“We are not born rich, and we have a pride for something we like doing, and our mind just becomes creative to do different things,” says Julian Anguiano, owner of Mystyx Kafe. Street vendors line the sidewalks in Boyle Heights, providing locals with accessible and affordable meals every day. Their contribution to the community goes beyond what they sell and is based heavily on what they represent; cultural identity, union, and tradition.
The clock strikes four AM. Outside Boyle Heights, the sky is still dark. Hundreds of street vendors have made their way out of bed, preparing and setting up for what will be a long, busy day. Locals are greeted by the smell of freshly homemade tamales and champurrado. Across the street, another vendor has set up a coffee stand, the first of its kind. More and more street vendors arrive, each unique in their own right, providing only their best work in hopes of earning just enough to get by.
One of the hardest tasks when trying to capture the true essence of street vendors was the unfortunate realization that the pandemic had made street vendors become so scarce. With everyone in quarantine, street vendors lost clientele and saw themselves facing this new reality: they were forced to adapt to an environment where people no longer strolled in the park.
I must have gone to a dozen parks in the mighty quest of finding a street vendor that would sell me a raspado or esquite, but to my surprise, I stumbled upon empty and gloomy parks with almost no one in sight. Originally established at the pandemic's peak on the corner of Cesar Chavez Avenue and Rowan Avenue in front of Superior Grocers, street vendors had found the ideal place to be newly seen and acknowledged. What once might have been just another corner became the epicenter of possibilities within this community of street vendors and small businesses. With people only making trips out for essential needs, street vendors quickly understood that gathering around a grocery store would benefit their business and a broken community that had lost their freedom and ability to come together.