← One of Their Own
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- [00:00]
KPBS Announcer
KPBS on Demand is supported by San Diego Congregations of the United Church of Christ, a community where Christmas is the story of a love greater than all that makes us despair. Learn more@san diegoucc.org hello one of their own listeners.
- [00:18]
Podcast Host
Thank you for listening and caring about Sierra's story. Our final episode was released last week, so if you missed that or any others, be sure to get caught up. I will continue following the story. If there are any significant updates, I will put them in this feed. So please continue following it if you're interested in Sierra's story. But today I wanted to share something a little different. It's an episode of one of my favorite KPBS podcasts. If you followed along with one of their own, I think you'll like this one too. The Finest is KPBS's new ish arts and culture podcast. It just wrapped up its first season and we'll be back with new episodes in January. So now is a great time to get caught up and ready for the new season. The Finest covers the people, art and movements redefining culture in San Diego. The first season covered everything from Blink 182 to scrappy local bands, from a legendary 50 year old diner to a Michelin honored restaurant. There's also champion murders, cults, comic books, a lost composer and romantasy. As someone newer to San Diego, it's taught me so much about the place I now call home, and it has such a satisfyingly wide definition of what arts and culture is and who it belongs to. Today, I'm sharing one of my favorite episodes and one that I think listeners of one of their own will especially want to hear. It's about three friends who grew up as second generation Filipino Americans in southeast San Diego in the 90s. As violence intensified in their community, they found inspiration in comics, hip hop and murals, and they formed this crew to create these big works of graffiti art with permission on a neighborhood wall. They wanted to give something positive back to the community and express themselves, but the national policing efforts had blurred the line between art and crime, and the group came under surveillance by San Diego police. In a controversial sting operation, Police posed as a film crew doing a documentary about graffiti. So here it is, and if you like it, be sure to check out their other episodes. Just search the Finest wherever you get your podcasts.
- [03:01]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
Paradise Hills is a residential neighborhood in southeast San Diego, tucked away in the canyons just inland of national city. In the 1980s it was growing fast, with lots of Latino, Asian and black families moving in. Back then June, Ron and Ramali grew up together in Paradise Hills going to family parties. They'd known each other their whole lives. As they were becoming teenagers, they were getting to that age where you had to choose an identity or the way things were changing in their neighborhood. Pick a side.
- [03:37]
June (Azaro Inocencio Jr.)
There was, like, this constant pressure of, like, which gang are you going to join? You know what I mean?
- [03:41]
Ramali Licadon
You were either excelled at academics or you excelled at sports. And then the other option was, you join a gang.
- [03:49]
June (Azaro Inocencio Jr.)
And for me personally, it felt like, well, if I join the red team, then that means I'm gonna have to kinda put down, like, the homies on the blue team, which is not cool. Cause, like, you know, we had classes together, and we had some cool adventures together growing up.
- [04:04]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
But something new was happening that they thought could unite the splintering neighborhood.
- [04:09]
Ramali Licadon
And then graffiti and hip hop started coming onto the scene. Just seeing something that's on a wall, like, out on the street, just all the colors, saw the characters on there. I think that gave it that, like, oh, yeah.
- [04:23]
June (Azaro Inocencio Jr.)
So we did a little nose dive into the art scene, and it was pretty well respected back then on both sides of the neighborhood, like, blue team or the red team. They kind of looked at us like, oh, these guys are the artists. You know, we pretty much carved our own lane, if you think about it.
- [04:39]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
They formed a crew, not a gang with rivals, just a group of kids who wanted to do art on the big stage on a wall. Everyone could see their canvas was a wall on Division Street, a busy road in the heart of the neighborhood. It was on private property, so they knocked on the owner's door and asked permission.
- [05:01]
Ramali Licadon
We typed up a contract and went to him to get it signed. So if the cops came through, we'd just show them the contract and say, hey, we got permission to paint the wall.
- [05:09]
June (Azaro Inocencio Jr.)
And back then, we typed up the contract. We didn't just use Microsoft Word, you.
- [05:13]
Ramali Licadon
Know what I'm saying?
- [05:14]
June (Azaro Inocencio Jr.)
We use the typewriter.
- [05:18]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
And they also got permission from an artist a couple years older than them, Romy, who'd painted the wall before. This was around the time of the Gulf War, and these kids were tackling big themes.
- [05:29]
June (Azaro Inocencio Jr.)
He pretty much documented what was going on at the time and the irony of being on Division street between, like, the neighborhood gangs as well as, like, in the Middle East.
- [05:39]
Ron Ricado
And he gave us the blessing, and we went over there and painted our first one to kind of pay homage to his piece Apocalypse. We original painted Revelation, right? Kind of on the same theme. When I look back on that piece, right now, it was very subpar. The skills are subpar, but it wasn't timeless. It wasn't timeless, but it was. It was a thrill. It was a thrill to say, all right, finally, hey, we got something up.
- [06:10]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
The crew was in business. They had a wall, they had a purpose. And they weren't in a gang. But behind the scenes, there was an elaborate operation in the works to take them down. And when they were least expecting it, it came to June's front door.
- [06:30]
June (Azaro Inocencio Jr.)
I open it up and it's the police. And I'm like, oh, they come in, they take everything. They take my old pictures, my old yearbooks, anything that was tagged on. And on their way out, they turn around, they're like, oh, yeah, we also got a warrant for your arrest.
- [06:50]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
This is a story about three friends, second generation Filipino immigrants and a tight knit community living through America's crime epidemic and the policing strategies that came with it. It's about how you can be punished for staying out of trouble, but also how you can come back, pick up the pieces and paint again. From KPBS Public Media, this is the finest a podcast about the people, art and movements redefining culture in San Diego. I'm Julia Dixon Evans.
- [07:28]
Ramali Licadon
Sam.
- [08:04]
Podcast Host
How does AI even work? Where does creativity come from? What's the secret to living longer?
- [08:10]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
TED Radio Hour explores the biggest questions.
- [08:13]
Podcast Host
With some of the world's greatest thinkers. They will surprise, challenge, and even change you.
- [08:19]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
Listen to NPR's Ted Radio Hour wherever.
- [08:21]
Podcast Host
You get your podcasts.
- [08:31]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
We heard about the Paradise Hills mural from our KPBS colleague, Corey Suzuki. He recently wrote about how three old friends, Ron Ramali and June, reunited to paint a mural on their old wall. And we'll get to that later. But the story of what these friends had been through together before that was so, so surprising and powerful that we just had to know more. So we invited them to our studio to get into the saga in more detail. Now in their 40s and 50s, they're a funny crew with the chemistry you only get with decades of friendship.
- [09:08]
Ron Ricado
We're like artistic jocks.
- [09:11]
June (Azaro Inocencio Jr.)
I think we were the original, like parkour. Yeah. Climbing freeway bridges and buildings and whatnot. It's like, dude, that's parkour. You get a varsity letter for that one. My name is Zaro Inocencio Jr. I go by is at work. Good friends call me June. You can call me June. I work as an elementary school teacher, second grade, the Tula Vista Elementary School District.
- [09:42]
Ramali Licadon
My name is Ramali Liquidan. I'm a tattoo artist and I paint Murals too. I live in Paradise Hills.
- [09:50]
Ron Ricado
My name is Ron Ricado. Grew up in Paradise Hills. Currently reside in Paradise Hills. Active duty in the U.S. navy. And supposed to say that all the opinions stated here are my own and not a reflection of the US Navy.
- [10:07]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
Ron June and Ramali's bond and the roots of their neighborhood trace back to the other side of the world. And it has a lot to do with the United States Navy.
- [10:17]
Ron Ricado
Our parents are immigrants from the Philippines, and they're actually all from the same town.
- [10:24]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
Before World War II, the Philippines was a US colony. And during the war, soldiers from both places fought side by side against Japan. After their victory, the US Granted the Philippines its independence. But they made a unique arrangement. The Military bases agreement of 1947. The US could have military bases in the country and Filipinos could join the US Navy. While US military presence abroad has its complications, it was for some a chance at the American dream. But competition for those jobs was fierce. As many as 100,000 Filipinos applied each year, but only about 400 got in.
- [11:10]
Ron Ricado
And so our parents just so happened to be one of the lucky ones to get into the Navy. And when they got stationed, they all ended up in San Diego. And during the 80s, there was an older part of Paradise Hills and they started a new development, which was around the time that our father started making rank and were able to afford the homes. And it was a whole brand new neighborhood. Fathers in the military, kids everywhere. Junior's dad is my godfather, Romali's sister is my mom's goddaughter, and so on and so forth. And they would have family parties, you know, just all the immigrant Filipinos that all lived in the neighborhoods. And Filipino parties are just ridiculous with the amount of people they invite to the house and the amount of food that they have there. And. And that's how we grew up. We just grew up with each other.
- [12:04]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
And in between family parties and playing outside, the boys were enamored with the art that would inspire their graffiti future.
- [12:12]
Ramali Licadon
Comic books. Comic books was a major influence.
- [12:15]
June (Azaro Inocencio Jr.)
X Men for sure.
- [12:16]
Ramali Licadon
We watched a lot of like cartoons.
- [12:18]
Ron Ricado
Like Robotech and Robotech. The animation style was different being that it was Japanese, you know, our fathers being in the Navy was a cartoon about a intergalactic space Navy. So when everybody talks about anime today and are super into anime, I was like, man, you guys don't know anime. You guys don't know Robotech?
- [12:48]
June (Azaro Inocencio Jr.)
I think back in the days, along with Romali. But Ron would kind of schooled me on how to draw and we Both had comic books back in the 80s. Like we check out the comic convention before it was the comic convention.
- [13:02]
Ramali Licadon
Pretty much just carried a book around with me and I'd even be drawing like on my notes in class. And I just love drawing. I just love drawing.
- [13:10]
Ron Ricado
When I think on it, I was like, why is it that all three of us whose parents came from farmland, working in the farms in a very like rural part of the Philippines, come out here and just have some kids that are artistic. I think the Navy created a stable enough life to where their kids had the, you know, they didn't have to worry about their next meal, so they had the opportunity to be creative or to be expressive because we're kind of like Navy brats, you know.
- [13:42]
Ramali Licadon
And I think like we'll say for me, like my mom, she's an artist, but because during the time when she was young, her dad had told her that, you know, there's no money to be made in art in the Philippines. So she studied to become a doctor. And because of that, I think she was living vicariously through me and would push me to do my art and be creative.
- [14:05]
Ron Ricado
When I look back on it, it was like our parents had brought us here to create a better life, which they did. But it just so happened that they landed on the 80s and the 90s.
- [14:22]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
The boys shared childhood was happy and filled with creative wonder. But as the 80s turned to the 90s and the boys started high school, Paradise Hills started to change. Like many communities throughout the U.S. the seeds of this change stretch back decades. In 1935, the area was designated as a redlined neighborhood. Redlining was a discriminatory practice in real estate and housing where mortgages and other loans were denied based on the race or ethnicity of a given neighborhood. Generally communities of color like Paradise Hills, redlining is no longer a legal practice, but its ongoing impacts are severe. Like poverty and inadequate funding for schools and services that built up pressure came to a head during the so called crack epidemic and Reagan's war on drugs. There were lots of drug dealers and guns and police aggressively targeting redlined areas. San Diego's violent crime rate hit its all time high in 1992 at 10 incidents per 1,000 residents. And Southeast San Diego specifically had higher crime rates and and a reputation for gang activity. For kids growing up in that turbulent environment, gangs offered protection, self worth and identity.
- [15:53]
Ramali Licadon
And then when graffiti and hip hop started coming onto the scene, that became the avenue to go. If you didn't want to get into a gang or if you weren't Good at sports like NWA Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, stuff like that.
- [16:08]
Ron Ricado
Like, hip hop was there to help us express ourselves, like, creatively. And we could still, like, you know, battle somebody or express our aggression, but not to where we're hurting each other.
- [16:28]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
Graffiti, along with DJing, rapping, and breakdancing were the four founding pillars of hip hop culture. It emerged in the 1970s in the Bronx. It was all about expression and having a voice. And in Ron Ramali and June's day, San Diego had some of the best street art in the world.
- [16:49]
Ron Ricado
San Diego had the front runners. At the time, these guys were doing things that you had never seen before. You take something that they did in the 90s, and it's still. It's classic, it's timeless.
- [16:59]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
So when they saw some pieces in the neighborhood, they jumped at the chance to put their cartoon drawing skills on display for the whole town.
- [17:07]
Ron Ricado
It was a rush. It was a rush because you put something up knowing that everyone's gonna see it. You don't know how they're gonna respond to it. Like, it is kind of like art. You're trying to put forth a message.
- [17:20]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
And even if the piece would be washed away or painted over, it was still a chance to make a mark.
- [17:26]
Ramali Licadon
I feel like it kind of gave you a voice, you know what I mean? Like, even if it isn't, like, gonna be permanent, like, someone seeing that and it leaving a stain on their brain is just as permanent as a wall being up for, like, years.
- [17:42]
Ron Ricado
You know, the tag itself might be gone, but the memories remain. That's right.
- [17:51]
Ramali Licadon
I'm younger than them. So when these guys were painting the wall, in the beginning, I was that little grommet. That was because, for me, like, I would have to drive by that wall every morning to go to middle school. So when I was in middle school, I would always drive by the wall, see the pieces or even see these guys painting it and tell myself, like, one day, I'm gonna paint that wall, you know? And then my favorite piece on that wall is a piece that these guys painted, which was the Lies and cries piece. The techniques they were using were very advanced for the time being.
- [18:24]
Ron Ricado
Yeah, so, like, the first one, we kind of just. We blasted through it and got it up there. By the time that we painted that, like, maybe a year or two later, we had been practicing and, you know, developing the craft. And there was a theme, There was, like a color scheme, like, all right, we started getting the whole composition of the things. I think it was during the time when, you know, you were dating. So I was like, okay, put lies and cries and tell a story of, like, there's a chick right here, and, you know, she's having a tough time. She's on the phone, you know what I mean?
- [18:55]
June (Azaro Inocencio Jr.)
On the phone.
- [18:56]
Ron Ricado
The concept, okay, pretty cool. But, like Ramali said, it was the technical execution. It was like hearing one of your favorite jazz musicians do something new with his instrument. You know.
- [19:12]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
They were mastering their craft and putting it up on their wall on Division street for the whole neighborhood to see.
- [19:18]
June (Azaro Inocencio Jr.)
It was a good feeling, you know, it was almost like winning the Super Bowl. Nah, that's too much, huh? Let me tone it down a little bit. It was almost like winning, like, a CIF championship game in high school, you know what I mean? There were other graffiti artists from different high schools at the time, and we had a chance to put our mark up and say, hey, we're up.
- [19:41]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
Ron and June started to organize a whole graffiti crew, one that was about expression and craft and bringing people together.
- [19:50]
June (Azaro Inocencio Jr.)
I think back then, I was more on the tip of, like, why don't we just unify everybody so there's like, a north side of the crew and a south side of the crew and the east side of the crew, and we can just take over, you know what I mean? So it was almost like, I guess in my mind, it felt like everyone was trying to get in where they fit in, and I guess I kind of wanted it to be where, well, if you're down with art and you know what I mean, you got a pretty sick style, then you get down with us.
- [20:18]
Ron Ricado
Junior was like the. Like, I don't know if you watched the movie wars, but he was like the Cyrus. Can you dig it? He got shot in the movie, but.
- [20:28]
June (Azaro Inocencio Jr.)
I ducked in real life. I ducked in real life several times.
- [20:35]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
They were all painting together. Eventually, Ramali was old enough to join the crew, but one fateful day, they stumbled upon what seemed like a golden opportunity.
- [20:48]
June (Azaro Inocencio Jr.)
They put a little ad out on some underground magazines back then that would talk about, hey, we're making a documentary on graffiti artists. We've been to San Francisco. We've been to la. We're gonna do one in San Diego. You know, like, being young and you know all about that getting up, we were like, oh, we represented, like, our neighborhood. We represented our schools, and we could get up here on the map. And I think that was the whole, like, Icarus story, you know what I mean? Where you kind of flew too close to the sun, and it was just like, ah, damn it. Was a trap. Like in Star wars, it was a trap. We ended up following through, showing up, displaying some artwork around the neighborhood. I think Ron. Ron even busted a little. Little freebie mural for them.
- [21:42]
Ron Ricado
Oh, yeah, they invited us to their studio.
- [21:45]
Ramali Licadon
Yeah.
- [21:47]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
Ramali happened to miss the documentary filming, which he would soon find out was a blessing in disguise.
- [21:54]
Ramali Licadon
I actually had to go on a family trip, so I kind of lucked out and like, because around that time, that's when they were getting all these guys information and, like, getting them on film.
- [22:08]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
The documentary crew turned out to be cops trying to bust graffiti artists. At this time, police were coming hard after gangs. There were new laws that characterized gangs as street terrorism and created gang injunctions, court orders that basically gave police expanded power to target suspected members in certain areas. The gang injunctions specifically mention graffiti as a signature gang activity. So it's no surprise that the cops saw going after graffiti as a way to combat gangs. Gangs tag or write their names, sometimes in stylish lettering to mark territory. Ron, Ramali and June were tagging too, but their focus was murals. It wasn't about turf. It was about artistic expression. But to the police, it was hard to tell the difference. In 1991, the LA County Sheriff's Department staged a fake graffiti TV show and arrested auditioners who showed off their pieces. The lead investigator behind the operation said most taggers are heavily involved with petty theft, and they go on to become the gangs. Soon after, police in San Diego launched a very similar operation here. And to them, it didn't seem to matter that Ron, June and Ramali's crew was not a gang at all, but an alternative to that life. The neighborhood started catching on to the operation, but it was too late for Ron and June.
- [23:41]
June (Azaro Inocencio Jr.)
Some other local crews were hitting everyone up like, hey, don't go.
- [23:44]
Ramali Licadon
It's a trap.
- [23:45]
Ron Ricado
They were like, hey, Star Productions is not who they say they are. Be on alert. They're undercover cops. And I was like, oh, man.
- [23:54]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
But after Ron and June met up with the fake documentary team, nothing happened for months. They figured they were off the hook and practically forgot about the whole thing. And at that time, tragedy struck the crew. Their friend and fellow graffiti artist was accidentally shot and killed.
- [24:14]
Ron Ricado
When a friend, tj, passed away, it was like a wake up call. It was like, okay, all right, you know, what are we doing? It was time to reflect. He was like a good kid. It was like, you wouldn't wish any bad on him, but it happened to this guy. He was a good dude. We went straight from his funeral I remember his father giving a very powerful eulogy to speaking to all of us. Like, everybody that was there.
- [24:39]
June (Azaro Inocencio Jr.)
I was like, oh, man, it was raining too.
- [24:41]
Ron Ricado
It was raining.
- [24:42]
June (Azaro Inocencio Jr.)
It was. He said something like, this is my only son. Like, that was one of the moments where I was like, wow.
- [24:51]
Ron Ricado
He was basically like, you know, look at what you're doing. What are you guys doing? And I was just like, man, let me try to sort it all out. But it was a crazy moment in time. And like I said, with that, just that raw energy, we drove straight from the funeral right up there. So it was just all that emotion through, like, you know, your fingertip as you, you know, just express what we were feeling on the wall. And that was just to pay tribute to our friend.
- [25:19]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
So Ron went up to Division street to put up a memorial mural for tj, but the cops, they forgot about. They were springing into action at this very moment and coming for June.
- [25:34]
June (Azaro Inocencio Jr.)
My. My story after the funeral was a little different because. And, yeah, what had happened was after the funeral, everyone's kind of d. We're all dazed and confused. I go home and I get a knock on the door, and I open it up, and it's the police. And I'm like, oh. And they come in, my mom's tripping out. She's like, oh, what's going on? I was like, oh, nothing. They just want to get some spray paint. And on their way out, they turn around, they're like, oh, yeah, we also got a warrant for your arrest. And I was like, what? And I look at my mom, she's like, kind of getting all teary eyed. And I'm like, oh, snap. And I look at the cop, and I'm just like, can I get a jacket? Cause it was cold. It was rainy that day. And I ended up going, but it was a trip, because when they brought me to the station, they showed, like, some of the clips that they got of our crew. And they paused it right on tj. Like, as the camera panned over, like, the crew members, like, painting, they paused it right on tj. And they're just like, oh, you know, we heard about what happened to your friend. And I was just like, dang, dude. I just remember, you know, putting my head down, just thinking, man, like, shaking my head just like, that's cold, man. Like, and they even made a comment, something like, oh, we were about to pick him up too. And I was like, dang, that was a lot to go through for teens. I can kind of relate to some. Some of that Post traumatic stuff. Every now and then, you know, it felt like the end of the world in that little world.
- [27:11]
Ron Ricado
It was like an episode of the Dukes of Hazzard where Beau and Luke would, like, be in the General Lee and they'd be going off a cliff and it'd pause and then the narrator, the narrator would be like, oh, one of the Duke boys are going to get out of this one. And then, and then it's always like, there's no end in sight. But it was like that. It was just like, oh, man. Everything came to, like a crescendo.
- [27:45]
KPBS Announcer
KPBS on Demand is supported by San Diego congregations of the United Church of Christ, a community where Christmas is the story of a love greater than all that makes us despair. Learn more@san diegoucc.org.
- [28:09]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
The sting operation ultimately arrested 37 people allegedly responsible for causing a quarter million dollars in damages to homes, businesses, and walls in the region. Ron said he wasn't arrested because his work was focused on the Division street wall, which they had permission to paint on, but that June had painted on other walls around town. I wondered what they thought about how the sting was portrayed in the press. And at the time, I was just reading a news article that was. It was in, like, the paper right afterwards. There are a couple things I want to, like, read to you. So it was like, immediately following this thing. Susan Golding, the mayor, she was quoted in the Union Tribune calling graffiti low class. And then the district attorney, Ed Miller, said, tagging is a serious crime, not a harmless prank. Taggers do this to get attention. Now, law enforcement in the community have given taggers the kind of attention they deserve. Like, how does that, like, hearing that now, like, how does that make you feel? Like, what is your response?
- [29:13]
Ron Ricado
I think they're right. They're right in the sense that the kids, the youth, they do need attention. They need positive outlets. And for many the neighborhoods that are within, like, the red line district, it's like, there's not many opportunities out there because their parents just don't make enough money. So do they need attention? Yeah, I think kids need a lot of attention. Had somebody reached out to us and be like, hey, look, you guys have some talent, some skill. Like, don't use it all on defacing the city or something that'll get you busted. Like, you can go work for Disney or you could be an artist. You could paint in your garage. There's more positive ways, but we didn't have that type of mentorship. So, yes, they're correct, I believe. Yeah, they're right, but the way they skew it.
- [30:03]
Ramali Licadon
If you go back to the history of graffiti, too, you know, I was born through poverty, you know, like in the Bronx. And these kids are coming. We're in schools where, like, they're being taught that, like, you know, they're not gonna amount to nothing. And so that's where graffiti comes about. Cause it's like it's allowing an adolescent or a teenager, like, make his mark on the world by just writing his name on a wall, you know, and letting people know that, hey, I'm here. I'm alive. You know, I exist.
- [30:34]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
After his arrest, June had to do community service, and his dad took his spray paint away and told him, no more art. And June took that seriously. Ron went off to college, where he found it hard to trust people and make friends. Ramali, still in high school, kept up the wall for a while, but it faded out eventually. But slowly, art crept back into their lives. Ramali had an art teacher in high school who became a mentor.
- [31:05]
Ramali Licadon
I was gonna join the Navy because that's what my dad did. And so he sat me, pulled me off to the side, sat me down, and told me, like, you know, you have something with, like, characters and, like, you know, a passion for art. You should do something with it, because that's what you love to do. And so he convinced me to go to art school. So I went to CalArts to study animation and just I've been and art ever since then.
- [31:28]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
He worked as a slot machine designer and in video games for a while, and today is a tattoo artist and muralist. Back in Paradise Hills, Jun kept his promise to his dad of no more art and became a teacher. But when a principal saw his graffiti arrest on his record, he suggested he teach art, which he did. For a decade, Ron worked through some tough times and depression with some motivational books that changed his life. Like the Art of living consciously, he found new purpose and joined the Navy. And as the years passed, they started families of their own, and the neighborhood changed. But people still remembered the crew for their Division street murals.
- [32:12]
Ron Ricado
People from the community who got their doctorates want to improve the community through art. And I think our names just because we've been doing it for so long, came up. And so they reached out to us, and it was just like, all right, let's give another go.
- [32:28]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
So last year, the guys got the band back together, ready to paint on Division street again. This time, they wanted to tell the story of their community and create something that could be a positive influence on Young people in Paradise Hills today. A few weeks before they came to the studio, Ron Ramali and June showed their new mural to our KPBS colleague, Corey Suzuki.
- [33:00]
June (Azaro Inocencio Jr.)
I thought it was just a beautiful thing, how everything worked out, like Romali being an artist, Ron being an artist, myself as well as the other artists who were involved, we all have different art styles, but to put them all into one wall, it's pretty challenging. And I just. I think it came out beautiful.
- [33:19]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
The mural is bright orange with three distinct scenes. On the right are protesters holding signs and American, Filipino, and Mexican flags. It's a depiction of the Delano grape protests when Mexican and Filipino workers in California came together to form the United Farm Workers. They went on strike to protest low pay and poor working conditions. And ultimately, it resulted in big change, improving pay and hours for farm workers.
- [33:51]
Ron Ricado
We're trying to think of a message to give to the community. And while I was in school, I took Asian American studies, you know, and from there is where I learned the role that the Filipinos played during the 1960s grape strike in Delano and how Filipinos worked alongside Cesar Chavez to make that movement happen, you know, And I felt that this piece of history would have been a good thing to know in this community, because when we were going to high school, like the Filipino, the Mexican community, or the black community, we were at odds with each other sometimes, you know, and if there was anything to teach us, it should have been about our history, to learn that we actually, our communities, work together in a way to better their situation.
- [34:41]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
In the center of the mural are brilliant giant letters, gold and white, that say isang bagsak. It's Tagalog, a language widely spoken in the Philippines.
- [34:53]
Ron Ricado
Isang bagstock. It literally translates to one down, meaning if one person's down, everybody's down. And the isang bagsak was a saying that they used in the grape strike to kind of rally, rally everybody.
- [35:09]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
And on the left side of the mural is another homage to their Filipino and agricultural roots. Traditional vegetables. And there's cursive lettering above them that says, under God, indivisible.
- [35:22]
Ron Ricado
Because that. The street is called Division, Division Street. We thought, you know, it's pretty witty, you know, under God, indivisible on Division Street. See what I'm saying? The. The vegetables that we painted here are staples of the Elcano diet. You know, we've got the squash, we got the ampalaya, we got the eggplant, the camatis calamansi. They're all fruits and vegetables that Filipinos use in cooking.
- [35:52]
Corey Suzuki
So these are all vegetables that I grew up, like, eating.
- [35:54]
Ramali Licadon
And here I am painting them now on this wall for the community.
- [35:58]
June (Azaro Inocencio Jr.)
And I think what's cool, too, is that with our parents growing a lot of these vegetables in our backyards, it also shows that them coming from a farming background, they were able to show us that, you know, you get the fruits of your labor.
- [36:17]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
It was a group effort. June did the background and the protesters signs. Ron the lettering, and Ramali the vegetables and people. And at the end, they signed it with their old crew name, jvc. Corey asks them about that name. Jvc.
- [36:33]
Ron Ricado
Jvc.
- [36:34]
June (Azaro Inocencio Jr.)
Can I ask, does that stand for something?
- [36:38]
Ron Ricado
Well, jvc, back in the day, when we were younger, it was the juvenile vandal crew, right? I don't know what it stands for now. What is the word?
- [36:49]
June (Azaro Inocencio Jr.)
It's transitioned, and it's grown with us. So it's more of, like, just a vigilant citizen.
- [36:56]
Ron Ricado
Get hold of this footage. That's what it stands for. We're just vigilant citizens of the community.
- [37:05]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
From juvenile vandal crew to just vigilant citizens. These former targets of a police sting operation turned out all right.
- [37:14]
Corey Suzuki
I would drive past this wall and always see it blank and, like, just reminisce about the times, like, damn, we used to paint that wall, you know, and always wishing that, like, man, I wish we could paint that wall again, you know, and then for us to come back here and do it. And now when I drive by it again, it's like, it brings joy to me. You know what I mean? And it's also like, we're not just putting up our names, like, because in graffiti, the. The basis of it is putting your name up. You know what I mean? But a lot of people don't realize, like, that graffiti can also be used, or it should be used, like, as a message board, like, to, like, inspire. You know what I mean? And it's also, like, we can, like, show the younger generation, I guess, what they could do with graffiti and, like, you know, what they can do with their art.
- [38:02]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
Today, art is still a big part of each of their lives. Ramali and June have done other murals from the Philippines to San Francisco. Earlier this summer, Ron held an exhibit in Chula Vista that explored his Filipino family's US Navy story through graffiti inspired art. Ron, June, and Ramali told us they learned a lot from doing graffiti, about practicing a skill, tirelessly learning to carve your own path, and eventually finding a voice.
- [38:37]
Ramali Licadon
We're told not to write on walls, and we're told not to do this or say that, but there's times when you do got to get up and you got to say what you need to say and go against the grain and go against, you know, the norm of society to prove a point, you know, and to make a statement. You.
- [39:14]
Narrator (Julia Dixon Evans)
A special thank you to Ron Ricado, Ramali Licadon and Azaro Inocencio Jr. Aka June, for sharing their story with us. Thank you to KPBS South Bay and Imperial Valley reporter Corey Suzuki for for all of his reporting on this story and to Alan Manzano, who first pitched the story to KPBS during a recent event. Thanks so much for listening. If you enjoyed the show, please leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. It really helps new listeners discover the show. And best of all, if you can think of anyone in your life that might like the finest, please share it with them. I'm your host, Julia Dixon Evans. Our producer, lead writer and composer is Anthony Wallace, our engineer is Ben Redlosk, and our editor is Chrissy Wynn.
- [40:11]
KPBS Announcer
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