by Elpidio R. Estioko
In my last column, I featured San Diego having a Filipino mayor in the person of Todd Gloria.
This week’s issue features another FilAm making history as the leading candidate, and most likely the first Filipino to be elected to the Los Angeles City Council.
FilAm candidate Ysabel Jurado rallied voters to get out last week to be part of the historic event of unity and cross-racial solidarity in a district roiled by scandal, division, and corruption in the city’s 4th district.
The last-ditch three-pronged strategy by Jurado called for a rally, a get-out-the-vote canvass, and a new ad “Your Story is My Story!”
Jurado called for “a show of unity for Angelenos from all walks of life to come together to support the CD-14 frontrunner, highlighting her growing multigenerational, multi-ethnic coalition” in her quest for her candidacy to the LA City Council.
Since Jurado tested positive for COVID-19, she was not physically present during the rally but addressed the crowd virtually via a projector.
The rally served as a powerful testament to the broad, multicultural, multigenerational support Jurado has gained across the city—from families, young activists, and working-class Angelenos to labor unions, respected institutions, elected officials, and community leaders.
The powerful ad “Your Story Is My Story” was directed and produced by born-and-raised Northeast Los Angeles filmmaker Rocio Paredes and filmed by lifelong Boyle Heights resident Armando Velez.
The ad featured images of Jurado as a teen mother on food stamps, her immigrant parents upon their arrival in the United States, and historic photographs of civil rights icons Dolores Huerta and Larry Itliong as well as recent footage of Jurado alongside Huerta, highlighting the deep connections between Latino and Filipino struggles for justice.
The release of the video ad “Your Story Is My Story”, came almost exactly two years after the infamous “leaked-fed tapes” that surfaced on October 8, 2022, where Kevin de León and other City Council members were caught making anti-indigenous, homophobic, racist remarks and conspiring to gerrymander districts to dilute Black voting power.
Two years later, the district is still healing from the wounds inflicted by De León’s rhetoric and corrupt efforts to manipulate the redistricting process.
The ad also came just a day after a bombshell report from the Los Angeles Times unveiled a new development following California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s investigation into Los Angeles’ contentious 2021 redistricting process.
The report revealed that De León and his colleagues likely violated the Voting Rights Act and, in fact, actively disenfranchised Latino voters to enrich their own political power.
As the LA Times reported, “This is sadly not the first time Eastside voters, especially Latino residents, have been used as political pawns by City Hall insiders’ intent on enriching themselves or increasing their own power,” said Ysabel Jurado.
“That’s why now, more than ever, we must come together as one community to unite against the systems that try to divide us, exploit us, and hold us down. That’s the message we’ve been projecting for the entirety of this race, and that’s the message we hope to share in our new ad.”
A lifelong resident of CD-14, Jurado, brings both personal and professional experience to the race. And, as an eviction defense attorney, single mother, and daughter of immigrants, she has lived the challenges faced by many residents in the district.
Jurado’s campaign earned first place in the primary election in a crowded field of eight candidates.
Supporters came from Los Angeles District 1 Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, Los Angeles District 4 Councilmember Nithya Raman, Los Angeles District 13 Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez, Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia, the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, Dolores Huerta, State Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, Speaker Emeritus Anthony Rendon, SEIU 2015, SEIU 721, CHIRLA Action Fund, 2022 mayoral candidate Gina Viola, LAUSD School Board member Rocio Rivas, LAUSD Board President Jackie Goldberg, the East Area Progressive Democrats, UTLA, the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters, Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, California Women’s List, Run for Something, Initiate Justice, former Los Angeles District 11 Councilmember Mike Bonin, Culver City Mayor Emeritus Dr. Daniel Wayne Lee, Stonewall Democrats, LPAC, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), SEIU/CIR, UAW6, EAA, PALAD, Democratic Socialists of America – LA, and Ground Game LA.
ELPIDIO R. ESTIOKO was a veteran journalist in the Philippines and an award-winning journalist here in the US. He just published his book Unlocking the chain of Poverty: In Pursuit of the American Dream which is now available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Xlibris Publishing. For feedbacks, comments… please email author at estiokoelpidio@gmail.com.
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