Wilmington: Where There’s Heart, There’s Hope

PHOTO BY PATRICK RANGE MCDONALD

Wilmington is affectionately called “Wilmas, Califas” by many of its residents, a term that many believe originated from the Pachuco movement of the 1930s and 40s. Along with the 55,000-plus people that call Wilmington home, there are industrial companies that have coexisted with the community for a long time. The community's relationship with the refineries has been very challenging at times, with many people not agreeing on how they feel about their industrial neighbors.

Like much of Los Angeles, Wilmington's population is a product of the Latin American diaspora. Chain migratory patterns are exemplified in the large Michoacán community that seems to have relocated itself to Wilmington (although it is not the only Latin American community present). I, like many of the people in Wilmington, am a daughter of migrants. This is a place where many people have transnational identities, a place where cultures mixing can be seen by the various Virgen de Guadalupe paintings on storefronts and the alternative styles of the youth...

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