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The Untold Story Behind LA's Most Iconic Symbol | Capítulo 285 · Locatora Radio [A Radiophonic Novela]

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: You know, when we think of Los Angeles, a lot
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: of the times we think about Hollywood. We think about
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: the big studios. We think about, you know, Santa Monica.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: What I think makes the palm tree so iconic to
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Los Angeles as a whole is that You can be
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: in on our side of L.A., you can be on
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: the south side, the southeast side, you can be even
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: in Long Beach and there are palm trees. And so
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: in ways where, you know, when we hear people talk
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: about L.A. and we're like, that's not the L.A.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: We know. Yes.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: And we also know that there are palm trees on
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: our side of L.A. and even in East L.A., right,
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: in Boyle Heights. And so I think that's one of
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: the reasons that there is a strong connection to palm trees,
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: because it's not just in a specific part of L.A.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: It's throughout L.A., Hola.
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: Hola, Locamores. I'm Diosa.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: And I'm Mala.
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: You're listening to Locatora Radio.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: A radiophonic novella.
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: Which is just an extra way of saying... A podcast.
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: It's Latino Hispanic Heritage Month.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: It's that time of the year where Latinos exist to
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: the rest of the country.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: It is Latino slash Hispanic Heritage Month.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: I think a lot of us have really complicated feelings
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: with this month. On the one hand, there's a lot
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: of work, a lot of extra opportunities, but sometimes it
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: feels like the rest of the year can be really quiet.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: And so I think that there's like a love and
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: hate relationship with this month.
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: But I do respect... what it is about, right?
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: Honoring and recognizing the contributions of Latinos in this country specifically.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I feel like this Hispanic Heritage Month has been
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: a little dry as far as opportunities.
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: I've been seeing that across the board. I've been seeing
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: people who work in PR, who work with brands, have
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: been talking about that, about how this year it's a
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: lot more quiet than previous years.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: Where are the brand deals?
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: They don't exist.
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: Where are the campaigns?
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: The DEI funding is dry.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: It's gone. Our inbox is full, make no mistake, full
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: of interview requests and artists on tour and film premieres.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: But I'm not seeing those branded campaigns, those Hispanic Heritage
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: Month spots like we did in past years. It's very interesting.
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: Very, very interesting.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: So it's like our people are working. The artists are working.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: The artists are hustling. But yeah, the big funding from
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: the big brands is clearly not there.
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: And there's also a lot of like questions around like
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: which brands we should be working with right now. And
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: so I think that also further complicates like if a
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: brand does have funding and they are offering it to you,
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: is that a brand you want to align yourself with?
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: Like there's all these other questions at play. I think
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: in the last couple of years, maybe than years prior.
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no brand is truly safe. You have to do
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: some deep research to find out, are they pro-Palestine? Are
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: they pro-Israel? Are they funding ICE? Like, are they Trumpers?
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: You really have to dig. And it's not always obvious
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: or on the surface.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. It's hard to be a working artist, you know,
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: because a lot of the opportunities that do come, at
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: least in the last couple of years, have been brands.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: Brands are becoming their own production houses in a lot
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: of ways. And so it's this time, this... Things are
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: evolving very quickly. And so I think we're all trying
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: to figure out what makes the most sense.
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: For us as artists.
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: And how do we survive?
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: How do we survive?
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: How did you launch your Hispanic Heritage Month this year?
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: What have you done to celebrate and to kick things off?
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: Well, I was actually reprimanded by my best friend, Jackie,
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: because it was Mexican Independence Day. And she texted in
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: our group chat with Fernando, my husband, my partner. And
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: she says, I don't want to be this person. I
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: don't want to start any drama. But I did notice
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: that someone posted about Peruvian Independence Day and did not
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: post about Mexican Independence Day.
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: And I was like, you know what, girl? The day
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  Speaker 3: has just started.
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 3: Also.
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: Give me a chance.
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: Also, I actually moderated a panel, and it was this
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: film that documented, like, how artists were surviving during Alberto
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: Fujimori's reign back in the 90s. And now his daughter
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: is in office as well. So I was not celebrating
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: this past 28 de Julio, for the record. So.
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: Independence days are always weird.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: You know, nationalism is weird, but this is part of the,
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: I think, Latin American diaspora experience, the feels.
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: How about you? Because you were just in Mexico, and
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: you missed El Grito.
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: I did not miss El Grito. I went to Leon
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: Trotsky's house.
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: What?
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  Speaker 2: In Mexico City to celebrate El Grito. I mean, it
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: was El Grito Eve. It was the 15th.
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: But you weren't at El Zocalo is what I mean.
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: No, I was on a plane.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: Yes.
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  Speaker 2: Back to L.A. But in lieu of going to El Zocalo,
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: I went to Leon Trotsky's house. And I did I
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: did a tour and which is the second time I've
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: been to Leon Trotsky's house because I went out to
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: El Museo Trotsky when I was in high school. My
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: high school took me to Leon Trotsky's house in Mexico City.
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: And it was amazing. No, I left the country on,
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: you know, the eve of Latino Heritage Month to go
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: to my my college roommate's wedding in Mexico City. And
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: it was fun. It was fabulous. I love Mexico City.
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  Speaker 2: We had a great time. And we saw the preparations
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: for El Grito and like everybody was getting ready. And
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: you can just tell like the city was about to
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: go off. So me and my partner were talking about
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: how we have to go back next year to experience
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: it because I'm sure it's incredible.
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: Yeah. That's amazing. I'm glad you had a nice time.
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: I had a very nice time. I went to a
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: really great restaurant, Masala y Maiz.
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: Oh, yeah.
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  Speaker 2: And it was fab. I highly recommend.
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: Yes, yes. That one, people rave about that one.
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: Yes. It's all over socials right now. People are loving it.
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: It's a Mexico City restaurant. local chef and her husband,
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: who's from the Bay Area, they started this restaurant and
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: it really blends the cultures of East Africa, the Middle East,
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: and Mexico to make like really fire cuisine. So if
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: you're in the city, check it out.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: I think our friend Daniel Hernandez over at the LA
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: Times also wrote.
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  Speaker 3: About that restaurant.
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: Oh, I'm not surprised. He would.
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: He is on the up and up before anybody else is.
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah.
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: As the food editor of the LA Times. And former.
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: He lived in Mexico City for so long.
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: And he wrote a book, Down and Out in Mexico City.
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: Yes, yes, yes.
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  Speaker 2: Hi, Daniel.
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: Hi, Daniel.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: Hope to see you soon. We miss you. So this
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: is our annual Hispanic Heritage Month episode. And I think
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: we wanted to have a little bit of a different approach.
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  Speaker 2: And we wanted to explore a very hyper local L.A.
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  Speaker 2: perspective about a symbol of L.A. that holds special significance
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  Speaker 2: for Latino and indigenous communities. This symbol is synonymous with
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: California beaches, Hollywood movies, and it has a deeper and
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: more complicated history than I think many of us know
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  Speaker 2: or realize. We are talking about the palm tree, palmas,
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  Speaker 2: and how a new documentary seeks to explore the complicated
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: roots of L.A. palm trees in light of the Trump
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: administration and the current immigration crisis. crisis. This documentary is
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: called Las Palmas, but we're going to start with the L.A.
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: palm tree. I mean, we love our palm trees, right?
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  Speaker 1: Yes, it's definitely, like you said, an iconic staple. You know,
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: when we think of Los Angeles, a lot of the
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: times we think about Hollywood, we think about the big studios,
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: we think about, you know.
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  Speaker 3: Santa Monica.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: But I What I think makes the palm trees so
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  Speaker 1: iconic to Los Angeles as a whole is that you
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: can be in on our side of L.A., you can
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: be on the south side, the southeast side, you can
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: be even in Long Beach and there are palm trees.
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: And so in ways where, you know, when we hear
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: people talk about L.A. and we're like, that's not the L.A.
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: We know.
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: Yes.
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  Speaker 1: And we also know that there are palm trees on
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: our side of L.A. and even in East L.A., right,
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: in Boyle Heights. And so I think that's one of
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: the reasons that there is a strong connection to palm trees,
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: because it's not just in a specific part of L.A.,
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  Speaker 1: it's throughout L.A.
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Palm trees are all over. I mean, you can
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: even go to the desert. You can go to Palm
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: Springs and see palm trees. And what's interesting is that
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: a lot of our palm trees are were transplanted here.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: in order to create the aesthetic of Los Angeles as
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: an exotic locale, and especially in light of the film
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: industry and Hollywood. Palm trees and Hollywood are very much synonymous,
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: but not all palm trees are transplanted. We do have
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: native breeds of palm trees. Like if you do go
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: to Palm Springs, there's a hike there called the Andreas Trail.
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  Speaker 2: And there's a literal oasis there, a natural river and
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: reeds growing out of the river and really, really, really
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  Speaker 2: old palm trees that have been there for like hundreds,
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: if not thousands of years. So it's really interesting because
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  Speaker 2: I think it's very, indicative and symbolic of LA communities.
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  Speaker 2: We have native communities and we have communities also from
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: all over the world. And I think it's really interesting
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: to think about like why this particular tree was brought
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: here and like why we love it so much and
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: how it's just become this iconic symbol for the city.
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: We're also going to be diving into the complicated reasons.
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: Palm trees are hard to maintain and all of the
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: labor that also goes into that. So as we do
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: here on Locatora, we're going to be talking about palm trees,
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  Speaker 1: not just as the symbol, but also from the cultural
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: perspective and the sociological perspective.
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: So palm trees like the Mexican fan palms have been
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: in the region for centuries. and actually hold special relationships
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: for LA's Indigenous communities. And what I think is interesting
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: is that you can find palm trees in a lot
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: of different places throughout the world.
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: Don't go anywhere, Locamores. We'll be right back.
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: And in the United States, not just in LA, but
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: in a place like Miami, there's a lot of palm trees.
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: And there's also large Latino communities in Miami. And I'm
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: sure that if you were to ask Miami Latinos, they
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: would tell you that they love their palm trees and
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: that they hold meaning for them, especially folks who are
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: from places like Puerto Rico and Cuba, Caribbean nations, where
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: they also have palm trees. And Central American nations where
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: there are palm trees, places like Jamaica and the Bahamas,
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: and there's palm trees all over Mexico and palm trees
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: in Africa and different Asian countries. So I just feel
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: like for people of color, for people from hot climates,
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: from tropical climates, you're going to find palm trees and
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: there's likely a cultural connection to them. And so although
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: we have palm trees species that have been here for centuries,
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: we also have palm trees that have been brought from
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: other parts of the world. And we still are finding
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: and maintaining like cultural connections to them. And I think
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: that's very fascinating. Yeah.
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: I mean, there's a connection to be made about something
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: being brought over here to create an image and then
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: becomes represent representative of this place. And then in this
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: case in Los Angeles, um, And in the same way
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: folks migrate here to Los Angeles, right, and then also
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: make up what the city is, how great it is,
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: the culture that's here, there's a parallel there in the
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: palm tree and migration, and then it becoming, like, synonymous
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: with each other.
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: And then sort of the general public also maybe not
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: knowing which tree— was brought from somewhere else and which
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: tree has been here for centuries. And I think that
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: also happens between immigrant Latino communities and indigenous communities that
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: are indigenous to Southern California. There's sort of, unless you
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: ask or unless you're told, you might make assumptions that
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: we're all one people with the same origin story, but
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: that's not necessarily the case. There are these nuances and distinctions,
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: but we're all here together at the at the end
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: of it all. And I think a lot of like
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: movies and TV shows open with images of palm trees.
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: I mean, a lot of reality TV that's set in L.A.,
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: just even back to old Hollywood cinema, the palm tree
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: is very cinematic. The palm tree is beautiful on camera.
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: And I feel like the palm tree is like a
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: movie star in its own right at this point. Absolutely.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: I mean, even on a personal level, when I'm running
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: at the beach and I'm snapping a photo, I'm getting
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: the palm tree. I'm not necessarily getting the ocean. Our
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: oceans are not that beautiful. We have access to them.
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: But, you know, they're not as pretty as other beaches.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: But I'm snapping a photo of the palm tree. And
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: if the beach is in the background, lovely. But that
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: is what makes it so beautiful and cinematic in the
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: photo that I'm taking while I'm at the beach.
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely. One hundred percent. On my way over here,
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: I was doing some selfie videos of me primping in
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: the car and the palm tree is like behind me.
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: And of course, I'm going to capture that because what
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: says glamour like palm trees in the back of an
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: Uber on the way to the studio? I mean, that's glamour.
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: Living the dream.
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: Living the dream, right? I love it. And one of
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: our favorite brands, Belladonna, the palm tree is a big
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: symbol for that brand. Like, it's iconic.
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: I mean, I think there are homegrown brands, right? L.A.-based
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: brands who really rep... the beauty diversity of Los Angeles,
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: specifically within Latino culture. And the palm tree is part
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: of that. And so you'll see it in their branding.
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: You'll see it in the merch that they create because
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: we do see the palm tree as some, as a
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: symbol of Los Angeles, but like our Los Angeles. And again,
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: like moving beyond this, picture-perfect perception of Los Angeles that's
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: Hollywood and Santa Monica and the West Side, the palm
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: tree for us is all of L.A. It's the parts
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: that no one wants to go to, the parts that
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: are on the other side of the 10 or down
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: the 5. And I think that that's, again, part of
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: why we feel attached to them.
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah. And it's not just the visual or where they exist,
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: but we also love like our coconut based products. I mean,
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: our palm trees are not giving off coconuts that we
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: can eat. But in general, like we love agua de coco.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: Like I love a coconut paleta. I think that like
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: we love also like the byproducts of a palm tree
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: in our food, in our drink.
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: So true.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: It's a big part of like traveling to a place
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: where there are palm trees is like getting a fresh
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: coconut and coconut water. You know, it's kind of like
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: this this 360 experience you can have with a palm tree. True.
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: Which I find very fascinating as well.
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: Another thing we want to get into is moving beyond
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: the glitz, the glamour. and the culture that we associate
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: the palm tree with. There's some interesting facts about palm trees.
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: One is that they're actually pretty dangerous to maintain. While
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: they are a beautiful symbol of Los Angeles and our
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: diverse communities, they're not universally loved And they actually do
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: present certain dangers, especially to the folks who maintain them.
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: So think about any arborist, any worker who has to
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: climb up, right, and trim them and maintain them. It
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: is a difficult and dangerous job that is actually done
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: predominantly by our community, by Hispanic or Latino men. Experienced,
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: skilled Latino crews and specialized climbers handle towering Mexican fan
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: palms and Canary Island date palms, some of which can
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: grow up to 100 feet tall.
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah, think about those, like, super skinny, super tall palm trees.
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: Somebody is literally climbing up there with, like, a rope
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: and a harness to trim the fronds.
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: The reason they also have to be trimmed is because
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: they are fire hazards.
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: As we know, L.A.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: Is very dry. We've had a very hot summer, by
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: the way, but not a dry summer.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: Thank God. It's been a humid summer.
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: Which has been.
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: Another— it' s another conversation. It shouldn't be humid here. But typically, like—
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: we do live, there's a lot of fire hazards, right?
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: Just living here in LA. And there's so many reasons
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: for that. I think one of the biggest reasons is
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: that prior when the native folks of this land were
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: actually tending to this land, they were caretakers of this land.
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: They were intentionally burning parts of the land to prevent
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: these hazardous fires. But now we have palm trees and
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: also a lot of plants that aren't necessarily conducive to
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: our climate. And that does add to the fire hazards,
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: among a lot of other things. But that's one of
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: the reasons that palm trees have to be maintained. And
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: trimming them has resulted in a number of tree trimming
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: related deaths suffered predominantly by Hispanic men.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know if you've ever seen someone trim
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: a palm tree, but it's like very hazardous and it's
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: scary just to see it happen. And I remember once
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: driving down Hollywood Boulevard and they were chopping down a
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: palm tree. So they had to stop traffic on both sides.
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: And then this giant palm just comes crashing down across
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: all lanes of Hollywood Boulevard. And then this crew goes
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: out with their chainsaws and chops it up into a
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: bunch of pieces and removes it. And they were so fast.
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: But yeah, it's so wild. And I have a friend, Bettina,
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: and her father, who is a much older senor, he
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: is like a professional lifelong tree trimmer. And he is
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: one of those men who... who climbs up and trims
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: the palm trees. And he still does it in his
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: older years. And so I think it's really interesting, too,
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: about the Latino labor and how it is predominantly Latino labor,
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: skilled labor, that maintains the trees and therefore this aspect
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: of the city. And I don't know... too much about
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: like if they're unionized, about their pay scale, like the
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: protections for them. But it's just this very fascinating piece
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: of all of this.
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: And I think that's the constant argument about like Latino labor,
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: specifically in Los Angeles and even Hollywood, right? There's a
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: lot of Latino labor and crew, quote, back of the house,
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: but it's not always like front and center, but it's always,
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: always there. And there is this invisible labor. And when
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: labor is invisible, right, there's less protections, there's less care,
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: there's less knowing of harm.
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: And I think that this is one of those examples.
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah. And on the piece about the fire hazard, California
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: Edison actually put out a study back in 2021, but
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: I'm sure that it still stands today. And I think
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: the number was like 80,000 palm trees that were fire
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: hazards and like electrical hazards. And that also needed this
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: constant maintenance. So there's like a high chance of workplace injuries.
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: And most residents, however, like don't want their palm trees removed.
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: Right. And palm trees, as much as we love them,
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: they don't actually provide shade. And don't go anywhere, Locamores.
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: We'll be right.
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: Back.
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: There's also, you know, in the city....
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: Inequities when it comes to tree canopies. So you'll go
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: to more affluent parts of the city and you will
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: see a lot of shade, a lot of tree canopies,
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: a lot of coverage. So folks can actually walk comfortably
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: down their neighborhood, around their block to run their errands.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: They can actually be in their neighborhood. You go to
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: other parts of Los Angeles and it's cement. There's lots
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: of palm trees, but there is not necessarily tree canopies.
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: And there's maps of this, of L.A., where you can
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: see the different areas where there are no tree canopies
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: and no shade coverage. And that is an inequity issue.
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: And it's in specific neighborhoods, predominantly black and brown ones.
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: And trees... keep a place nice and cool, like leafy
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: trees with big branches and lots of leaves. So in
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: these places with not enough shade, they're also much hotter.
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: So the quality of life overall is impacted. And this
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: also begs the question, is a palm tree a tree?
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: And technically, according to many botanists, Botanists define trees very narrowly.
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: According to the Miami Herald, botanists define trees as woody
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: plants with secondary growth. And palms actually lack secondary growth
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: and wood. Their wood-like epidermis is created through thickening and lignification.
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: So they're not actually made of wood. And they're more
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: like big, giant herbs because they don't have branches and leaves.
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: They have palm fronds. So the reason they don't provide
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: shade is because they're not really trees. They're giant herbs,
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: which I also find really interesting. Their close relatives, the
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: closest relatives to palm trees are grasses, bamboos, bananas and sedges.
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: So this also has to do with like the lack
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: of shade that they give because they don't function that
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: way because they're not trees.
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: Mm hmm.
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: That is so interesting. This is so nerdy. I know.
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: I did not think we'd be talking about botany.
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: Of course. I love it.
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: Okay, so tell me now about the film.
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: Okay, so like we were saying at the top of
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: the episode, palm trees, they're not really trees. They're dangerous.
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: They're fire hazards. They're beautiful. They are icons. They are
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: symbols of Los Angeles and Southern California. We love our
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: palm trees, although our relationship to them is complicated. And
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: palm trees are highly cinematic. They've made their mark in photography, film,
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: and television. From Kendrick Lamar music videos to the golden
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: era of Hollywood cinema, the palm tree is a main
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: character and a celebrity in its own right. And palm
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: trees also are not doing very well in the city.
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: They're dying.
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: And.
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: The palm tree is the subject of a new documentary
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: called Palmas. Palmas explores the complexities of LA palm trees, history, culture,
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: and their relationship to Latinx and native communities. So Palmas
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: actually started as a short film, a short documentary that's
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: been doing the festival circuit and doing so well. They
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: won best documentary and they recently screened at the New
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: York Latino Film Festival. And so one of the questions
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: that the short seeks to answer is, can the palm
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: tree be a symbol of stability for a city experiencing
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: constant displacement? And the film is from filmmakers Eric Lopez
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: and Ana Flavia Brasiani. And it's now being adapted into
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: a feature film, a feature-length documentary with the support of
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: fiscal sponsor SMP Rise, which is very exciting. This is... again,
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: a very interesting take on Latino identity, Latino history and culture,
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: and the Latino experience here in Los Angeles. And we
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: at Locatora Productions, Diosa and I, are actually consulting, contributing
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: producers for the feature film for Las Palmas. And Las
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: Palmas picks up where the short film left off, and
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: we are bringing the history of palm trees and Latino
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: displacement into the current moment and understanding these histories in
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: light of the Trump administration and the terror of ICE
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: raids that have been inflicted on our Latino immigrant communities.
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: So in order to get this story told and to
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: explore these roots, in order to grow, We are launching
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: a fundraising campaign. It's 100 Days to 100K starting October 7th.
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: We are going to link the fundraiser link. It's a
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: Zephyr link in the show note of this episode. It's
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: going to be it's in the link. It's in our bios,
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: the link to the fundraiser on Instagram. And you can
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: also find it on our website. And the 100-day fundraiser
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: is going to culminate in a screening and a big
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: party at the top of 2027. So for Latino Heritage Month,
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: help us get this Latino story told and get this
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: film made and contribute to the fundraiser.
• 26:00
  Speaker 3: Amazing.
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: There are so many stories left to tell. And I'm
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: so glad that we get to be a part of
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: this one in one small way. And we get to
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: learn more about the palm trees, our community, and I
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: haven't seen this angle just yet. So I'm excited that
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: they're exploring it in this way.
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that we love our palm trees. I
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: think we put them on camera, but we don't know them.
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: And I think this film is attempting to know the
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: roots of the palm tree better and to find that
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: connection to our current moment. And it's exploratory. It's a documentary.
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: So we don't know what's going to happen. You know,
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: we have to make it. We have to film it.
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: We have to conduct the interviews. We have to go
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: out into the field and we have to learn more
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: and help us to make that happen and hit the
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: link and contribute to the Zephy to the fundraiser.
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to another capítulo of Locadora Radio.
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: We'll catch you next time.
• 27:00
  Speaker 3: Besitos.