L.A.’s Oaxacan community showed up to City Hall in full force on Monday, Indigenous Peoples Day, to denounce the racist remarks made public over the weekend against them by former City Council President Nury Martinez. At 10 AM, CIELO (Comunidades Indigenas en Liderazgo) held a press meeting denouncing Martinez’s hurtful words, and at nighttime, the co-founder of CIELO, Odilia Romero, organized a Oaxacan band to play their traditional music in resistance.
Mexican and Central American Indigenous peoples are the backbone of most restaurant kitchens in Los Angeles. There are more than 200,000 Oaxacans who call L.A. home, one of the largest outside of Mexico, and as a result, L.A. has some of the best Oaxacan restaurants in the country.
Specifically, Martinez addressed Oaxaqueños in Koreatown, which is the epicenter of Oaxacan restaurants in L.A.
In solidarity, here are seven Indigenous-owned Oaxacan restaurants to support.