Start with an exhibit that connects to Ozomatli’s community-based, activism roots. In Sinks: Places We Call Home presented by Self Help Graphics & Art at Luckman Galleries at Cal State, artists Maru García and Beatriz Jaramillo highlight how communities of color are hardest hit by environmental injustice, specifically water toxicity. The artists illuminate the inequalities through their data-driven research and personal stories from affected neighborhoods.

Self Help Graphics & Art is based in Boyle Heights. The neighborhood is also home to Hollenbeck Park, a beautiful site that Pacheco feels is overlooked. “A place like Hollenbeck Park is really kind of fascinating because Boyle Heights was a wealthy neighborhood in the early part of the 20th century,” he explains. “Before and into the 50s, if you were a certain race, you couldn’t buy property in certain parts of the city. But Boyle Heights was an open covenant area so it was very mixed.

Pacheco has always valued the bridges of LA in part because they can represent, in one architectural moment, both the separating and also the joining of different political and cultural communities.I see the bridge as this beautiful attempt to, like, connect, and it's a beautiful piece of art. I love driving over it. And I hope that it's a symbol of how LA and maybe even the world can keep trying to have shared spaces that serve us all. It's worth trying, you know? That's how I feel.”

“Before my mom passed away, I used to take her to Olvera Street on the weekends,” says Bella. “They have a rotation of DJs and they play great music and everybody just dances, right? It’s super cool. I always loved taking my mom because she was already wheelchair bound, but she loved to watch people have fun. There are all these characters there, all these regulars who show up every week to get their boogie on. It’s great because we’re all connected in that."

The cultural center Plaza de la Raza in Lincoln Park is the next stop. “The park was a location of what was known as the walkouts in the 60s,” explains Pacheco. “It was the hub of the student Chicano movement. So high school students were walking out of their schools during the height of the Vietnam War. Today, it’s an established center with many functions: They offer classes in acting, writing, painting. There’s a gallery. It's a well-rounded representation of the community."

Next up on the tour is Estrada Courts, a public housing complex, where in the 1970s a series of powerful murals were painted, part of the Chicano Civil Rights Movement. “The whole mural tradition is a big thing in East LA and in Latin America in general,” says Bella, “so that’s a pretty cool and significant place as far as art and history are concerned.”

Right near Estrada Courts is Mariscos Quatro Vientos, a restaurant that makes some of Bella’s favorite tacos. “You can actually see some of the murals from outside the restaurant,” he says. “They have this shrimp taco. It's award winning. They put mint in and deep fry it, and then they cover it with avocado and salsa. It's so good.”

In the Vincent Price Art Museum at East LA College, you’ll find We Place Life at the Center, an multi-disciplinary exhibition featuring artist Carolina Caycedo. Born in LA to Colombian parents, Caycedo’s work is rooted in environmental research and environmental justice and her exhibition includes educational outreach to East LA school communities.

Bella recommends two more restaurants, both in the Bell and Maywood neighborhoods, not far from where he grew up. The first is La Casita Mexicana, helmed by chefs Jaime Martín Del Campo and Ramiro Arvizu. “Their big claim to fame was that they beat Bobby Flay on his show, [Throwdown with Bobby Flay],” laughs Bella. “It was that thing where Bobby Flay shows up and tries to outdo you at your own dish. Oh, these guys were like, ‘Nah.’ And they beat him. That's a great restaurant."

There’s also Rocio's Mexican Kitchen in Maywood, one of the few restaurants here in the hood that has a Michelin star. Rocio’s has amazing mole.”