Last month, Cal State L.A. announced plans for a
graduation ceremony at the Rose Bowl. It was going to have all the classics for the classes of 2020 and 2021: speeches, music and jumbotron close-ups.
This week, the school clarified the fine print: no guests, no names read aloud, no walking on the stage.
Advertisement
While planning much-anticipated commencement ceremonies, many colleges are trying to
Students who are the first in their families to graduate from college were hoping to share the experience with relatives. Caps and gowns were ordered, and calendars were marked. One Cal State L.A. student wrote on Instagram that her mother was planning to fly from Nicaragua for the event.
Print
The sun was setting on the Islamic Center of Santa Ana on a recent weekend day as Rida Hamida posed in front of a taco truck. In her hands were the menu items for the evening: halal tacos and the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
“Let’s do a TikTok,” the Anaheim resident told a friend. “Let’s show everyone what’s here. Let’s get them here!”
A COVID vaccine/taco truck party at Islamic Center of Santa Ana on May 1.
(Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)
Over 200 Muslims sat in tables in the Islamic Center’s parking lot as they prepared to break the Ramadan fast. Some lined up with Latinos to get vaccinated. A muzzein silently mouthed the adhan the Islamic call to prayer.
Food truck offers halal tacos and COVID vaccines at mosques, uniting OC Muslims and Latinos Listen 7 min MORE Rida Hamida holds a halal taco in one hand and a vaccination dose in the other at the Islamic Center of Santa Ana. Photo courtesy of Latino Muslim Unity.
If you drive by a mosque in Orange County around sunset, you may see something unusual in the parking lot: a mobile COVID-19 vaccination unit and a halal taco truck.
It’s part of an effort to get OC’s Muslim and Latino communities vaccinated during Ramadan, which runs from April 12 to May 12.
April 30, 2021
Alejandra Molina
LOS ANGELES (AP) When Rida Hamida approached a mosque with the idea of breaking Ramadhan fast with a taco truck, she faced a tough sell. When it comes to the evening
iftar – the dinner Muslims share after a day’s fasting in Ramadhan – the Muslim population in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, is accustomed to traditional Arabic and South Asian
biryani meals, with rice and meat kebabs.
But besides being immediately gratifying and accessible, Hamida thought, the taco would also bring Orange County’s Latino and Muslim communities together. So she made a proposal: She’d bring a taco truck to the mosque to serve halal tacos, while the mosque’s leader provided