good girl dinette on kcet depatures' series on highland park

(click on the image to view the interview)

kcet departures highlights our very own highland park. starting with a band of tongva people called the hahamog'na, the series goes on to chronicle the arts and crafts movement in the area; the construction of the arroyo seco parkway and its role in changing highland park from suburb to inner city; the rise of the chicana/o movement and mural art in the 60s & 70s; the concurrent responses to the economic inequalities of 80's & 90's: the emergence of gang culture and a politically-charged music and art scene that fought against the anti-immigrant, anti-poor policies of the time; and, in the final installment, highland park's current incarnation (good girl dinette is included in this segment).

i hear a lot of people talk about how much highland park has changed over the years. what i like best about what juan devis has done with this series is the way he's shown the continuity of highland park's spirit over the span of 100+ years. it's always been a vibrant, complex, and dynamic community filled with leftist artist-types - my kind of people.