The Down-And-Out Bear of Boyle Heights
He calls himself Chinito. Last I looked, the derogatory term means “Little Chinese man” within Latino communities. He is Japanese. “That’s what the neighbors all call me,” he proffers by way of explanation.
“Little Chinaman!?” I’m incredulous.
“Yeah. Close enough.”
Chinito lives in Boyle Heights, not far from Self Help Graphics. His neighbors raise roosters. Yesterday he broke the news that the Latin Playboy is now up for lease, lucrative three- months-free offer tacked to its shopping cart-barricaded door. Today’s an altogether different story. From Chinito in the Heights and, by association, all of us gathered here in the Sandalwood Conference Room at the Marina Del Rey Courtyard Marriott, we give you:
The Down-And-Out Bear of Boyle Heights (cue downtrodden cartoon music)
