The Brief

This story was originally published by Boyle Heights Beat on May 23, 2025.

When East L.A. native and author Julie Sands’ father returned from the Vietnam War in 1968, he was not the same man who had left.

Sands explained that while many veterans come home and “get a job, resume their married life and have children,” it’s not always that simple.

Her father, Ruben Amaro, came back to East L.A. with post-traumatic stress disorder, struggled with drug and alcohol abuse, “and he could never resume a normal life,” said Sands.

“Growing up and having to experience the ramifications of war on a child is something that no one talks about. Everyone speaks about the veterans, but they don’t speak about the children of veterans.”

Sands chronicled her experiences in her 2010 memoir, “War Dad: A Daughter’s Story of Surviving PTSD and the Effects of War,” which recounts growing up in a military family in East L.A. The book led her to connect with other veterans and their families who had dealt with the same pain.

Ruben Amaro, Sands’ father, served in the Vietnam War.

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Courtesy of Julie Sands

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Now, for the 14th year in a row, Sands will help organize the Memorial Day celebration at the Mexican American All Wars Memorial at Cinco Puntos in Boyle Heights. With a small-but-mighty team of planners, she works to honor those who died while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.

“I am grateful to be able to do this for the city of Los Angeles,” Sands said. “No matter how hot the political scene gets in CD 14, community [members] are always the ones who come to the ceremony.”

We spoke to Sands about her advocacy for veterans and how writing a book about her father helped her begin to heal. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

BHB: How did growing up in a military family – especially with a father struggling with PTSD – shape your life and perspective?

Julie Sands: Growing up with a parent who has a military background can be very tough and it’s tough growing up with a parent who has PTSD, because it affects generations, and it affects your home life. It makes you grow up fast. It makes you aware of political situations. There is fear and uncertainty, and you have to learn how to manage all of those feelings and emotions and still make it through life yourself. So it can be a tough road when a family member takes the military route.

BHB: What emotional challenges did you face while revisiting your story to write “War Dad”?

Julie Sands: The entire book was challenging because I had already healed. I had already put those memories away. I was married, I was raising my children, and to write that book was like getting a knife and slicing my heart open and letting it bleed. It was extremely painful, extremely difficult, extremely emotional, but I did it because I knew I could help other people.

BHB: What drives you to keep honoring veterans through the annual Memorial Day celebration at Cinco Puntos?

Julie Sands: When I wrote [“War Dad”], I thought to myself, ‘how am I going to reach out to the families of the veterans and try to rescue the daughters and the sons that are going to go through what I went through with the soldiers coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan?’ And the best way I could do that is to plug myself directly into the veterans community. And that’s what I did. In doing that, I was able to connect with family members and children and daughters of fathers of war and begin to help them to heal as well, and to teach them the skills on how to heal from their childhood when they had a parent with PTSD.

My father didn’t have a choice. He went to war, he was drafted, he came back with PTSD, and he wasn’t able to resume a normal life. So I wanted to represent my father, and that’s why I stand on that stage in Boyle Heights and East L.A., because I’m representing my father and his name and showing that no matter what happens in life, you can rise above your situation and you can make things better again.

Mexican American All Wars Memorial at Cinco Puntos on May 21, 2025.

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Andrew Lopez

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Boyle Heights Beat

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A plaque can be seen at the Mexican American All Wars Memorial.

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Andrew Lopez

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Boyle Heights Beat

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BHB: What kind of impact have you seen from holding Memorial Day events in East L.A. and Boyle Heights?

Julie Sands: Every single time I walk off that stage at the Mexican-American All Wars Memorial at Cinco Puntos, there are people just coming up to me crying, hugging me and telling me thank you. They thank me for telling my story, because they also went through that. And then they want me to talk to their daughters. They want me to meet their family member who has PTSD. Back in the 60s and 70s, there was no help for us. There was no counseling for families. So no one spoke of it. And so when they hear my story for the first time, it’s almost like, if they’re liberated as well, like they’re free now to speak about the trauma they went through, and that’s what I get every single ceremony.

BHB: Beyond Memorial Day, how do you continue to support families of veterans?

Julie Sands: I have a company called the Be Amazing Project. My objective was to use the skills that I created, exercises, verbalizations, and thought process, and take them into the schools so that I can get to the children of military families. And I’ve been blessed to be able to get into the Los Angeles Unified School District, the Montebello Unified School District. I’ve gone into high schools, middle schools, and continuation schools, and I connect with children of veterans and any children who have military family members, and I teach them how to rise above their situation and succeed in school and succeed at home.

BHB: Are you planning any new elements for this year’s Memorial Day celebration?

Julie Sands: This year, what I’d like to begin doing during the ceremony is to hold a space for people to stand with a picture of their fallen loved one, whether they passed in combat or they passed away after they came back from war. I’m going to give them the opportunity to call out their name. And I think that would be very, very powerful, because Memorial Day is a day to remember.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Since 1977, Richard Santillan has been to every Opening Day game at Dodger Stadium. 

“The tradition goes from my father, to me, to my children and grandchildren. Some of my best memories are with my father and children here at Dodger Stadium,” Santillan told The LA Local, smiling under the shade of palm trees near the entrance to the ballpark Wednesday morning. He was there to protest the team less than 24 hours before Opening Day.

Santillan, like countless other loyal Dodgers fans, is grappling with his fan identity over the team’s decision to accept an invitation to the White House and owner Mark Walter’s ties to ICE detention facilities.

More than 30 people joined Santillan on Wednesday morning for a press conference held near 1000 Vin Scully Drive to convey a message directly to the team. 

“We are demanding the Dodgers stop participating in funding of inhumane treatment of families and do not go to the White House to celebrate with the criminal in chief,” Evelyn Escatiola told the crowd. “Together, we have the power to make a change.”

Escatiola, a former dean of East Los Angeles College and longtime community organizer, urged fans to flex their economic power by “letting the Dodgers know that we do not support repression.”

Jorge “Coqui” Rodriguez, a lifelong Dodgers fan, spoke to the crowd and called on Dodgers ownership to divest from immigration detention centers owned and operated by GEO Group and CoreCivic.

Jorge Coqui H Rodriguez speaks at a press conference outside Dodger Stadium on March 25, 2026, to demand the Dodgers not to visit the White House following their 2025 World Series win.

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J.W. Hendricks

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The LA Local

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In a phone interview a day before the protest, Rodriguez told The LA Local he did not want the Dodgers using his “cheve” or beer money to fund detention centers. 

“They can’t take our parking money, our cacahuate money, our cheve money, our Dodger Dog money and invest those funds into corporations that are imprisoning people. It’s wrong,” Rodriguez said. 

Rodriguez considers the Dodgers one of the most racially diverse teams and said the players need to support fans at a time when heightened immigration enforcement has become more common across L.A.

The team’s 2025’s visit to the White House drew ire from the largely Latino fan base, citing the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on immigrants. 

In June, the team came under further scrutiny when rumors swirled online that federal immigration agents were using the stadium’s parking, which immigration authorities later denied in statements posted on social media accounts.

The team again came under fire after not releasing a statement on the impacts of ICE raids on its mostly Latino fan base at the height of immigration enforcement last summer. The team later agreed to invest $1 million to support families affected by immigration enforcement.

When he learned the Dodgers were pledging only $1 million to families in need, Rodriguez called the amount a  “slap in the face.” 

“These guys just bought the Lakers for billions of dollars and they give a million dollars to fight for legal services? That’s a joke,” Rodriguez said. “They need to have a moral backbone and not be investing in those companies.”

According to reporting from the Los Angeles Times, former Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershawsaid last week that he is looking forward to the trip.

“I went when President [Joe] Biden was in office. I’m going to go when President [Donald] Trump is in office,” Kershaw said. “To me, it’s just about getting to go to the White House. You don’t get that opportunity every day, so I’m excited to go.”

The Dodgers have yet to announce when their planned visit will take place. 

Santillan sometimes laments his decision to give up his season tickets in protest of the team. His connection to the stadium and the memories he has made there with family and friends will last a lifetime, he said. On Thursday, he will uphold his tradition and be there for the first pitch of the season, but with a heavy heart.

“It’s a family tradition, but the Dodgers have a lot of work to do,” he said.

A local favorite mom-and-pop bookshop in Eagle Rock is facing displacement due to a steep rent hike. The owners say theirs is just one of several small businesses along Eagle Rock Boulevard struggling to keep up with lease increases.

Over the past 19 years, many in the neighborhood have come to love READ Books for its eclectic collection of used titles and shop dog Florence.

Co-owner Jeremy Kaplan said it’s been a delight to grow with the community over the years.

“Like seeing kids come back in, who were in grade school and now they’re in college,” Kaplan said.

But the building where Kaplan and wife Debbie rent was recently sold, and the rent increased by more than 130% to $2,805 a month, Kaplan said. He told LAist it was an increase his small business simply could not absorb.

Kaplan said he originally was given 30 days notice of the rent increase. After some research, assistance from Councilmember Ysabel Jurado’s office and some pro-bono legal help, Kaplan said he pushed back and got the 90-day notice he’s afforded by state law.

California Senate Bill 1103 requires landlords to give businesses with five or less employees 90 days’ notice for rent increases exceeding 10%, among other protections.

Systems Real Estate, the property management company, did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.

What can small businesses do? 

Nadia Segura, directing attorney of the Small Business Program at pro bono legal aid non-profit Bet Tzedek said California law does not currently allow for rent control for commercial tenancies.

Outside of the protections under SB 1103, Segura said small businesses like READ Books don’t have much other recourse. And even then, commercial landlords are not required to inform their tenants of their protections under the law.

“There’s still a lot of people that don’t know about SB 1103. And then it’s very sad that they tell them they have these rent increases and within a month they have to leave,” Segura said.

She said her group is seeing steep rent hikes like this for commercial tenants across the city.

“We are seeing this even more with the World Cup coming up, the Olympics coming up. And I will say it was very sad to see that also after the wildfires,” Segura said.

Part of Bet Tzedek’s ongoing work is to advocate for small businesses, working with landlords who are increasing rents to see if they are willing to give business owners longer leases that lock in rents.

What’s next 

After READ Books posted about their situation on social media, commenters chimed in to express their outrage and love for the little shop.

While he looks for a new spot, Kaplan says he’s forming a coalition of local businesses and activist groups to see what can be done to help other small businesses facing similar displacement. He wants to address the displacement issue for businesses like his, which have made Eagle Rock the distinctive neighborhood that it is today.

Owl Talk, a longtime Eagle Rock staple selling clothing and accessories in a unit in the same building as READ Books, is facing a “more than double” rent increase, according to a post on their Instagram account.

Kaplan said he’s been in touch with the office of state Assemblywoman Jessica Caloza and wants to explore the possibility of introducing legislation to set up protections for small businesses like his, including rent-control measures or a vacancy tax for landlords. Kaplan said he also reached out to the office of state Sen. Maria Durazo.

By his count, Kaplan said there are about a dozen businesses within surrounding blocks that are at risk of closing their doors or have shuttered due to rent increases or other struggles.

When READ Books was founded during the Great Recession, Kaplan said he knew it was a longshot to open a bookstore at the same time so many were struggling to stay in business.

“It was kind of interesting to be doing something that neighborhoods needed. That was important to me growing up, that was important to my children, that was important to my wife growing up,” Kaplan said.

“And then somebody comes in and says, ‘We’re gonna over double your rent.”

Topline:

Frozen budget: Most of the city’s Bureau of Street Lighting budget comes from an assessment that people who own property illuminated by lights pay on their county property tax bill. The amount people pay depends on the kind of property they own and how much they benefit from lighting. A typical single-family home currently pays $53 annually, and in total, the assessments bring in about $45 million annually for the city to repair and maintain streetlights. Changing the amount the Bureau of Street Lighting gets from the assessment requires a vote among property owners who benefit from the lights.

Ballots: L.A. City Council’s vote gives city staff the green light to prepare and send out those ballots. Miguel Sangalang, who oversees the bureau, said at a committee meeting earlier this month that he expects to send out ballots by April 17. Notices about the ballots will be sent out prior to the ballots themselves.

Near unanimous vote: L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez was the only “No” vote Tuesday, saying she wanted to see a more current strategic plan for the bureau. Sangalang said the bureau developed a plan in 2022 that lays out how money will be spent. Councilmember Imelda Padilla was absent for the vote.

Vote count: Votes will be weighted according to the assessment amount. Basically, the more you’re asked to pay yearly to maintain streetlights, the more your vote will count. Ballots received before June 2 will be tabulated by the L.A. City Clerk.

How much more money: According to a report, the amount needed in assessments from property owners to meet the repair and maintenance needs of the city’s streetlighting in the next fiscal year is nearly $112 million.

Use of the money: Sangalang said at a March 11 committee meeting that the extra funds would be used to double the number of staff to handle repairs and procure solar streetlights, which don’t face the threat of copper wire theft. That would all potentially reduce the time it takes to repair simple fixes down to a week. Currently, city residents wait for months to see broken streetlights repaired. The assessment would come with a three-year auditing mechanism.