Los Angeles from the history of past generations you know grandpa used to go up to the gate every time we passed the gate and he would spit on the floor and he would give them the bird to an interview with actor Carlos Gomez who stars in a new Law and Order show about the Menendez murders a case that rocked Los Angeles back in the 1990 s. I don't judge the people that I play you know but as an actor you always have to find some kind of humanity or something to do to relate the reality of the situation and that's what I played it was a fact that he was probably abused as a child all this and more coming up on Latino USA I might. Stay with us. Live from n.p.r. News in Washington I'm Jim hike $26.00 people are dead and 20 more are wounded after a man opened fire at a church in the small town southeast of San Antonio N.P.R.'s Wade Goodwyn reports according to the Texas Department of Public Safety a little after 11 am local time a man in his twenty's wearing black tactical clothes and a ballistic vest exited his vehicle and opened fire at the facade of the 1st Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs eventually the shooter carrying a Ruger a.r. Assault style rifle entered the church and began to murder those inside among the dead is the 14 year old daughter of the church's pastor as well as other children the shooter fled the scene was later found dead in his vehicle after crashing he'd been shot by whom is still unknown Wade Goodwyn n.p.r. News President Trump 2nd day in Japan was overshadowed by the developments in Texas Trump telling reporters I will continue to follow the developments closely. Well all of them is praying to God to help the wounded and the families of the victims Trump also addressed business leaders ahead of a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo how may trump calls the u.s. Trade imbalance with Japan quote unfair and urged Japanese business leaders to bring more manufacturing to the u.s. Troops next stop is in South Korea House speaker Paul Ryan says Special Counsel Robert Muller's investigation into Russia's election interference must proceed as planned and as N.P.R.'s Collins wire reports the comments come at a crucial moment for the probe do lawmakers in Washington have any plans to stop or hinder Robert Motors investigation Paul Ryan told Fox News Sunday that answer is clear we're not going to interfere with this investigation the investigation will take its course and we will let it take its course on Friday just days after Robert Miller's team revealed its 1st indictments several members of Ryan's own Republican caucus reportedly called Moeller unfit to lead the probe but neither Ryan nor the White House have said they intend to stop the investigation into Russian interference we need to find out exactly what they did to our country how and why they did it and then how do we prevent them from doing in the future and to do that Ryan said the professionals at the Justice Department must be able to just do their jobs and wire n.p.r. News a day after the governor called for it Kentucky's Republican House speaker resigned his leadership position Sunday after acknowledging he settled sexual harassment claims from one of his staffers last month Jeff Hoover denied sexually harassing the staff member but said he sent inappropriate text messages that were consensual while resigning as speaker Hoover says he will remain in the legislature Hoover had been speaker since January shortly after Republicans won a majority in the Kentucky State House for the 1st time in nearly a century. This is n.p.r. News. A senior advisor for Rand Paul says the u.s. Senator is recovering from 5 broken ribs following an assault at his home the spokesman says it's unclear when Paul will return to work since he's in considerable pain and has difficulty getting around but he's arrested Senator Paul's next door neighbor 59 year old Rene Bushay on a misdemeanor charge of 4th degree assault a New York City Marathon went off without a hitch Sunday N.P.R.'s Maggie penman reports on the 1st American to win the women's event in 40 years Shalane Flanagan ran her 1st New York City Marathon in 2010 coming in 2nd she was kept out of the Boston marathon by knee injury speaking after the race on Sunday a tearful Flanagan said it took her 7 years to get here but these are the moments that we dream of as our plates and this is going to feel good for really long time the last American woman to win the race was Mickey Corman in 1977 who set records at a time before the women's marathon was part of the Olympic Games that event was introduced in Los Angeles in 1904 Flanagan finished 6th in the marathon at the real lympics She also has an Olympic silver medal in the 10000 meter race and holds records in other events the runner says she hopes her victory inspires the next generation of American women Maggie penman n.p.r. News at the weekend box office Marvel's 3rd story movie store Ragnor rock funder to one of the year's best movie debuts with an estimated 100 $21000000.00 in ticket sales a bad moms Christmas was 2nd followed by jigsaw Tyler Perry's boo 2 and Geo storm I'm Jim Hark n.p.r. News in Washington support for n.p.r. Comes from n.p.r. Stations other contributors include the William in Florida foundation committed to supporting ideas and institutions to advance education for all preserve the environment and promote vibrant performing arts more information is available at Hewlett dot org. Welcome to Latino USA I might be a new horse. Barbara was a young artist just 26 years old when a Los Angeles city agency commissioned her to create a mural her Miro would be about what Los Angeles meant to her so I jumped at that opportunity because before that I was always assisting other mostly male artists on their mirror also. So Barbara sentence sketches which were approved and then she started painting the 20 foot tall you're depicted an indigenous woman with long flowing black hair and woven throughout her here were 50 small scenes that together made up a chronological history of Los Angeles there was left that church on our bed our street orange groves in the portrait of an infamous California band and then there's the Hollywood sign the 1932 all of that poster and as Barbara was getting close to finishing the mural the architect asked her to come in for a meeting and then they had the sketch on a wall. And some images were outlined in purple some in red I think the purple were like asking me to reduce those images in the red world why don't I just take them out because you know they didn't think they were necessary one of the scenes marked in purple and red was an image that represented the Chinese massacre of 871 another one was from the 1943 riots I stood my ground and said no this is I think it works out really well the way it is and I don't I'm not one to change it and so they said . Well we're not one to talk to anymore and so the project was cancelled our. Barbara finished the mural only to take it down panel by panel and put it all into storage until she feels like she did the right thing they should not ask the artist to take or change anything in the mural the mural did see the law. Day for a like a 2nd when it was displayed once in Los Angeles for 3 weeks back in the early 1990 s. But then it went right back into storage until now. To introduce you are just you made up at 1. 100. 36 years after young Barbara was asked to paint something that represented all of l.a. Her mural was finally out last month but censored in Union Station in downtown Los Angeles for the world to see it was part of a huge part showcase called Pacific Standard Time l.a. L.a. Which explores the Latin American and Latino art in dialogue with the city of Los Angeles so those images that were once outlined in purple and red images that were deemed too controversial like the Japanese internment scene that mans that are there now this is a book. And just like Barbara's near all our show today is going to dig into some of Ellie's history including parts that some might rather not talk about from the displacement of Latino families half a century ago to a murder case that shook the city and we're going to start with something that's making quite a lot of headlines right now which is the Dodgers the l.a. Dodgers just lost the World Series the closest they've come to winning since the 1980 s. And for some deeper history about the Dodgers Here's Latino USA is Genesee Mocha Hey Janice so I have a story and it's about baseball. Where thing I know very little about Ok I was going to ask of they go fan you are but you just answered. A teeny tiny bit but I I love watching the fans so have you been to a game. I would have been to 2 games one. I was like 9 in Chicago and then one like 10 years ago at Yankee Stadium well as an engine Lino I've been to Dodger Stadium it's up on a Helen surrounded by palm trees it has a ton of parking lot and it has one of the best views of downtown l.a. And the Dodgers have a ton of Latino fans especially Mexican fans and a lot of it had to do it for man to me and I know my thank you maybe one was shot. To one on the balance while the superstar rookie he was a kid from Mexico Sonora Mexico and he led the Los Angeles Dodgers to the World Series in 1981 Fernando mania was super intense and the legend of Fernando becomes known to all the world. Like I said came during the Fernando mania that he. Emigrated from Mexico in the early seventy's and really embraced Fernando mania and he wanted to share this moment with their son so he gave the Center for Nando violence while a Dodgers jacket on his 9th birthday and front of the whole family including isn't this grandfather my grandpa nearly flipped out he just goes really and he walked out of the room I think he knew he was going to blow up to that point. Because Dodgers jacket exactly and he said this dad was totally shocked and it was just a Dodgers jacket. And his grandfather did something radical my dad was never. Back into their home. Because he gave them a Dodgers jacket so he sent them who was 9 years old at the time he was super confused and he didn't really understand why his grandfather reacted that way most of his life until his early twenty's when he finally understood one day as grandmother the love pulled him aside and laid out this entire family history that we sent they had no idea about you could see her face that what she was about to tell me was something that was it was it had sat in her mind for a long time and when she told us about the community I mean you could see them. Like in their face you can see them get so emotional What does he mean like the community who's he talking about here my grandfather is John there now over and he grew up in the community of a letter that his wife is a bell of the novel and she grew up and bought a little bit too and then they both met there but I love that it is one of 3 neighborhoods that made up a predominantly Mexican American community they were part of that of their land all my and and all together they made something bigger something that you may know Madea as Chavez Ravine the child is ravine so it's about a community Ok today the rest of the world may know Chavez Ravine by another name the lucky ones are here today and odd years later you know Dodgers Stadium Jenna's So how about if you take it away and tell us the story of the child his regime so let's talk about it before it was the home of the Dodgers when it was actually home to over a 1000 families because it was a place where he sent his grandparents fell in love and started a family my grandma says you know well this is was the another man and they always used to talk about stories about how the dances that they used to have in the community every weekend it was a lively neighborhood in the thirty's and forty's when he sent his grandparents were growing up so there was almost like a party or a disco night out there where they would go and they would have the band plane and they even had a house of their own they really felt privileged because they had that stepping stone of owning a home over all life was good for them. And Chavez Ravine it was located in the valley and it was a little isolated but overall it was really close to downtown l.a. And even though this was a neighborhood where they threw weddings continued as left their doors unlocked grew their own produce and even raise their own life stock the city had a very different perspective of the Travis ravine neighborhoods that's Eric Ivy law professor Chicano Studies and History at u.c.l.a. He's author of the book popular culture in the ages. White flight and has written extensively about Chavez Ravine as far back as the 1930 s. The City Housing Authority declared the charges of being to be a slum in need of rehabilitation he told me that this was because Chavez Ravine was a low income neighborhood not well served by transit lines and most of the time lacked a basic needs like electricity people used candles to light up their homes and their streets at night so this city in the 1930 s. Targeted the child reserving. The placement of a public housing project. And then President Harry Truman was pushing for something called the Housing Act of 1949 as part of the fair deal which gave better old dollars to build housing projects all across the country but Angela's got $110000000.00 because of the Housing Act they could directly use toward public housing and Chavez Ravine without electricity it's part transit was the perfect site for this and then this would mean the destruction of the old neighborhood and then the construction of new public housing units in which the old residents would have 1st dibs to move in here's how it would work 1st they had to get rid of all the residents 2nd they'd have to tear down all the houses then they'd build the public housing in the own neighbors could come back into their new more modern homes so I don't think that the the Los Angeles Housing Authority sent letters to every home in John's ravine telling them that their houses were going to be torn down and new ones built in their place but not to worry for the many families who qualify for public housing 1st steps on the new channels are being once it was done and about 2 years it sounded like a good deal except that saying no was not an option the city had the power to force them to either sell or get evicted something called eminent domain but eminent domain basically means is that cities have the power to take private property as long as it's for public use like parks or roads after they pay the owner of that property. A fair price but in many cases even today the government tries to lowball property owners offering only a fraction of the properties value and the owners could get a lawyer to try to get a better deal but you need to spend money for that so in many cases even when people don't want to leave they take the deal which is what many dead and their houses were soon demolished by 952 almost all of the residents had moved out on the promise that they would be able to return to the old neighborhood moving into these new public housing projects some families resisted But overall even if it felt shady It seemed like a good deal think about a college campus tall towers lush landscaping modern structures with modern facilities electricity water the works everything that the residents lacked in Chavez Ravine that's what the city told the residents they would get if they sold their homes so slowly residents trickled out of Chavez Ravine. Meanwhile one mile south were changing at city hall the mayor ship of l.a. Was about to change and the new candidate his name was Norris Tolson he was a congressman they had a ton of law connected friends like the Chandler family who owned and operated a little newspaper called Los Angeles Times and they were stanch Lee opposed to the idea of public housing in the immediate vicinity of downtown Los Angeles and there were a few reasons for their opposition one they believe that public housing were not maximize economic value of downtown and another reason was this idea of racial integration in the immediate vicinity of downtown so poles and the man running for mayor made anti public housing the foundation of his campaign and he used the Red Scare to attack it. And the rhetoric that he used public housing was a secret communist strategy to create communist 1000 the heart of downtown that's something that Eric calls red baiting and polls and closely coordinating with the Chandler family the Los Angeles Times and other downtown elites effectively used this red baiting strategy and he promised that if he won the mayoral election that one of the 1st things that he would do in office as mayor would be to cancel the city's bid for public housing and then and one thing 53 Polson won the election and became mayor and he kept his promise one of the 1st acts that he signed as mayor was the cancellation of public housing not just in the Chavez Ravine but in other parts of the city as well so here are hundreds of families who left their homes and now there would be no promise place to live and no Chavez Ravine it's important to note that not every family left the neighborhood with a government buyout of sorts a couple families stayed and they were perfectly happy in their home with their yard and their garden and their livestock and their neighbors and they had no interest in leaving it was basically a ghost town most of it had been destroyed and they were even sat in limbo but once the plans for public housing were gone it made way for something else to be felt something bigger 'd. Coming up. We continue this story of the Chavez Ravine Stay with us. Plus hunters Cecilia started their music career by serenading passer bys on Los Angeles streets today the Grammy winners perform passionate high energy shows from coast to coast experience this modern day creative hybrid of Latin culture rock and world music Law Center Cecilia Friday November 10th of the discovery theater tickets available at center takes and Anchorage concerts dot org this message Ponsford by the anchorage concert Association thanks for listening to letting us same please tell us what you like about the show and how we can improve by completing a short and not a mystery at npr dot org slash let you know us a survey it takes less than 10 minutes and you do all of us at letting us say a huge favor by filling it out again it's npr dot org slash Latino USA survey all one word thank you support for n.p.r. Comes from n.p.r. Member stations and from Cancer Treatment Centers of America whose national Hispanic Advisory Council is devoted to educating the Hispanic community about the causes of treatment and prevention of cancer learn more at Cancer Center dot com and the Annie e. Casey Foundation developing solutions to support strong families and communities for America's children to help ensure a brighter future more information is available at a e.c.f. Dot org. Welcome back to Latino USA I'm might be a new horse and today show is all about Los Angeles before the break we were talking about the story of Dodgers Stadium and the land that it's on which is child is revealing now at the time many residents of Chavez Ravine had sold their homes after they were promised public housing but those plans were cancelled by the new mayor and the ravine itself well it's sat in limbo Here's Janice who mocha with the rest of the story. Over on the East Coast Walter O'Malley the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers was unhappy with his location in Brooklyn the stadium was old and the neighborhood was changing and New York City officials weren't helping him Mally wanted out so very quietly 153954955 city officials began working behind the scenes with Walter and Mally to negotiate the possibility of a relocation from Brooklyn to Los Angeles and guess what l.a. City officials suggested the bait in their negotiations with O'Malley was the Chargers' regime and that's when many officials began to see the Chavez Ravine as the perfect site for a modern major league baseball stadium the kind that O'Malley was asking for in New York but city officials would not give him so eventually the city Dodger contract was created in 1058 and it essentially handed Chavez Ravine over it all Mally as a kind of gift it was an offer O'Malley couldn't refuse and that's when it became a full blown political battle that's going to Merican city councilman Edward Roybal led the resistance and his criticism was on behalf of the displaced residents of the charges are deemed sane How can you argue against public subsidies for decent housing for poor people. And then turn around and provide corporate subsidies for Walter O'Malley and the Los Angeles Dodgers by essentially handing the charges or bean over to a very wealthy very shrewd very successful negotiator private business men like Walter O'Malley at the end always for not the contract was approved in 10585 years after the public housing plans were canceled it was the final green light for building Dodger Stadium there was just one thing banning in the way the families that refused to leave including that she got as leader became the face of resistance to the section. On May 8th 1059 the city of Los Angeles took matters into their own hands the l.a. County sheriff's deputies arrived in a bunch of patrol cars to evict Chavez Ravine final residence and when the people inside the home we've used to leave the sheriff's with a warrant went in and physically removed the people from their home an old Mexican woman was lifted from a rocking chair children were crying a young woman was dragged out by 4 deputies point her apart by each of them everyone kicking screaming and weeping and once everyone was out the bulldozers were on scene ready for destruction. At the time live broadcast journalism was taking off in the United States so cameramen and television reporters were on the scene and the viewers watch with the family as their house turned into rubble the broadcast of these images on national television live images on national television left a very bitter legacy of racial tension between L.A.'s Mexican American community and the Los Angeles Dodgers and this is the the legacy of conflict upon which Dodger stadium was built. 3 years and $80000000.00 later Dodger Stadium opened its doors on April 10th 1962. Running. That day at home with Angeles Dodgers lost 63 to the Cincinnati Reds. Spent the month out of are the man we heard from at the beginning of the story who said even the Dodgers jacket he and most of his family live only minutes away from Dodger Stadium which stands as a reminder of the shady dealings and violent affection. His grandparents his mom she was about 8 at the time understand Ling's left their home and one thing that the 9 before the elections became violent and out of all the memories he sent his grandmother shared with them the night his family decided to leave their home always stands out the most they were discussing what were the options either we leave because we're going to bring force in they were already threatening them with the sheriff's son my grandparents said you know we've got kids and they said look there's only one option we can do is if we pick up and just give it to them My grandparents have always told me that we can never use the word compensation because in the sense of compensation they would would have been given fair market value what they were given were peanuts and that's what they used as peanuts it was never to justify what the property was were. They never became homeowners again. Because we owned a home they really thought that they had a piece of the America. And what they really found out is that it wasn't it was an illusion for them because the American dream had laws and some of these laws were like in the mint domain. Domain is what they're dream away from. Eventually his grandparents settled in Echo Park where the center grew up a few miles west of their original home. His grandparents are now in their ninety's and he's still learning new stories about the old neighborhood he sent as a founding member of buried under the blue an organization that's dedicated to preserving the history of the 3 neighborhoods that are there and. The parts that made up charges are being that now buried under Dodger Stadium. To this day whenever he sent his grandfather passes by the stadium you know grandpa used to go up to the gate every time we passed the gate and he would spit on the floor and he would give them the bird he makes his opinion clear. Things to Janice your mocha for reporting that story now that was the history under Dodger Stadium that around that same time when Major League Baseball was taking over Los Angeles so was r. And b. . And the 1st she got a heartthrob in East l.a. Music scene was a man known as Little Julian Herrera little Julian recorded several local hits but then he recently disappeared for years musical Lecter Gina. Had been trying to locate little Julian but without a whole lot of success but then Gene got a fresh lead an email from someone in San Diego the email was from a guy who said he had found little Julian in fact he'd put Gene on the phone with little Julian and it didn't sound like little Julian I mean I was asking him questions and in he didn't really snap to the answer so he emailed Gene a photo but the man didn't look like a little Julian when I pressed for more details like because I know little Julian had a couple tattoos on his left arm as to take a picture of his left arm and said to me and they were happy the whole thing was called reporter Alex Smith picks up the story now and tries to answer not just where it is little Julian but who is little Julian there are lots of legends about little Julian Herrera like the one that says he was murdered in l.a. Solution park or that he's not well paying on to a job at a gas station in National City California I almost would not have believed he was real if I hadn't talked to people who knew him personally Oh and there's also this concrete piece of existence his music this is his 1st single right here. That's collector gene I get Lera again we're in his meticulously appointed garage covered in custom made wooden shelves that are filled with more than 10000 records chains focuses on Chicano music and the music of East l.a. Among his rare pieces is the record we're listening to now along the lonely night little Julian Herrera's 1st single. It was released in 19562 hears before Richie Valens released his 1st single odds are you've never heard of little Julian Herrera but in certain circles the man is in some s. Every time I would talk to music. Every time I talk to a collector no joke within the 1st minute or 2 of our conversation they would say you've heard a little Julian That's Josh Coon he calls little Julian Herrera the Big Foot of Chicano music which is his area of expertise as a writer and researcher at u.s.c. And just like people have tried to spot Big Foot there's a search on for a little Julian Herrera But let's go back to the beginning. A little Julian's Los Angeles story starts somewhere near here in the Boyle Heights neighborhood east of the l.a. River like I said a lot about his past is unclear but here's Jeanne I got Lera to sum up the legend of his arrival in l.a. He hitchhike across the United States and end up in Boyle Heights when he was 13 he got taken in by a Latino family in Boyle Heights whose last name was a rare and he assumed that last name of Herrera. A few years later Julian was a teenager Mexican American music was starting to merge with an identity all its own he might have grown up hearing John toasties pachuco Boogie or the father of Chicana music Lalo Guerrero of. East l.a. Had a rockin music scene and Julian hung around she met a few people started performing and soon he was recording his own songs. Like when I 1st heard Little Julie and I go Well you know this guy is it you got a guy Julie her and he's playing all the venues around here in studio clean up and down with her Boulevard and I mean I could relate to him you know he was he was one of us you know Julian sang with swagger his songs embody the emerging low rider culture of East l.a. And the romantic night sex clubs along the boulevard she had become a celebrity in his own neighborhood them around. I mean. Thank you so much. There aren't many people left who actually knew Little Julie and Herrera one of them is vibes player Gail Roach whose 20 houses in Lancaster about an hour north of l.a. In 1958 kill was the 1st band leader to hire Ritchie Valens Roche went head to east l.a. Several nights a week to get a piece of the action they each show because he really enjoyed our music those times when they had to close a play so they wouldn't let us quick lying and says we would keep on playing and they just seem to party on along. One night go Rocher was playing a gig at the Calypso in East l.a. When an unexpected guest walks through the door and you and her sure hope and desire but you have Julie and her grab the microphone and the lid is for the looked at him and he says Yeah I'm going to sing your song an air of aces to open kind of stopped and looked because I knew who he was so he sang out into typical bars popular song of the day there jumped off the stage and started dancing and like yours you really. To the people whose ideas you had never seen anything like this type of performance or was it at all like Elvis Presley No no it was an Wilder and the girls were really really impressed with what he was doing because it was so different it for that era pulls out a black and white photo he took of that moment little Julian is standing alone on the dance floor with the band backing him on stage a but the photos a little blurry but Julian's facial expression is ecstatic almost hypnotized with us that there was that I was looking at his rays when he'd spin round here the big smile of his raising his big eyes looking around making sure it was enjoying what he was doing and they were that same solo and dance routine happened 3 or 4 times at the Calypso involved Gill was playing. As much as Julian enjoyed the stage he loved to party after the wild show was done he'd break his reward he jumped after he got through there he jumped into the crowd and started shaking and talking to him of course here's our free beer from this thing that's what he was really doing in the middle of this period of Fame and partying a cop shows up at the home of little Julian's record producer legendary r. And b. Musician Johnny Otis the cop was looking for a Caucasian man named Ronald Wayne Gregory the photo he showed us it was of little Julian Herrera. And he was wanted for. Johnny Otis learned that little Julian was in fact Gary and you from the east coast l.a. Court records with any amount of detail pertaining to the incident are confidential but here's what we know little Julian or Ronald Gregory was convicted along with 2 co-defendants of a raid that took place in Griffith Park and the victim was 17 years old Julian was 19 the co-defendants were convicted of statutory rape Julian's crime was forcible rape he was sent to jail and took a long break from the stage. Little trillions arrest provided the 1st real crack in the portrait he created for himself but even before that there had been hints that something wasn't quite right he smiled a lot you know he seemed to be happy in his face saying goes and he didn't seem to have a job or anything he was a little hard to find you know you really have a phone number and see him when you see him you know it just seemed. Kind of bounce along it all through life Yeah Julian Herrera was bouncing through life but on a much deeper level than La Belle imagined he was bouncing through cities to families through identity. Was as unique as little Julian Herrera as experience seems to be it's actually not cultural passing happens pretty frequently in the music world mesmerize wrote was a Jewish jazz musician who married a black woman and famously declared himself a voluntary Negro in l.a. During Little Julian's era well known d.j. Huggy Boyd was white but blended into the Latino community even Julian Herrera's own record producer Johnny Otis mix 2 cultures he was born creek but lived comfortably in the African-American community around l.a. Central Avenue where Julian lived 1950 s. East l.a. And Boyle Heights pacifically was a uniquely diverse melting pot it was one of the earliest Jewish communities of Los Angeles and also one of the 1st Chicano and Japanese communities. This is one of the Chilean songs you will cry in most of his songs when he sings in English he seems to use the accent of the Spanish speaker in this particular song he goes for it and sings in Spanish. Little Julian took the cultural mixing a step further than most she had something. Even people who were close to him had little notion of it are you going to find that sax player Bernie Garcia at a diner so Bernie and Julian were friends it was news to him when I explained that Julian Herrera as named was not actually Julian Herrera do you know anything about little Julian's family or. Nothing. I never heard him talk about much. Except of a few girls who were never there was it do you think he kept to himself about his personal life or it just never came out and yeah I think he kept to himself with that. Because most musicians are open about stuff like that and whatever his reason was yeah it was personal him after he got out of jail Lou Julian sought out the adoring crowds once again he played shows recorded new songs but things did not go well there are rumors that Julian was drinking and violent that he slept several nights in the basement of the Monte Legion stadium one day in 1963 Julian called up his friend Bernie thank you John we had some legal problems they had to get down to their make sense Julian had set up a series of gigs in the choir and asked for any to join him Bernie said yes after a wild week of performing and partying he decided it was time to head home he didn't know it at the time but this exchange would be the last confirmed sighting of little Julian Herrera. Is a collector gene Aguilar and others are trying to find little truly in Herrera if he's alive he would be 74 years old whether he knew them personally or not little Julian had a lasting impact on many us again he's somebody whose voice will its way into the lives of people whose voice became part of a soundtrack to a community and so he became more of a kind of cultural emblem. That may be truer for Gene i.q. Lera than anyone else you know of I found him I think my short bit piece because it's been such a long time that I've been looking for a. That was producer Alex Mann and we 1st ran that piece in $24.00 to. You. Coming up on the Team USA actor Carlos Gomez on the challenge of playing notorious Hollywood dad Jose Menendez in the new Law and Order series and the end is murders I could not imagine a person doing to somebody else let alone his so you have to write I have to because that's again that's what's on the script that's what I had to play. But it wasn't easy it was it was it was very challenging Stay with us you know to my yes. This is Dave Ludo producer of global here a k s k Anchorage f.m. 91 point one inviting you to tune in every Sunday night to 11 pm where I bring you the very best in Hispanic music Thanks for tuning in I hope you enjoy the program the open enrollment period for their formal Care Act begins 5 ember 1st and will be open for 6 weeks this is Dr 3rd Ward Why not join co-host Prince Pepperton as he checks them of Alaskans on their questions about the open enrollment on the next line Warner health connection Monday November 6th of 2 pm repeating that same evening at 8 pm on f.m. 91 point one Alaska public media support for n.p.r. Comes from n.p.r. Member stations and from Lumber Liquidators a proud sponsor of n.p.r. Offering more than $400.00 styles including hardwood bamboo laminate and vinyl with flooring specialists and hundreds of stores nationwide more and Lumber Liquidators dot com or 1800 hardwood and the George Lucas Educational Foundation creator of Edutopia an online resource dedicated to improving the learning experience for America's students with information and strategies about what works in Keith through 12 education learn more at Edutopia dot org. Welcome back to Latino USA I might be a new horse on today we've been telling little known stories about Los Angeles history and the people that live there but what about the l.a. Everyone outside of the city knows because even if you've never been there for sure you've seen Los Angeles on t.v. . In the early 1990. 2 additional. Trial story police officers were on trial for the brutal beating of Rodney King beating by 4 last years police officers is captured on videotape was it a case of excessive force or false start o.j. Simpson that was on trial for the murder of his wife Nicole It makes no sense it doesn't fit if it doesn't fit you must acquit period Court of California County of Los Angeles we the jury in the back in time election find the defendant Orenthal James Simpson not guilty of the crime of murder and the 2 young and millionaire brothers were also on trial also in Los Angeles the prosecution is wrapping up its case in the Mendez brothers murder trial and now a new television show called Law and Order true crime the man and his murders follows the case of Lyle and Erik Menendez who were sentenced to life in prison in 1906 for murdering their parents this crime and their compassion left Los Angeles and the nation done. Actor Carlos Gomez plays Jose Menendez Lisle and Eric's abusive father on the series and Carlos Gomez joins me now in the studio to talk about his work as an actor on this show Welcome to let you know us a Carlos thank you so much for what it's a great honor to be here to listen we're going to talk about the big show right now which is Law and Order true crime series and this is the man and his brother's story but some people might know you also from oh I don't know madam secretary where you play Jose cumple and some other people might know you from. Wow did I play to inforce Russian back in the day he was on my high high to. Claim. It's been a long time since you came to one of these. As if a would never be friends again. That's where we started isn't it Alex this is choice. I worked on Charmed I was one of the only 2 Latinas on friends. Say what I really like driving to make that kind of judgment of your let me show me. The poem is not about you my baby but. You make me so sad that you would think this story is my friend Phoebe. So you've been around that you've been around as a working actor Yes You know you were born and raised in New York City I was born in New York City I was here till I was like 8 years old then I moved to Miami kind of raised in Miami Florida I'm Cuban descent and when I was 19 I moved back to New York to kind of start my Or just a career how was it that you decided that you were going to be an actor I mean you know I started off I didn't decide I was going to be an actor usually breakdancer when I was younger when I was going to tell you we're going to have to get out of that you're going to have to show us some of. Them are you dancing in the subway I was No I never got to that point but I was started dancing in Miami and I was really a locker in a proper and I did that for a while and. I worked in New York as a dancer theater dance and I got into singing and then that's when I kind of started getting the acting bug How did you make a living at that time wow I worked as a telemarketer I got working construction for a while so a lot of people might also know you kind of as plain the bad guy you know it's funny a lot of people say that but I've played more like the tech I played more cops I did show called Shark for 2 seasons with James Wood where I played. It was the mayor of l.a. You played him I well I played a character kind of based on him so happy yes he was very excited about it and I got saying out with him as well still playground for the rich and famous finales a new hot spot to get away with murder shot at his back but it's funny because some people you know when I 1st started my career as many Latinos do that's all the parts that were available to us was the gang leader or the drug dealer that's all we could work as actors so kind of like in the middle of my career I made a statement that I thought you know what I just want to I want to try to work more making you know just playing positive role model and when you say that you made a statement like where did you I did you working for a while because I wouldn't I would take some of the parts you know I do you know if you're going to be a growing audition but you yeah I just I didn't want to go out for another gang leader I didn't want to go out for the drug dealer and you know I just was kind of over it. And you happen to be working with one of the great television Masters Yes and the other really are Dick Wolf junkies Yes myself from the producer of this segment and you get a phone call I get a phone call to you know to play this part and at 1st I was a little hesitant because of you know but because I had seen the you know the Menendez case back in the day I was obsessed with it because he was worried I was who you were you might work. It was the 1st time that as an audience we can see how the legal system works live not it just to see exactly what was going on and because of what the case was about you know he was Cuban I was Cuban I just thought like yeah it was you know I was I was intrigued about what this is what happened and why why this happened so the story basically turns out right that there's this big reveal that these 2 brothers who massacred their mom and dad because it was not yet it was not just like one gunshot to the head it was it was it like for one it was I think it was 12 between 12 and 15 gunshots and one of them was reloaded to finish off the mother of your spiel Yeah it was it was a cold blooded murder then it's revealed that the dad murdered dad was actually a terrible terrible father tell us what we know now about that dad in real life and then about you kind of having to play that complex character yeah you know when when I saw that case you know I could relate because he was Cuban you know he was an immigrant who came here at 16 I worked as a dishwasher put himself through school meets his wife Kitty they have a you know they have a family they he becomes a very successful businessman from what I had read and so he was it was a tough business man some people he was an liked sometimes by that his peers but he was very successful and he was a big big Latin you know kind of image in Hollywood at the time because he he worked for r.c.a. Records he worked for Carroll called films he was one of the people who was kind of responsible for the ramble franchise you know at the time he was left $14000000.00 inheritance in 1900 was a lot of money I just couldn't believe that this person was was you know legibly of the sexual abuse. That a person in this position would be would be capable of something like this what did he actually what is he accused of doing he's accused of sexually molesting his kids pretty much most of his life what I play pretty much is the recollection of what the kids said in court of what the parents had done to them or what will happen if you ever tell anyone you know. What I do. Not hear me. That's right. I could not imagine a person doing this is somebody else let alone his so you had to write I had to because that's again that's what's on the script that's what I had to play. But it wasn't easy it was it was it was very challenging basically when you're getting that side of the story you as an actor have to become the person who would do that to your 2 little boys I don't judge the people that I play you know but as an actor you always have to find some kind of humanity or something to to relate the reality of the situation and that's what I played it was a fact that he was probably abused as a child if this actually happened. That he you know he doesn't know any different yet and the shame that this person must have carried you know those are or are things that as a society I think if anything we could bring out and have more a conversation about so as as a human being and as an actor you have to kind of wrap your head around the whole notion of mental health yes it's something that you know I let you know Latino communities were not so good at talking about we're not you know is there's a lot of those that know what the goal is you know as one of us saw I think if anything if this could bring out to people the fact that it does happen child abuse . Of any sort or abuse of any certain cut may it be sexual verbal physical and to be able to talk about it to be able to have a conversation they see the series and maybe somebody something will click and somebody say you know what I have that shame in me and I feel like now it's I can expose that and I can and you can stop the cycle in the Latino culture you know it's probably you know it happens just like in any culture but I think we're more close to to open up about it and really face it and say you know what I have a problem I have a disease I have this that you know maybe it's generational maybe we need to stop and we need to talk about it and it's the only way that we're going to stop. When the Menendez brothers case happen there was of course political and racial context there was the o.j. Simpson trial there were the l.a. Riots the l.a. Uprising if you will the man and his brothers has absolutely nothing to do with the politics of the moment of to day you know it's funny because as an actor before this administration I felt really good about where we were going as Latinos in film and television and I think in the short time that has passed we've been knocked back. A lot of steps we've been taking that 5 steps backwards now if you see in television now there's over $500.00 television shows now happening and if you see how many Latino shows are and on t.v. It's it's heartbreaking how many Latino shows are on t.v. I think well I can tell you Jane the Virgin there's one day at a time right on Netflix right how many more i know i'm times that's exactly who I know anyway I got to be more that's exactly what I know is Los Angeles and so that's not I think I got you know I think they got. Exactly and we're definitely not exactly we're not including outlaws in that no because all that's well that's excellent you know but it's it's I'm talking about things that's going to be done and that's going to show us again in a light where we can see us as a culture as complex human being as human beings it's because actually when you say that it's also with us are just American These are American stories you know every season I read for 3 or 4 pilots that are all Latino and none of them ever get made and it's a pity because there are so many great Latino actors and they just do not give us the opportunity it's incredibly frustrating and so we have to continue to claim that space and for you I just want to say thank you for claiming that space and for being a Latino actor who makes us proud thank you so much Carlos Gomez plays Jose the father of the Menendez brothers in the show Law and Order true crime and his murders a t.v. Show which tells a story about a certain part of l.a. 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The open enrollment period for their formal Care Act begins 5 ember 1st and will be open for 6 weeks this is Dr Thad Woodard why not join co-host Prince Pepperton as he checks in with Alaskans on their questions about the open enrollment on the next line one your health connection Monday November 6th of 2 pm repeating that same evening at 8 pm on f.m. 91 point one Alaska Public Media Alaska's economy has been driven by resource extraction from the land and water for decades what will and should that look like in the future what's the outlook for oil mining fisheries and renewable energy such as hydro and geothermal the commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources joins us to discuss the state. Future on the next top of Alaska to fail at 10 am and recorded rebroadcast can be heard at 8 pm on f.m. 91 point one. Cecilia started their music career by serenading passer by.