song!
(1:18) Be sure to follow the podcast on YouTube as well!
(1:56) You can also support the podcast via Patreon
(2:29) Updates for the week of April 21st, starting with Earth Day 2024
(3:37) Shout out Mirna Soza, who was fatally attacked on L.A. Metro’s B Line on Monday
(5:34) Shout out Students for Palestine! From USC to Columbia and beyond
(6:49) Shout out the Armenian Genocide, commemorated each year on April 24th
(8:17) This week also saw both L.A. City and L.A. County present budgets for fiscal years 2024 – 2025
(9:12) At least 4 out of 10 people living in L.A. now seriously fear becoming homeless in the foreseeable future
(10:03) Remember to subscribe via YouTube, or wherever you keep up with yours truly
(11:31) With that said, this installment of JT the LA Storyteller podcast is brought to you in particular by South Central L.A. and UC Berkeley’s Sarah Michelle Orozco
(13:41) Our first question: On identities
(17:50) Challenges when it comes to identity or identities growing up
(22:37) On the question of pride for indigeneity and being Oaxacan
(25:32) On the question of remixing identities in L.A. (K-Town is Oaxacan Korean)
(28:14) How age plays a part in the work one’s involved in
(29:56) Seasonal Oaxacan Migration to the U.S. going back to the 1940s Bracero Program
(34:46) Sarah’s grandpa was also in the Bracero Program
(36:13) Gender’s influence on what one’s involved in
(41:43) The first time I saw a Oaxacan American presence online (Shout out the L.A. Public Library!)
(45:30) Oaxacan Twitter
(47:59) Oaxaqueño and Oaxaqueña Americans to follow on Instagram
(55:14) Trends and social movements among Oaxacan Americans online (Viva Palestina!)
(58:16) Shout out Tlacolulokos, the artists whose artwork covers this episode
(59:53) What it means to me to have a following online (intentionality)
(1:03:31) On cultural appropriation of the Oaxacan culture
(1:08:01) On Oaxacalifornia, the legacy
(1:09:54) Connecting back with the pueblo
(1:13:53) FIN.

Speaking of Oaxaqueñas, please also check out Areli Morales Lopez’s latest for Making a Neighborhood, “The Last Laundromat by Venice Beach,” here. Also remember that Making Our Neighborhood: Redlining, Gentrification and Housing (2021), the magazine, is once again available for purchase. Grab your copy for you and your neighborhood, here.

Last but certainly not least, to make a one-time donation to my nonprofit work for working-class communities in Los Angeles, please do so here. To support the production of J.T. the L.A. Storyteller Podcast for as little as $5 a month, check out my page at patreon.com/jimbotimes.

J.T.