In the US, what the word "Latino" connotes varies regionally. Often, regardless of accuracy, in the southwest it means "Mexican;" in the northeast it means "Puerto Rican;" and in Florida, "Cuban." Indeed, those are the three largest populations of Latino-Americanos in the country, although obviously not the only ones. Each have their own distinct culture, history, and place in America. This entry is about the fourth largest Latino population, Salvadorans.

The flag of El Salvador

The indigenous people of what's now El Salvador are the Pipil. Today, 90% of Salvadorans identify as mestizos, in this case usually meaning of Spanish and Pipil backgrounds. Although only 1% of Salvadorans self-identify solely as Pipil, in reality the percentage is likely higher, but, due to prejudice, many Salvadorans are reluctant to embrace their Native side. 

The Dutch

Santa Ana is the county seat and most populous city in Orange County. To vote for other Orange County communities to be covered here on the blog, click here. To vote for Los Angeles County communities, click here. To vote for LA neighborhoods, click here.

    

Pendersleigh & Sons' Official Maps of Orange County and the city of Santa Ana

Santa Ana is surrounded by Garden Grove to the northwest, Anaheim to the north, Orange to the northeast, Tustin to the east, Irvine to the southeast, Costa Mesa to the south, Fountain Valley to the southwest and Westminster to the west. For this blogventure, I was accompanied by Orange County's Emily Ryan.

Silver Lake is a largely gay and hilly neighborhood (one of its nicknames is "The Swish Alps") in LA’s Mideast Side. To vote for more Los Angeles neighborhoods to be featured in a future post, click here. To vote for LA County communities, click here. To vote for Orange County neighborhoods, vote here.


INTRODUCTION TO SL
First things first… Silver Lake is two words! Don't believe me? Count 'em! There are fifteen Silver Lakes in the US, thirteen of which are two words (one of the offenders is in Texas, and therefore doesn't really count). It is supposedly the second gayest place in the Southland, after West Hollywood and in front of Broadway Corridor.

 

Cloudy skies over the bottomless Echo Park Lake

This blog entry is about the Los Angeles neighborhood of Echo Park. Please vote for more neighborhoods by clicking here. Also, please vote for more Los Angeles County communities by clicking here. To vote for Orange County neighborhoods, vote here.


INTRO TO EP

Echo Park is a Mideast Side neighborhood located north of Downtown Los Angeles in the Elysian hills west of the LA River. Echo Park has long associations with several arts, most notably literature and film. It's one of the city's oldest neighborhoods and is full of many old (by Angeleno standards) Craftsman, Spanish, and Victorian homes built between the 1880s and 1930s.

 

...versus the google results for their respective national, month-long cultural observances.

...which suggests that, as I assumed, Black History Month is far more of a concern than Hispanic Heritage Month, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and Native American Heritage Month. Black History Month is all good, but why not recognize the rest? And, although not a minority, Women's History Month deserves some recognition too... as does Gay Pride Month. This year of the tiger, resolve to move beyond bipolarity!