Alex Moreno Areyan's odyssey of growing up Latino in white upper-middle-class Redondo Beach in the 1950s presents a story of assimilation different from that experienced by Mexican Americans in larger barrios. His annual "white lie" to classmates was that his father got a job up north and the family was moving. They moved, all right--in a 1941 Plymouth with the harvest. In Marysville, Meridian and Mendota, they lived in tents and cars, under trucks and in corrugated tin hovels while picking cotton, tomatoes, peaches, walnuts and plums. The kid once threatened with permanent expulsion from Redondo Union High for speaking Spanish on campus eventually received a plaque from the City of Redondo Beach for writing the Mexican American history of the city. "Beach Mexican" proves the journey wasn't easy.
Mexican Americans established and nurtured the foundation, fiber, and fabric of Los Angeles since the first pobladores arrived in 1781. Pride in family, work, community, and religion coalesces into their legacy from East Los Angeles to the San Fernando Valley to the port areas of Wilmington and San Pedro. Men and women of Mexican heritage comprised 47 percent of Los Angeles County's Latino population in the 21st century. The modern Mexican American saga is embodied in the success of Congressman Edward Roybal, Congresswoman Lucille Roybal Allard, dynamic civic leader Dionicio Morales, and Los Angeles County supervisor Gloria Molina. Labor leader Cesar Chavez instilled passion and hope, while prizefighters Art Aragon, Paul Gonzalez, and Oscar De La Hoya and actors Anthony Quinn, Katy Jurado, Ricardo Montalban, and Edward James Olmos provided inspiration. The city's first Mexican American mayor in more than a century, Antonio Villaraigosa, was elected in 2005. This book is a distillation of a proud people's contributions to, and achievements in, a great city.
The century-old presence of Mexican Americans in Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach is an important, colorful part of the history of Los Angeles County's South Bay region. This evocative pictorial history documents the ways in which this group left significant marks on the economic, agricultural, academic, religious, professional, and governmental fabric of both communities. World War II heroes, star athletes, lawyers, professors, teachers, city councilmen, a judge, an astrophysicist, and many other professionals have come from this heritage. The first known Mexican American in Redondo Beach was Mauro Gonzales, who arrived in 1900 to unload ships at the city's old wooden pier. He was followed in 1910 by Domingo Moreno, who fostered 12 children, and Mauricio Colin, who had 13, after they escaped the Mexican Revolution. They initiated a large and vibrant Mexican American community, one that has virtually been ignored by conventional histories.
The century-old presence of Mexican Americans in Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach is an important, colorful part of the history of Los Angeles County's South Bay region. This evocative pictorial history documents the ways in which this group left significant marks on the economic, agricultural, academic, religious, professional, and governmental fabric of both communities. World War II heroes, star athletes, lawyers, professors, teachers, city councilmen, a judge, an astrophysicist, and many other professionals have come from this heritage. The first known Mexican American in Redondo Beach was Mauro Gonzales, who arrived in 1900 to unload ships at the city's old wooden pier. He was followed in 1910 by Domingo Moreno, who fostered 12 children, and Mauricio Colin, who had 13, after they escaped the Mexican Revolution. They initiated a large and vibrant Mexican American community, one that has virtually been ignored by conventional histories.
Alex Moreno Areyan's odyssey of growing up Latino in white upper-middle-class Redondo Beach in the 1950s presents a story of assimilation different from that experienced by Mexican Americans in larger barrios. His annual "white lie" to classmates was that his father got a job up north and the family was moving. They moved, all right--in a 1941 Plymouth with the harvest. In Marysville, Meridian and Mendota, they lived in tents and cars, under trucks and in corrugated tin hovels while picking cotton, tomatoes, peaches, walnuts and plums. The kid once threatened with permanent expulsion from Redondo Union High for speaking Spanish on campus eventually received a plaque from the City of Redondo Beach for writing the Mexican American history of the city. "Beach Mexican" proves the journey wasn't easy.
Mexican Americans established and nurtured the foundation, fiber, and fabric of Los Angeles since the first pobladores arrived in 1781. Pride in family, work, community, and religion coalesces into their legacy from East Los Angeles to the San Fernando Valley to the port areas of Wilmington and San Pedro. Men and women of Mexican heritage comprised 47 percent of Los Angeles County's Latino population in the 21st century. The modern Mexican American saga is embodied in the success of Congressman Edward Roybal, Congresswoman Lucille Roybal Allard, dynamic civic leader Dionicio Morales, and Los Angeles County supervisor Gloria Molina. Labor leader Cesar Chavez instilled passion and hope, while prizefighters Art Aragon, Paul Gonzalez, and Oscar De La Hoya and actors Anthony Quinn, Katy Jurado, Ricardo Montalban, and Edward James Olmos provided inspiration. The city's first Mexican American mayor in more than a century, Antonio Villaraigosa, was elected in 2005. This book is a distillation of a proud people's contributions to, and achievements in, a great city.
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