El Centro

First Ever 'Ladies Rock Camp' in OC Happens This Weekend!

The push for an inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls in Orange County continues! This Saturday in SanTana, young women ages 18 and up will be taking on an extensive weekend of songwriting workshops, drum circles, self-defense classes, and instrument instruction. Hosted by El Centro Cultural de Mex ... More >>

OC Chicana All-Stars to Plant 'Seeds of Resistance' During Panel in SanTana!

A panel of OC's Chicana All-Stars will be convening this weekend in SanTana. Organized by the Seeds of Resistance woman of color collective, the dialogue brings together the voices of mujeres committed to the arts and social justice. It all takes place at--where else?--El Centro Cultural de Mexico i ... More >>

"Wendy's Be Our Valentine!" Protest Today in SanTana!

Today the Student Farmworker Alliance and Coalition of Immokalee Workers (those always-awesome chingones who have led successful boycotts against everyone from Taco Bell to Trader Joe's) are invting la gente to meet and prep at El Centro Cultural de Mexico at 5pm to be part of today's "Wendy's Be Ou ... More >>

Seeds of Resistance Seeks Submissions for "Tortilla Warrior 2013 Cartonera Book''

Seeds of Resistance, a collective of self-identifed women-of-color artists from SanTana, is at it again. The group has been around for only about a year, but their first art exhibit happened in October of 2012: "Tortilla Warrior" at the always awesome El Centr ... More >>

Navel Gazing's Project Un-uncensored

Looking back at 2012 news that was fit to blog but not to print . . . until now

Anti-Mall Returns to SanTana in the Spirit of Indigenous People's Day

Last February, the annual LA activist event known as the "Anti-Mall: People B4 Profit Marketplace" made its SanTana debut at...where else but El Centro Cultural de Mexico! OC is being spoiled again as conscious vendors, artists, and organizations are setting up shop this weekend in counter-Columbus ... More >>

Edifica Talks About Rap en Español's Place in OC

[Editor's Note: Spare Notes is a new Weekly music feature highlighting outtakes and personal stories from bands who just finished working their asses off to put out new music.]Eduardo Iniestra aka Edifica occupies a unique space with ever-expanding potential in OC's evolving hip-hop scene. The Cos ... More >>

Two Human Rights Champions Arrive in Santa Ana Today for Panel Discussion

International Human Rights Day may be a few months away, but Santaneros and other good people of Orange County will have a chance to meet two extraordinary defenders of life with dignity today. Vidulfo Rosales Sierra of Tlachinollan Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña (Tlachinollan) and Jenny ... More >>

Puerto Rican and Mexican Cultural Traditions Come Together for this Weekend's Bombazo Fandango!

See Also: *All Day Santa Ana Summer Festival Puts the Movement in Music*Son del Centro Benefit Show This Friday*Calle 13 Bring Their Latin Grammy Nominated Music to the House of Blues AnaheimThe worlds of Puerto Rican bomba and Mexican son jarocho will come together in mutual admiration this Saturda ... More >>

All Day Santa Ana Summer Festival Puts the Movement in Music

An ambitious cultural undertaking is set to take place in downtown SanTana this Saturday as musicians, poets, activist organizations, speakers, DJs, dancers, artists will congregate for the Música en Movimiento Music and Arts Festival. The event sways heavily on local Orange County talent with acts ... More >>

Local 'UndocuQueer' Speaks on Identity and Equality in New Huffpo Series

With the enactment of Seth's Law addressing anti-gay bullying in schools earlier this month, the Huffington Post is running a series of testimonial stories from those involved in the Youth Empowered to Act (YETA) campaign with an Editor's note recounting the the debacle that was the "Mr. Fullerton" ... More >>

Santa Ana Youth Organize Conference Addressing Issues in their Community

Popular notions of youth apathy will have to take a back seat this weekend. An all-day conference on Saturday in Santa Ana shows that young people not only care about issues affecting their community, but are also motivated enough to do something about them. The effort arises from RAIZ, whose Spanis ... More >>

OC May Day March and Rally in Santa Ana to Happen--When Else?--TOMORROW

The first of May arrives tomorrow and in Santa Ana that has translated over the years into community activists turning out to mark International Workers' Day. With an agenda for social justice, the Orange County May Day Coalition is readying for a march and rally through the city starting at Sasscer ... More >>

Learn the Art of Songwriting from Members of Quetzal this Saturday

Having trouble finding those melodies to capture and transmit a definitive life experience? Constantly scratching out words on a piece of paper here and there on that rabble-rousing political anthem-to-be? No worries. This Saturday in SanTana, Martha González and Quetzal Flores of the East LA band ... More >>

Santa Ana Coalition Calls For Transparancy Where the Sun Don't Shine

​SACReD, a broad coalition of diverse organizations, is hosting a community forum this evening as a first step towards developing what it calls a landmark transparency policy for the city of Santa Ana. The umbrella group had previously attempted to push for a community benefits agreement to promot ... More >>

'Now This is SanTana' Exhibit Offers a Photographic Vision of the City

​As tomorrow marks International Women's Day, a new photography exhibit Now This is SanTana is set to open in the city's downtown at El Centro Cultural de Mexico. Through the lens of a camera, Zuleica Zepeda, a local award-winning Xicana indigenous artist and photographer, has collected a series o ... More >>

Stop Stealing Our Cars, New Documentary, Shows Santa Ana's Fight Against Unjust Impound Policies

​Working-class immigrant residents of SanTana have been beneficiaries of new, fairer vehicle impound policies since October 1, 2011, when activists scored a solid grassroots victory. Stop Stealing Our Cars, set to premiere this Saturday at El Centro Cultural de Mexico in the city's downtown, is an ... More >>

Another 'Anti-Mall' is Possible and It Happens Saturday in SanTana!

​For the past ten years, LA Chicano All-Stars (as we like to call them) have put together a community event known as the 'Anti-Mall' every December. The annual "People B4 Profit Marketplace" brings artists, musicians, craft and food vendors together in one place to celebrate conscious consuming a ... More >>

El Centro Cultural de Mexico Set to Re-open in Downtown Santa Ana

​After spending the past few months continuing its classes and programs wherever it could while searching for a new space, El Centro Cultural de Mexico is now ready to re-open its doors to the community this weekend in downtown Santa Ana. The award-winning nonprofit, as Weekly readers will recall, ... More >>

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

Santa Ana's 9th Annual 'Noche de Altares' Readies to Celebrate Día de los Muertos

Mary Bell/OC Weekly​Check out last year's photos here! As today marks Día de los Muertos, organizers of Santa Ana's Noche de Altares celebration are preparing for this weekend's 9th annual celebration of the Mexican tradition firmly rooted in the living history of its indigenous peoples. Altar ap ... More >>

OC's Scariest People 2011

Celebrating the Day of the Dead with some of the county's worst offenders

Hundreds March To Trader Joe's Headquarters In Monrovia To Demand A One Penny Per Pound Raise For Florida Farm Workers

Marisa Gerber/ OCWeekly​Three vans of people -- many from El Centro Cultural de Mexico and others from Justice for Janitors and an inter-faith group -- carpooled from Santa Ana to Monrovia today for a protest at Trader Joe's headquarters. The crew of 30 or so from Santa Ana convened with abou ... More >>

[UPDATE: Protest is THIS FRIDAY] Coalition of Immokalee Workers in Town to Explain Campaign Against Trader Joe's

​UPDATE: Protest is THIS FRIDAY. More information at the CIW's website--see you there!Original post Oct. 10, 10:30 a.m.: Earlier this summer, we reported on an anti-Trader Joe's campaign launched by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, those Florida-based mensches who have done more to combat the f ... More >>

'Noche de Altares' Documentary Premieres Tomorrow in Santa Ana

​ As part of the Día de los Muertos art exhibit being held at Calacas this Saturday, the documentary short Noche de Altares: A Santa Ana Grassroots Festival will premiere on projector screen outside the store. The bilingual community film offers a cinematic portrait of the city's annual Día de l ... More >>

Son del Centro Benefit Show This Friday!

​ Son del Centro's roots date back almost ten years now when high school-aged youth began exploring the rich Mexican musical tradition of son jarocho. Five years ago, the group's efforts came to fruition in the form of their first album Mi Jarana es mi Fusil. Son del Centro owes its accomplis ... More >>

The Yost Theater Is Ready for Its Closeup

The renovated, revamped venue is ready for its grand reopening. So why aren't all of its downtown Santa Ana neighbors celebrating?

El Centro Cultural de Someplace Else

The nonprofit community center got a last-minute extension, but its supporters are still crying 'gentrification'

El Centro Cultural de México Given 60 Day Extension

el-centro.orgA weekly volunteer meeting at El Centro in 2009​ El Centro Cultural de México, the community space in downtown Santa Ana that was originally to be vacated from its current location six days from now, has received a 60-day extension from the property owning and management company Broa ... More >>

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

Cutting to the Chase of the Centro Cultural de México's Ouster

OC Weekly file photoCarolina Sarmiento​It's been a hectic week since the Weekly first broke the news that SanTana's El Centro Cultural de Mexico will soon find itself without a space to host its classes and community programs. In that time, the Voice of OC and The Santa Ana Register blog have c ... More >>

El Centro Cultural de Mexico Faces Eviction

[Mental Notes] Plus: Introducing the softer side of Rob Zombie, and NYC inmate says he shot Tupac

El Centro Cultural de Mexico Faces Eviction

​El Centro Cultural de Mexico, a long standing non-profit in the city of Santa Ana, faces eviction by mid-July. The award-winning organization has been housed for the past five years at the Knights of Pythias building on the corner of West Fifth Street and Broadway. The location had been one o ... More >>

[UPDATED: Lineup Announced] Grrl Fair Already Planning for Its 10th Anniversary

​UPDATE, FEB. 8, 12:28 P.M.: Over the weekend, Grrl Fair announced the lineup of bands ready to rock the event's 10th anniversary. Nine bands in total, ranging from blues and rock to mariachi music, will perform amidst feminist-themed workshops and more (to be announced) during the Grrl Fair colle ... More >>

Lalternatives?

[Mental Notes] The best alt-Latin acts in OC

Latin Alternative Music Guide: OC Edición!

Earlier this week, I introduced readers to my "Latin Alternative Music Guide: LA Edición" and the musicians who compiled it - a task too much for one person and one blog post! (Other "must listens" that came to mind after publication were Cava, Monte Carlo 76, and BEATMO to name a few) Now I turn t ... More >>

On the Record

[Mental Notes] Memorable lines from Brent Amaker, Juan Manuel Torreblanca and Sam James Velde

What You Missed: Noche de Altares, Nitzer Ebb, Elton John & Leon Russell

Mary Bell/OC Weekly​What'd you miss this weekend? We went to go check out Nitzer Ebb at the Galaxy Theatre, ogled the altars and painted faces at the 8th Annual Noche de Altares, a Día de los Muertos celebration in Downtown Santa Ana and howled along with Elton John and Leon Russell.More photos a ... More >>

Unfortunate Acronym of the Day

Earlier today, representatives from the Arizona Interfaith Network, Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, Kansas City's El Centro and the United Farm Workers set up a teleconference call to argue why comprehensive immigration reform is necessary. They met under the name Coalition for Comprehensive Imm ... More >>

See It Now

The Mexican OC is perhaps the story for our times

!Ask a Mexican!

Why do Mexicans steal fruit?

Blistering Exchange

Egg-Cellent!

The 129 Greatest OC Bands Ever: 51 - 89

Punx Maybe Not Dead!

You Cant Pull the Plug on Revolution!

Not Alan Keyes

Shag It, Baby

Yet another column about gay people, plus a really vicious fight

Letters

Together at Last!

Euphoria! And a migraine!