Growing up in Northeast LA in the 80s and 90s was a much different experience than it is now. The whole area was a mix of street gangs, drunks and drug addicts, graffiti'd walls, taco trucks, liquor stores, carnicerias, burger stands, skate culture, bmx bikes, the Lakers, Dodgers, and Raiders, palm trees and power lines, smog, lowriders, and the beginnings of the import car scene. Oldies and Ranchera music in the neighborhood was loud. Hip-hop and G-funk was in its prime.
The neighborhood was different. It was real life. We all came from working class immigrant families - old pick-up trucks, work shirts, denim, Dickies, Ben Davis..hard work was valued and idolized. Our families were struggling, and there was always a sense of nostalgia towards where we immigrated from - for us it was the Philippines. We ate Filipino food and spoke “Tag-lish” at home. We were always told of how things were “back home”. A description of life in the provinces was always brought up whenever we needed a lesson in humility. All our old clothes and worn out shoes were collected in boxes and sent back for our cousins to use, who were pretty much living in poverty; it always felt like a reminder that we were the lucky ones growing up in the US. To a degree we were - our families were the brave ones that left to fulfill bigger dreams.
Growing up in that type of environment changes you. Witnessing first hand what it takes to make life dreams come true kept us driven. As an automotive enthusiast, the goal early in life started as acquiring the dream car. We took summer jobs, saved allowances, sold weed...whatever it took to get it. As we got older the dreams changed, but the hustle and drive stayed the same. Providing for children, buying a house, having time to drive the dream car...we're all still grinding. MAKINA is the Tagalog word for motor/machine...the mechanism that propels you forward.
MAKINA - what drives you to be great in this life?
