“Que Podemos Hacer?”: LA Street Vendor Solidarity Fund and Mutual Aid

The Koreatown Storytelling Program presents a short series of community-member interviews discussing and responding to recent immigration raids. The title “Que Podemos Hacer?” translates to “What can we do?”, which was one of the responses we received from a vendor in our community. A response the vendor told us as he continued to work with fear.

On Monday June 23rd in Culver City, beloved paletero Ambricio Lozano also known as Enrique, was taken by masked men in unmarked cars. Enrique’s ice cream cart was left in the middle of Culver Blvd, a community he has sold to for over 20 years. 

On that same Monday in Ladera Heights,  federal immigration agents took food vendor Selena Vanessa Hernandez cling on a tree near a Home Depot. Another week of attacks on working community members. What support is there available for our street vendors? 

This week student intern Cira Mejia and myself Tony Morales spoke with Lyzzeth Mendoza and Quetzal Flores from the eastside organization Community Power Collective (CPC). Their mission is to organize with tenants, street vendors and transit riders in communities of color to create a solidarity economy, win community control of land & housing, and form dignified public systems that facilitate a culture of radical care. 

CPC , along with nonprofits East LA Community Corporation, Inclusive Action for the City and Public Counsel, created the LA Street Vendor Solidarity Fund. This fund was created to support street vendors impacted by ICE Raids. 

For the second part of our series “Que Podemos Hacer?” focusing on the community's response to I.C.E raids, we spoke with CPC to learn about their fund and to support street vendors at this moment. 

Please support their fund here, and support your local street vendor! 

Credits

Producer

Tony Morales

Interviewer

Cira Mejia