as we've all heard by now- THE SUNSET JUNCTION STREET FESTIVAL-
was denied permits by the city of LA, so this weekend's festival is off...
you can read all the gory details- HERE-
what most people don't know (or remember) is the origins of this community street festival and its humble beginnings...
since i'm a lifelong resident of los angeles, i remember the circumstances that led to the creation of sunset junction.
i will tell you them now.....
silverlake & echo park were the original locations for filmmaking @ the turn of the century...
productions of laurel & hardy, the keystone cops and numerous silent films were created in the vicinity.
("the music box steps,"- Vendome Street (at the base of the hill) with Descanso Drive (at the top of the hill), silverlake)
during the early 1920s film productions shifted west to hollywood, culver city and studio city.
silverlake lost its luster and the housing market began to decline. because of the reasonable housing rates & rentals, by the 1960s & 70s, silverlake was now predominately latino and immigrants.
the first generation of children gravitated to gangs and gang activity...
perhaps as a way to fit in, or reaction to ostracism.
at the same time, the late 1960s and early 70s saw a huge influx of gay men ( in particular leathermen) into the area.
gay guys and gals would buy houses for next to nothing, fix them up and create beautiful gems to be proud of ...
numerous gay leather/fetish clubs began to open-
THE ONE WAY, THE GAUNTLET, CUFFS, BASIC PLUMBING, GRIFFS, THE DETOUR, BASCOS, THE MEATRACK, WOODYS and numerous other gay kinky spots began to emerge.
sunset junction was also the location of the original DIFFERENT LIGHT BOOKSHOP, LA's first gay bookshop.
(this was also the location of my first public photo exhibit in 1989)
the mexican gangs reacted very negatively to what they saw as "overt sex" something they were definitely not used to with their catholic upbringings.
THE ONE WAY was king of the leather bars, a totally hot spot- watering hole on hoover st. & melrose ave.
this was absolutely my favorite dive and the first leather bar i ever stepped foot in.
a young, handsome black photographer named
DWIGHT HARRIS was making a name for himself in the early fashion industry.
i had both the pleasure of working with dwight and having a brief affair with him. he was the sweetest man.
kind, creative, shy and very sexy.
in late 1979 dwight harris went to the one way and met someone.. which was pretty much always the way it worked @
the one way.. it was by far the best pick up bar... you were pretty much guaranteed to connect with someone..
it just had that vibe.
dwight and his "pick-up" decided to walk to the local park located one block away.
they had found themselves some bushes and were having a little mutual blowing when a group of gang members came upon them.
the gang members yelled gay slurs and threatened them.
the boys tried to get away... one was able to, one was not. dwight was chased down by the gang, overpowered,
beaten up and shot.
dwight was 21 years old when he was murdered.
there was a blip of a mention in the LA weekly.
i attended dwight's service in inglewood... i had never been to a black funeral before..
his mother, sisters and family just wailed out-of-control over his casket. their sorrow and pain cut thru my soul...
it was intense.
soon after a local group of gays, straights, Latinos and immigrants had a public meeting and tried to address the problem that was now a crisis in their neighborhood.
one year later on august 27th, 1980, the FIRST ANNUAL SUNSET JUNCTION COMMUNITY STREET FESTIVAL was realized.
i attended this 1st street fair and was amazed to see latinos with baby strollers, gang members, leather guys wearing black leather chaps with the butts cut out,senior gays & lesbians, and numerous punk/new wave kids co-mingling with smiles on their faces.
it was a first for the area... los angelenos were not used to large public groups walking on the streets... remember this was the era of "NO ONE WALKS IN LA."
(sunset junction- circa 1982- photos courtesy- carol citrone)
i find it sad that the organizers of sunset junction have become so greedy and bloated charging $20 cover for an event that was supposed to be a community outreach... that was the roots of the festival.
not the "lalapalooza/PR get me a signed record deal /look how alternative i am," farce it has now become.
I HOPE THAT SUNSET JUNCTION will re-discover itself and go back to its roots.
rick castro- antebellum
Well, it sounds like the festival you described ended a long long time ago, not this week I don't remember the first festival I was only a toddler however I did grow up to have two spaces simultaneously one right at the corner of Santa Monica blvd, and Sunset and the other Sunset and Sanborn where Cafe Stella is now I first saw the change when Sonic Youth played, maybe it was 2003? Or perhaps it was because I had taken the risk of opening a business, that I noticed the "change" in the festival and every year after that it started getting bigger and bigger. Micheal from Tsunami was client, and I soon found out that many of the new business owners had a it out for him, speaking craziness, I never dug that deep In Los Angeles change is inevitable. I was witnessing gentrification, I became I different person and lost my desire to continue make money when I saw the way the family that owned the local bodega "la tiendita" ( where intelligentsia is now) was kicked out of their space by my landlord, then the Taco Lady then like flies the Latino businesses started to not have their leases renewed, the day the vet closed was even harder to watch. I realized that I was a part of this, that I was attracting producers, actors, vogue magazine, and for some reason it seemed like half of Chicago was now in Silver Lake. The leather was also gone, the Latinos where gone, the flavor was now vanilla. The gay bars
ReplyDeletewhere being bought out, and suddenly Silver Lake was now Brentwood with a mullet ( I did coin the term, some other writer stole that from me, I swear). I
started having nightmares about the families, the taco lady, the vet, i may have gone into a depression. The Sunset Junction Festival became a weekend of fighting, the organizer started to fence out the local businesses the only people making money were the vendors selling everything from Margaritas to Kitchen Remodels, the business owners specifically one, started what felt like a war with the organizer of the event. The LA Weekly did a piece on it maybe 2008? I think that reporter was fooled by a business owner, one that would brag about how he had paid off the city inspector for permits and such, the building was renamed SUNSET JUNCTION and just like that Santa Monica Blvd and Sanborn become the Junction. Not where Santa Monica and Sunset meet as that is the true junction at least in my opinion. The point Ive been trying to make is that the festival changed with the demographics of the community that was forming, the Latinos were leaving the leather men
Headed to palm springs the cholos started wearing skinny jeans and flannels. The 80s cholo was a dirty version of the Pachuco. Perhaps cancelling the event is a way for the NEWCOMERS to take over, Like they did with THE LOTUS FESTIVAL, that dosent have to be a bad thing, it's an opportunity for us whom seem to care so much about the festival to just show up to OUR NEIGHBORHOOD and grill some Carne Asada, eat some bagels and lox, pupusas, crumpets, egg rolls, pad Thai . Bring your game, your guitar your chalk, frisbees whatever and hell have a block party, after all this is our town and it will continue to morph. We are LOS ANGELES.
(sorry for any typos and the wordiness it's 2:00 ayem)
$20 cover charge, but they couldn't come up with $260,000 in fees for the city.
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