Mariachi Plaza Protest, Boyle Heights (Los Angeles) by David Goldman

Public Project

Mariachi Plaza Protest, Boyle Heights (Los Angeles)

Copyright David Goldman 2024

Date of Work May 2020 - May 2020

Updated Jun 2020

Topics Activism, Black Lives Matter, Civil Rights, Corruption, Discrimination, Documentary, Dying/Death, Family, Fear, Human Rights, Incarceration, Photography, Photojournalism, Portraiture, Protests, Racism

On May 30th I spoke to a photojournalist acquaintance of mine to ask for a bit of guidance since he has had many years of documenting conflicts. We spoke of protecting ourselves with helmets, eye protection and a mask, after all Covid was still out to get us. We agreed to meet in the Boyle Heights section of Los Angeles at Mariachi Plaza. This is a predominantly Mexican neighborhood with working class people. We set a time of 3pm. At around 2:45 I rolled up on my motorcycle (best way to get around during a pandemic and protests) There were many people descending on the plaza. Lacking a proper helmet I simply wore my motorcycle helmet but quickly surmised that the energy was very peacful. I returned the helmet to the bike. As I started to photograph I was hearing story after story of abuses and murder of Mexican and Indigenous people at the hands of police in LA for decades. Family after family took the mic to tell their stories. Broken familys and lost loves. It was heart breaking. The crowd was supportive and peaceful. My friend never showed, he was at Beverly and Fairfax covering what turned out to be a violent and dangerous scene. His images made the cover of the NY Times :)

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David Goldman

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