Michael Montenegro, founder of Chicano Culture SB, last week introduced the rich discussions from Los Angeles Times food editor, former assistant TV reporter, “Chingon” Daniel Hernandez to Santa Barbara, as well as his diverse career as a journalist. did.
Montenegro hosted Hernandez for a 45-minute discussion at the Center Stage Theater and a reception at the Museum of Contemporary Art.
Hernandez recounted his story of growing up on the San Diego-Mexico border. He then recounted how he found his love for journalism in the library through reading and writing, and accidentally found his love through a brother who accidentally took a high school journalism course. One day he opened a book and fell in love.
“I’ve started reading and found it to be very appealing, so you can combine both your love of writing and service to the community,” Hernandez said of around 70 people. He told the crowd. “That connection clicked in my head really quickly, so this is this for me and I think this is what I really want to do.”
Hernandez and Montenegro slowly said Bana on stage as the two walked through Hernandez’s career and some of his main stories.
He previously worked as a staff writer for the Director of Mexico, LA Weekly. Associate News correspondent, reporter for Styles at the New York Times, and led the renewal of local site La Taco in 2017. He received his degree from the University of California, Berkeley and was the editor of the campus newspaper The Daily Californian.
He also wrote a non-fiction book, “Down & Delirious’s Mexico City.”
“I was 26 at the time so I thought I would focus on the youth,” he said. “I’ve noticed that Mexico, a very young Latino, has these kinds of opportunities.”
While he was writing the book, the publisher fired his editor.
“They wanted my title to be a new young editor who has never been to Mexico, an Ohio man, and they were going to read my manuscript,” he said.
However, the book was a success and he said he focused on the Mexican diaspora, his self-journey, and that he was truly Mexican.
“I was often told in Spanish that I was just a gringo. Often I am said to be ‘vomit’ on the streets.
They use it as a compliment, he said.
“If they’re trying to sell you something, they’ll say, ‘Guero, Guero, Guero, I’ll buy this,'” he said.
At the same time, he said that he was basically called a “cultural mat” because he was from the US.
“I took it as a challenge and it was a way to assert myself in Mexican stories,” he said.
He said the book urged many Mexican-Americans to check out Mexico.
“I’m not from Mexico City,” he said. “This is a native story. It is a story of a visitor, a guest, and an end up sinking.”
Hernandez spoke about the story he dealt with the Mexican drug lord and spoke of a vice entitled “Inside El Chapo’s Drug Tunnel.”
He wrote about the explosion of punk and drugs on the underground East Side of Los Angeles, gay-friendly clubs and Los Angeles’ lowrider culture during the 2021 Covid-19 pandemic.
“Many stories that took place on this topic were based on East LA, Hernandez said. “But I wanted to live in East La by myself, and I was in Orange County and Riverside, Pomona and San Fernando Valley. I’ve started going on a cruise.”
After months of research, he focused on a cruise that took place on Van Nice Boulevard on Saturday night. He researched the topic and realized that cruises date back to the 1950s drag racing era. He said he tried to maintain his actual profile and would not let people know the stories he was working on.
“A lot of the stories I’m interested in happen very early in the morning or late at night. They’re in weekends and in strange places,” he said. “I work so I tell people I can’t do anything on Saturday nights.”
He began talking to people and began collecting stories.
“Every car has a story,” he said. “Every car that someone loves has a story.”
He said that politically California’s liberals are away from gas as fuel.
“The liberal discourse is to ride your bike,” he said, adding that he is a cyclist.
“My dad owns a vintage car. That was my entrance and that was my cultural connection to the story,” Hernandez said.
Montenegro hosted a lowrider and bike event in Santa Barbara.
“You captured the essence of Cultura at the time,” Montenegro said.
Montenegro wore a shirt saying, “There’s no guacamole for those who hate immigrants.”
Hernandez, food editor for the LA Times, is a former editor of La Taco, combining octopus culture and ethnic food culture with news. His path to top position was unconventional.
“I’m probably the only known drug war correspondent food journalist in the history of journalism,” Hernandez said. “I’m not embarrassed about that.”
Most of his works edit authors, but recently he shared a recipe for guacamole before the Super Bowl. His recipes: guacamole, serrano chili, lime juice, crushed raw garlic, cilantro, a bit of sea salt.
He learned from his days in Mexico to drink beer and bake nopal and khan. It’s spicy, hot, and onions are not allowed.
The print story headline says, “It’s time to drop onions and tomatoes from guacamole.”
He said the recipe sparked a lot of controversy.
“A lot of people were upset,” he said. “I read the comments. I don’t care. It doesn’t make me mad. I dealt with criticism from the start.”
Hernandez also said he liked “accountability journalism for an institution that matters to us.”
He had people protest him in East Los Angeles. But his reporting of drugs in Mexico prepared him for anything that happens in the US
“Do you know what I’ve been through in Mexico?” he said. “This is nothing.”
His response to the guacamole pillar produced responses from readers who people sent their recipes.
“There was a woman who said she put pears in guacamole,” he said. “My little recipes are milder than some of what we got.”
The event was the latest in Montenegro, hosting the Chicano Culture event in Santa Barbara and having the popular Instagram page Chicano Curtainsb. Wine was served by food by @bibijisb, food by @rascalsvegan, food by @licoresperros.us
