'La Cucaracha' creator Lalo Alcaraz gets his flowers from the Los Angeles City Council

Ethics reform, spending cuts, redistricting … there are very few issues that the Los Angeles City Council can agree on without hours, days and weeks of studies, debates and hearings. On Wednesday, June 12, however, council members came together with one purpose: to shower praise on Lalo Alcaraz, the award-winning Chicano visual/media artist and television/film writer.

The author of “La Cucaracha,” the first nationally syndicated and politically-themed daily comic strip, was joined by family, professional colleagues and close friends for the start of Lalo Alcaraz Day at City Council.  

“Lalo Alcaraz is not just a cartoonist, he has dedicated his career to elevating the stories that capture the diversity and political consciousness of the Latino experience in the United States,” said councilmember Imelda Padilla, who authored the resolution. “Through his powerful artwork, biting satire and unwavering commitment to social justice, he has become a beacon of truth across the nation.”

“You’re a living legend,” added Council District 13’s Hugo Soto-Martinez. “Thank you for coming here and getting your flowers.”

Alcaraz was non-plussed over the complements sent his way during the presentation. "It was surreal, man," he later told me.

Since publishing his first “La Cucaracha” strip in the L.A. Weekly in 1992, Alcaraz has used storytelling to challenge stereotypes, celebrate diversity and shine a light on the Latino / Chicano community, eliciting either laughter or anger, sometimes both, depending on whether one was on the receiving end of one of his penetrating gibes.

Along with his daily strip, published locally in the Los Angeles Times, Alcaraz has worked as a cultural consultant on Pixar’s “Coco” and as a writer and producer of “The Casagrandes” and “Bordertown,” has exhibited his artwork in galleries and museums and written and/or illustrated graphic novels and comic books. He's also the founder and jefe-in-chief of POCHO.

But this being a political setting, much of the commentary was centered on Alcaraz’s social and civic inventiveness.

“I was first introduced to his work at a young age by my older sister who, herself, was coming of age in a time where Latinos in the valley were organizing to confront racist laws,” remembered Padilla. “Lalo's art was at the forefront of criticizing Proposition 187 and the treatment of day laborers using humor and satire as powerful tools. And [my sister] was cutting out clippings and framing them.”

Padilla recounted how Alcaraz's impact has extended far beyond the realm of art, utilizing his talent to educate Latino communities through the early days of the COVID crisis, contributing to advancing public health awareness campaigns as well as tackling the impacts of climate change.

Padilla was joined by Marta Segura, the city’s Chief Heat Officer and Director of Climate Emergency Mobilization, who thanked Alcaraz for contributing to the city’s Heat Relief Campaign with bus shelter artwork. “[His work has] made our Heat Campaign much more accessible,” said Segura. “In bus shelters, you'll see Lalo's art with a Black construction worker, a Korean worker, and a Latino/Latina worker, in four different languages.”

Added Segura, “you don't have to read it to understand the risks of extreme heat to everyday people. They can just look at it and understand [that] extreme heat is a risk to them.”

Three Alcaraz colleagues – writer and altar designer Consuelo Flores, L.A. Times columnist and long-time collaborator Gustavo Arellano, and attorney and agent Jeff Cohen – joined in with their platitudes before giving the floor to Padilla’s fellow councilmembers.

Flores: “I love him for the truths he's always brought to the forefront, his commitment to social justice and his protective passion for our culture. He is the definition of a hero for our community, a Chicano Jose Guadalupe Posada.”

Arellano: “[Alcaraz is] the most beloved San Diego County native in Los Angeles, since Pete Wilson … the epitome of a mensch, someone who gives back to the community he loves and stands up to the losers that want to bully good people. A proud Zacatecano who is not a convicted felon or a victim. My sometimes colleague and forever compa …”

Cohen: “Being Lalo's attorney is great, as he gets into so much trouble. He angers, he offends, he always keeps me on my toes. I represent a lot of people in the entertainment industry. There are certain clients who are really artists. And Lalo, as we all know, is an artist. It's in him. He has to create.”

Padilla then offered the mic to Alcaraz, a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and Herblock Prize winner, who began his comments with a rare admittance: “I thought maybe I would start by apologizing to anybody who I've drawn here. That will be the only time I apologize.”

“I'm super humbled though by all of this and by the presence of my friends and my beautiful family,” he continued. “The L.A. riots / uprising was really the birth of ‘La Cucaracha,’ and so I feel very much L.A. forever. And it really spurred me to activism and to combine it with art. Like any good Chicano artist, combine activism with your art and do it for the community as much as possible.”

“I'm a little choked up about everything and so I just want to say, ‘Los Angeles has been very, very good to me.’”

Following the presentation of the resolution, members of the city council, some of whom have received the Alcaraz treatment, spoke from their desks in the ornate council chambers.

First up was Monica Rodriguez of Council District 7, representing Sylmar, Mission Hills, Pacoima and other western San Fernando communities. “Thank you for making such an important contribution to storytelling for our community and standing up for us through art,” she said. “So often, we get subjugated and put down by people who just don't understand the real history of what's happened in Los Angeles. It's just really refreshing to have someone who gets it, who says it in a witty and sometimes difficult way, but an important way. I'm grateful for the fact that you are able to do that, not with words, but through art.”

Next was Soto-Martinez, one of the more recently elected members. “I grew up in South Central Los Angeles,  one of the few Latinos to go to UC Irvine. At that time the student body was at four percent Latino,” he remembered. “I stumbled across your art on the Internet, and I can tell you how many times I can go back to that just to feel inspired and to see what was going on, because you gave us a connection, for us who were behind the Orange Curtain. ​”

Eunice Hernandez, also a newly elected council member, who represents northeast L.A.’s district 1, spoke of Alcaraz’s more contemporary work. “I really appreciate the work you've done over the years, but most importantly, the work you've done recently, especially on COVID -19.  Thank you for helping save lives in our communities in that way.”

Council District 14’s Kevin De León recalled his first encounter with Alcaraz’s art. “The first time I got to know you was during Prop 187. You did what was my favorite political cartoon, ‘Migra Mouse,’ which was very powerful. We went down and protested right in front of Disneyland … and we had [a] ‘Migra Mouse’ poster with us as well, too. They weren't too happy about that, as you can imagine, right? But it was powerful because you speak to our history. You speak to current events. And you do it in a way that is provocative, controversial, but it's not mean spirited. Thank you very much for your powerful voice, speaking truth to power, [for] lifting our community, which empowers all of us and makes us proud.”

I caught up with Lalo, mi tocayo and friend, who I’ve known for more than two decades, for his reaction to the momentous occasion.

Responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.

How did the rest of your day go?

Oh, it was great. We went to go eat at Casa Fina. I got pretty happy. And then we went to El Mercado to buy some guayaberas, as you do.

How did this recognition come about?

Well, it came from city council member Imelda Padilla, who thought it would be a good idea to honor me, you know, before I'm gone.

And how do you feel about that?

I've always been weird about accepting things sometimes. I'm not that humble. I'm the king of self -promotion and I know my value and my worth and I think I do pretty decent work most of the time. I'm not shocked, but I do kind of get weird, when people start overpraising me. But I'll take it, especially hearing it from officials.

How does this recognition from elected officials impact you?

I don't mind having a couple of elected official friends; I've gone to school with successful [as well as] very unsuccessful and tragic elected officials. It’s a small world, like we all kind of know each other and we run in similar circles. I don't mind running around in those circles once in a while. But also, it comes with the caveat that I have to act accordingly … if someone screws up and becomes newsworthy for a bad reason, I mean, what are you gonna do? You gotta do your job. 

Your messages through your art, your comics, your writing … they’re definitely connecting. What do you say about that?

It’s about keeping the Chicano spirit alive, above all. Helping one's own community, but also helping each other on a personal basis as much as possible. It’s that simple for me … keep moving forward, bring everybody, bring all the primos with you. That's my philosophy. I try my best.

Okay, so what's next?

Well, I'm working on a bunch of projects. I got a bunch of animated shows that I'm developing. You know, Hollywood's not exactly open for business right now. It's really tight, especially in animation. I hope that once everything opens up, hopefully next year, I'll be ready with lots of shows ready to pitch. I actually have a pitch in July at a major studio for an animated show. And then of course I'm always developing “La Cucaracha” as an animated show. Hopefully that will happen, or maybe I have another 40 years to do it.  Aside from the shows and stuff, and we [Pocho Villa Productions] finished a screenplay for a kid’s movie that we're pitching around town. And we’ve been approached by an organization to do an animated movie about a historical figure. I'll tell you off the record …hopefully we'll be hearing about it soon, because we only have a few years to do this project so it would be a great achievement to pull it off if we can.