REGION : Latino Event Focuses on Area’s Pollution

Community leaders will celebrate the spirit of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) next week by coming together to examine the pollution threats of southeast Los Angeles County industries.

The Nov. 13 event, “Revisitando los Muertos: Latinos y el Ambiente” (“Revisiting the Dead: Latinos and the Environment”), is sponsored by the Los Angeles-based group Citizens for a Better Environment.

Topics include “Women and the Environment” and “Latinos and the Environment.”

Speakers will include Mike Davis, a historian of the Southeast area, Reps. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Los Angeles) and Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles), Huntington Park Mayor Ric Loya, and students from the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.

It will be the inaugural event of LA CAUSA, Los Angeles Comunidades Asambleadas Unidas para un Sostenable Ambiente (Los Angeles Communities United for a Sustainable Environment).

LA CAUSA’s goals include bringing attention to problems such as the influx of toxins in the Southeast area due to the high concentration of manufacturing plants. The group will focus its activities in Huntington Park, Commerce, Bell, Cudahy, Vernon, Bell Gardens, Maywood and South Gate.

The speakers will be preceded by an exhibition of artwork by the Los Angeles-based Academia de Arte Yepes, featuring the work of George Yepes and his students.

A reception to meet the speakers and view the artwork begins at 10:30 a.m. at Huntington Park High School, 6220 Miles Ave. Admission is $25 for the exhibition and $5 for the seminar.

Information: (213) 486-5114.