How Becky G's Favorite LA Street Fills Her With Mexican Pride

Ooh, here we go.

I love buying Mexican candy here.

These, fire.

This is a dip. [speaking in foreign language]

The real Hot Cheetos in Mexico

are very different than the Hot Cheetos here.

Mm.

Want some?

Hi.

[jazzy music]

Being Chicana to me has really fueled

a lot of my inspiration in how I show up in what I do.

My people are very much about union

and supporting one another,

and I think that there's something really beautiful

about being an Angeleno because when you meet someone else

who was born and raised here,

there's a pride and so it's like a family.

And when you come to Placita Olvera, you get family vibes.

[cheerful music]

[lively music]

My earliest memories of Placita Olvera is definitely coming

with my family, spending time here in the summers,

sitting out in the shade, eating raspados,

hearing live music.

The air becomes very electric and charged

with a lot of pride.

[lively music]

Hi, my name is Valerie Hanley.

I'm a third generation merchant here on Olvera Street

and I own Casa California.

This place really to me is home.

You grew up with the people that are here.

We all kind of ran around here

and God help you if you got in trouble

because it's just all family, everybody would talk.

It's that sense of community and home.

The people here are working to try to keep this place alive

because it means so much to them.

All of our traditional events are free to the public.

We always try to see what we can do to give back

to the community at large here in Los Angeles.

[rhythmic music]

So you'll hear little FM radios blasting.

I always love buying Mexican candy here.

And then, of course, there's a lot of great food here.

The taquito was created here on Olvera Street

back in 1934, I believe,

and each of the different taquito stands

here on Olvera Street have a different sauce.

The one on the end, Cielito Lindo,

is probably the most famous,

but all of 'em have their unique flavor.

They're all wonderful.

I've actually found some fake merch of mine here,

which was I think the moment that I realized I made it.

That was pretty cool.

And then this is the Adobe House,

which is the oldest house in all of Los Angeles.

And it reminds me a lot of my Poppy's house,

my grandpa's house in Mexico.

It's wild to think that there was a time in LA

where there was no technology in sight.

You can just look up and it's just a blue Los Angeles sky.

Many people say this is the birthplace

of Los Angeles, and it's true.

We have the oldest house, we have the oldest church.

The first theater, the Merced Theater,

winemaking for California started here.

These vines, UC Davis did research

and they said they're probably 150 years old.

[cheerful music]

This is the heart of the city.

This is where everything started.

History gets erased very easily, especially nowadays.

We have people that come here

three or four or five generations to our events

and they're like, Oh, I brought my grandkid.

Oh, we bought jumping beans here.

Those memories are so important to have.

Preserving that part of history is important.

[bright music]

There's a resilience to Los Angeles

and there's a resilience to LA's people.

And Placita Olvera the oldest part of Los Angeles,

which used to be Mexico,

being Chicana and coming here grounds me

and it makes me feel connected again

to what we're all a part of, you know,

which is something bigger than us

and the history of this place,

that energy is very empowering to, I think, a community

that is being attacked and, you know,

really struggling right now

and so I think for all of us to show up for one another

is necessary.

I think we're all being called upon

to be courageous right now,

and I love that our people still make it happen.

[bright music]

[soft music]

So we are at the America Tropical Interpretive Center.

America Tropical is a beautiful piece

done by David Alfaro Siqueiros.

It's a piece that I admire very much

because art has always been peaceful protest

in very challenging times for a lot of communities.

He was a proud Mexicano,

and I love seeing the inspiration in his art.

[soft music]

What they wanted was a billboard

to get people from the East Coast to come out here

and they could say, look at it, it's winter in Los Angeles.

We can still go swimming, just like promoting people

to come to California.

So he accepted the commission under those terms.

However, we know that his beliefs were much different.

He had a block of 10 painters

and he told 'em the night before, You know what?

Go home. I'll do the rest myself.

I'll paint the theme of the mural,

which is an indigenous person being double crossed.

Above him is the North American eagle

getting ready to pounce on this person.

Off to the right were two sharp shooters,

Mexican revolution and the other was Peruvian,

getting ready to shoot the American imperialist eagle.

Growing up, I would hear a lot of phrases like,

[speaking in foreign language] which means,

Not from here, not from there.

And I always felt in my heart that to be 50-50

didn't really reflect my pride

for where I was born and raised

and also the pride that I have

for the blood that runs through my veins.

And so I started to identify with being a 200 percenter,

100% proud to be born and raised in Inglewood,

and also 100% proud to be Mexicana.

What's beautiful about walking through all of LA,

but especially here in Placita Olvera

is that you will hear both languages.

It's a Spanglish place, and it's just that duality

and that fluidity.

It's how we communicate, it's how we connect.

I think that, that's really beautiful.

All I can tell you is I've been 30 years here.

There's something about it

that makes you wanna come back all the time.

This place is so unique.

There's so many interesting places,

so many little nooks and crannies

that people don't know about.

The different cultures that you can touch in a second.

This city's amazing.

Thank you guys for coming with me to Placita Olvera.

Literally like, I'm gonna go get some food now.

Your girl's hungry.

[upbeat music]