City of Los Angeles 2008 Latino Heritage Month Celebration Antonio R. Villaraigosa Cultural Affairs Commission 2008 City of Los Angeles Mayor Latino Heritage Month City of Los Angeles Adolfo V. Nodal, President Title Sponsor and Music LA Sponsor York Chang, Vice President Los Angeles City Council Celeste M. Alleyne Ed P. Reyes, District 1 Richard Montoya Calendar Production Wendy Greuel, District 2 Lee Ramer Dennis P. Zine, District 3 Gayle Garner Roski Will Caperton y Montoya Tom LaBonge, District 4 Editor and Art Director Jack Weiss, District 5 Department of Cultural Affairs Tony Cardenas, District 6 City of Los Angeles Martica Caraballo Richard Alarcon, District 7 Assistant Editor Bernard C. Parks, District 8 Olga Garay Jan Perry, District 9 Executive Director Rubén Esparza Herb Wesson, District 10 Calendar Design Bill Rosendahl , District 11 Will Caperton y Montoya www.redstudios.com Greig Smith, District 12 Director of Marketing www.rubensparza.com and Development Eric Garcetti, District 13 Jose Huizar, District 14 Janice Hahn, District 15 Rocky Delgadillo Los Angeles City Attorney Laura Chick Los Angeles City Controller Cover Artists: Ariel Vargassal, Victor Aleman, Andres Montoya, Juan Rosillo, Eloy Torrez, Rubén Esparza, Yolanda Gonzalez, Miguel Angel Reyes, David Martinez, and Cici Segura September 12, 2008 Dear Friends, On behalf of the City of Los Angeles, it is my pleasure to invite you to Celebrate a Mosaic of Cultures during this year’s Latino Heritage Month. People originating from all over the world call the City of Los Angeles home. Each culture contributes to the rich diversity that makes Los Angeles an international city. This month we continue to honor our rich traditions and highlight the work of artists who keep the Latino spirit alive and vibrant in our communities. I am pleased to announce that The Walt Disney Company is once again the City of Los Angeles Heritage Month Celebrations Title Sponsor and Music LA Sponsor for the third year in a row. Contributions to our Department of Cultural Affairs and the City from Disney now total over $1,000,000, and we are most grateful for this partnership and the company’s leadership support of our arts and cultural activities. The Department of Cultural Affairs offers countless artistic and cultural events for your enjoyment. Please use this calendar and cultural guide to find the numerous festivals, events, cultural activities, and resources in your neighborhood. I encourage you to take part in the special events listed throughout these pages, and welcome you into our Neighborhood Arts and Cultural Centers to celebrate Latino Heritage Month. I extend my best wishes for a memorable celebration. Very truly yours, Antonio R. Villaraigosa Mayor City of Los Angeles 1 City of Los Angeles 2008 Latino Heritage Month Committee Celebrating a Mosaic of Cultures Maria Aguiniga Sam Galvan Miguel Orozco Office of Councilmember Zine Office of the Mayor Novelas Educativas Mayra Araiza Dora Garcia Christina Ortega-Libatique Office of Councilmember Alcaron The Nielsen Company Department of Neighborhood Empowerment Rosa Arcadia Olga Garay Department of Neighborhood Department of Cultural Affairs Marco Pacheco Empowerment Casa de la Cultura Maya Yvette Gereaghty Office of Councilmember Gruel Andrew Ausanka Crues Lourdes Pacheco Office of Councilmember Hahn Casa de la Cultura Maya Andrea N. Gibson Jessyca Avalos The Walt Disney Company Office of Councilmember Alcaron Alvaro Pacheco Ruth House Office of the Mayor Marco Perez UCLA Angelica Ayala ABC 7 University of Southern California Octavio Pescador Dear Friends, Lajon James Los Angeles Mexico City - Sister City David Beltran Office of Councilmember Perry Living in Los Angeles gives us exciting opportunities to celebrate a rich mosaic of cultures. Office of the Mayor Abigail Ramirez Victor Jiménez Office of the Mayor As we launch this year’s Latino Heritage Month Celebration, we acknowledge our unique Hispanic Casa de la Cultura Maya heritage and commemorate the diverse customs passed on by our ancestors. Juan Bustamante Office of the Mayor Monica Resendez Jason Kitahara Department of Recreation and Parks Department of Recreation and Parks This calendar and cultural guide gives you some amazing opportunities to understand and Cecilia Cabello appreciate the genius, artistry, and achievements of our City’s Latino founders. It also highlights Office of Council President Garcetti Lissette Koyoc Beatriz Ricartti some of our City’s finest creative Hispanic artists and beautifully showcases their work. Community Leader COFEM Luis Cachua Wells Fargo Bank Pierre Riotoc I invite you and your family to enjoy the events and activities included in these pages and experience Angelica Loa Perez Department of Cultural Affairs General Services Department the richness of our neighborhoods as you attend the many celebrations, festivals, exhibitions, and David Cano special events that truly reflect the distinct Latino imprint on our communities. Office of Councilmember Weiss Ozzie Lopez Eric Robles Boyle Heights Youth Opportunity General Services Department Will Caperton y Montoya The Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) is truly grateful for the most generous and necessary Department of Cultural Affairs Maria Lopez Tracey Roth support of The Walt Disney Company, Title Sponsor of the City’s Heritage Month Celebrations and our Community Leader Office of Councilwoman Greuel Music LA program. For a third consecutive year, Disney has recognized the importance of investing Martica Caraballo Stork in art, culture, and our young people with significant funds for programming and in-kind donations. Department of Cultural Affairs Alma Lujan-Castro Teresa Samaniego Office of the City Attorney Jennifer Cuevas ABC 7 Indeed, we are proud that Disney’s passionate support of DCA passed the $1,000,000 mark with BP/Ford Lidia Manzanares this year’s title sponsorship, and we look forward to our continued partnership. We are also thankful Office of the Mayor Elia Sanchez FOX for the critical support of our other donors, and greatly look forward to strengthening our relationship Kareema Dauod Office of the Mayor with new patrons who also recognize the value of arts and culture in Los Angeles. Marc Mariscal Department of Recreation and Parks Elga Sharpe Anataly DeJesus Office of the Mayor/Protocol Please share this calendar and cultural guide with your friends, and encourage them to experience Office of Councilmember Rosendahl Aurelio Marquez the extraordinary range of our City’s Latino artistry and achievement. Office of the Mayor Caitlin Ulrich-Smith Carmen M. Duran The Walt Disney Company Office of the Mayor Jennifer Martinez Best regards, Office of Councilmember Perry Rebecca Valdez Alycia Enciso Office of Councilmember Reyes Olga Garay Space Planning and Interior Design Katie McDonald Executive Director Time Warner Cable Jose Luis Valenzuela Lori Estrada Latino Theater Company City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs Office of the Mayor Diane Medina ABC 7 Carlos Vaquerazo Evelina Fernandez SALEF Latino Theater Company Jacob Motta Office of the Mayor Sara Mijares Zapata Yolanda Fuentes Mundo Maya Foundation Office of the Mayor Mónika Ojeda 2 The Walt Disney Company 3 t workers by labor unions. These the University of California at Santa Mayor’s Latino Heritage Awards organization skills and collective Barbara (his alma mater) and the bargaining strategies set the stage for MAOF Board of Directors. He is truly a Dionicio Morales his life work: the organization in 1963 legend in his own time. Spirit of Los Angeles of a community-based non-profit service Today, MAOF is one of the largest organization, The Mexican American Mexican American community service Opportunity Foundation (MAOF). organizations with an annual budget freezing in the cold, he resolved, right In its early years, MAOF survived through of $60 million. Their preschool there and then, to champion the rights the efforts and subsistence of Dionicio program is nationally recognized by of his people, and other persons of and his wife, Maria. Dionicio sought preparing bicultural children with self- color, to prevent a similar assault and the help of other community service esteem and a pride of their heritage degradation to their human dignity. organizations, such as the Urban League while being aware of their privileged He did not know it at the time, but this and the Jewish Federation conglomerate status as Americans. MAOF educates was the birth of the Mexican American of human service agencies. Several close its preschool children to enter the Opportunity Foundation (MAOF) which he friends and community leaders joined school system as English language Dionicio in the early days of survival. The subsequently founded in his adulthood. participants with a significant big break came through the assistance of advantage over their predecessors to Conceived in Mexico - Vice President Lyndon Johnson. MAOF was Armed with an undergraduate education, graduate from high school and enter funded by the government to pursue equal Born in the United States. Dionicio engaged in several causes post graduate education institutions of designed to protect his fellow Mexican opportunity employment opportunities. Providence bestowed on him two cultures, learning. In Southern California, where Americans. Among these was the Corporate America took notice and found a fusion of which he has embraced Mexican Americans comprise over 50% protection of immigrant contract in Americans of Mexican heritage equal throughout his life. Dionicio Morales of the population, his contribution is the workers from Mexico, known as partners in the quest for economic growth is a descendant of the proud Tarascan and global competitiveness. hallmark of America’s future well-being. Braceros. As an enforcement officer culture that inhabited the States of working for the Federal government’s Thereafter, MAOF became the vanguard Guanajuato and Michoacan, and the compliance unit, Dionicio would monitor in social programs to improve the quality adjacent territories in the El Bajio braceros camps and communities to of education of its young and the civic lowlands of central Mexico. Don report human rights violations. This education of its community.