HANGOUTS : Culture Club : Cafe Inlakech, a ‘60s-style coffeehouse, highlights the importance of minorities and their forms of expression, a founder says.

Tables are stacked away. Indian rugs and political posters are tacked on the walls. A stage, some lighting and a mike are set up. Cafe Inlakech is ready to welcome its patrons.

The cafe, where minority talent is spotlighted, surfaces one evening a month in an office building on Oxnard’s A Street. The two men who created the ‘60s-style coffeehouse from a classroom have long been involved in promoting the arts and ethnic awareness.

Michael Mora, 42, paints murals, plays guitar and writes poetry. He has organized fund-raising concerts for projects supporting the agency AIDS Care, rain forest preservation and peace in Central America, bringing artists such as Jackson Browne to the county.

Javier Gomez, 41, describes himself as “a general.” An actor, playwright, dancer, teacher and founder/artistic director of a theater group and a dance troupe, he is involved in county and statewide arts groups.

The two joined forces to fill what they saw as a need in the community: A stage where minority artists can perform regularly and audiences can enjoy multicultural entertainment.

“The purpose of the cafe is to bring people together as audience and as performers to present a variety of disciplines--poetry, theater, music, or visual arts--and to tie them in to a third-world concept, highlighting the importance of minorities in our community and what their forms of expression are,” Gomez said.

To that end, they have booked performers such as classical guitarist Carlos Gonzales, Chicano poet Alurista and American Indian poet and activist John Trudell.

While such entertainers, who have national reputations, usually headline an evening, local artists complete the bill. A folklorico dance troupe, a 9-year-old poet and a high school guitarist have also had stage time.

Through Cafe Inlakech, Gomez said, “we can discover our talent and allow young artists to see and hear the applause of the audience and be encouraged to continue with their own style of art.” Gomez sees youngsters’ involvement in the arts as a positive alternative to involvement in gangs.

Cafe Inlakech is in the office building of El Concilio del Condado de Ventura, a social service agency serving the Latino community. Mora and Gomez were invited to use a classroom rent-free and have been doing so since February.

“As we reach the local musicians and artists, they can share the room. It’s ours to develop,” Mora said. “Month by month we develop a different theme and look at the resources available.”

The two organizers are reaching out beyond the Latino community in search of talent. “One of our sponsors is the Ventura County Multicultural Arts Council,” Mora said. “And we’d like to live up to being multicultural and get black and Asian poets, musicians, dancers involved with us.”

Some nights Cafe Inlakech is standing room only. On others, only half of the 70 seats are filled. Many patrons who only intended to come once become regulars.

Carmen Ramirez of Ventura seldom skips a Cafe Inlakech evening. She describes it as “eclectic and extremely creative and comfortable.” One of her favorite shows included a local musical group, Loco Louie and the Loosers. “Mostly it’s fun,” Ramirez said.

Lonnie Miramontes of Santa Paula sees the cafe as “honest art straight from the community, not something packaged or plastic.” He enjoys the family orientation and the emphasis on promoting culture and community arts rather than on making money.

Another regular, Linda van der Wyk, recalled a moving dramatic performance by Teatro Campensino. “I always leave richer in spirit. That’s why I keep going back,” she said. “Some shows leave you laughing in the aisles and some are very forceful.”

Part of a show may be in English, part in Spanish. A singer may switch languages from verse to verse. “We encourage performers to be as bilingual as possible,” Gomez said.

Freedom to perform in either language reveals another facet of the cafe.

“Cafe Inlakech provides cultural democracy,” said Gomez, who believes that most arts boards and auditioning teams are all Anglo and lack sensitivity toward minorities when booking acts or handing out parts.

Mora said many performers at Cafe Inlakech choose not to work mainstream clubs.

“The comedy circuit is racist and sexist and homophobic,” he said. “These folks stay out of that circuit. They develop genuinely funny things out of our culture without having to resort to sexism and racism.”

That attitude helps explain the cafe’s name. Gomez said Inlakech is a Mayan thought on the morality of human relationships that captures this spirit: “You are my other self. If I love and respect you, I love and respect myself. If I do harm to you, I do harm to myself.”

* WHERE AND WHEN

Cafe Inlakech is open one evening a month. The next performances will be “An Evening of Women’s Comedy, Poetry and Music” on Saturday at 7 p.m. at 528 South A St., Oxnard. Admission is $5, free for children.

Rosa Maria Apodaca will be the headliner, bringing her stand-up comedy act, “La Chicana de Tijuana,” from San Juan Bautista.

Luzmaria Espinosa of Santa Maria will perform poetry written out of the experience of being a woman, mother and worker in her fourth decade. She will also tell stories from American Indian and Mexican traditions.

Completing the bill will be Jennie Estrada of Oxnard, a 12-year-old who will read her own poetry, and Xochitl Gomez, an Oxnard College student performing an improvisational piece, “A Young Woman’s Dialogue With Herself.”