The City of Angels

The City of Angels–I can’t imagine living anywhere else. The first thing that comes to mind when I think of East L.A. is the hustle and the hard working vibe the people in this city give off. You won’t see what hard work is until you see the people in East L.A. handle struggle day in and day out. Every Saturday and Sunday morning, at the crack of dawn, a lady walks around the neighborhood with her cart selling tamales and champurado. There were days when I snuck into my parent’s room and camped by the window and waited for her. As soon as I saw her, I woke my mom up and told her it was time to buy tamales. As a child one would never think much of this lady, she was just a regular person selling tamales. As I grew older and wiser I realize that she wasn’t just a tamale lady, she was the Tamale Lady.

Aside from hard working, the people in East Los Angeles are also very generous and caring. When I was walking home from school one day, there was a girl who crashed her car and was stuck in the middle of the road. Luckily she crashed in front of a body shop, and the four guys that worked there pushed her car into the shop. I was amazed to see the four men jump into the busy traffic and put themselves in harm’s way to help this girl. Everyday situations like this really make me feel proud to call East L.A. home. Events like this show East L.A.’s true character, one that is not always shown in the media.

What East L.A. lacks in size it makes up for in character. East L.A. is a city that takes the good with the bad. I’m not ashamed to call it my home. I would have to say being raised in East L.A. is both a blessing and a curse, but it is something I take great pride in and take very seriously. East L.A. is portrayed very negatively and as someone who lives in the area I feel that it is my responsibility to change the way someone looks at my city, the City of Angels.