Centuries-Old Indigenous History Inspires Career Change (And Other Headlines)

Happy Wednesday!

Today, we’re talking all things education, aka Education Wednesday here at LAist. We’re looking at how a centuries-old history of indigenous Mexico impacted a group of college students, including inspiring at least one career change.

Understanding the Florentine Codex

My colleague Adolfo Guzman-Lopez writes about the Florentine Codex.

What is it, you ask?

It’s a massive encyclopedia of central Mexican Indigenous culture. Written about 50 years after the Spanish invaded and defeated the Aztec army, the document’s title when finished was: Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva España, or General History of the Things of New Spain. And why is "Florentine" now part of the name? Because it somehow ended up in a royal library in Italy.

The Codex is inspiring a new generation of Latinx people. For college students like Maria Velasco, she learned about the Codex as an undergraduate at California State University, Northridge.

It left such an impression on her that she changed career paths, from working in a museum to now studying for a master’s degree in anthropology at CSU Los Angeles and also teaching a class this semester on Zapotec language and culture.

How To LA

We’re here to help curious Angelenos connect with others, discover the new, navigate the confusing, and even drive some change along the way.

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And even more good news: The Getty unveiled last week that it plans on digitizing the Codex to make every page of the writing and images accessible to anyone with an internet connection.

Read the full story here.

Stay safe and cool, L.A. There’s more news below — just keep reading.

More news

(After you stop hitting snooze)

• The L.A. City Council has approved another $10 million loan to fix apartments run by the troubled Skid Row Housing Trust — a nonprofit that is the largest provider of subsidized housing in Skid Row.
• Little Amal, a 12-foot-tall puppet, is on an international journey to highlight the humanity of refugees. She started in Syria and now she's in L.A. until Friday afternoon.
• The city of Pasadena's winter outdoor watering restrictions start today. Here’s what you need to know.
• The Santa Ana City Council has opted to continue with a special election to recall Councilmember Jessie Lopez even after the Orange County Registrar of Voters raised concerns about the election's validity.

• Following government warnings about the dangers of being in a war zone, California universities and colleges have safely evacuated their students who were attending study abroad programs in Israel.
• Los Angeles hasn't been around for that long, but it has its fair share of ghostly history. LAist listeners share some haunted tales. Listen to the How To LA episode here.
• California State University adjunct faculty, counselors, librarians, and coaches voted Monday to authorize a strike. With more than 95% of members in support, the California Faculty Association announced the union would strike if necessary.

Wait! One more thing...

Disneyland urban legends

Standing in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse welcome visitors from all over the world.

(

Paul Hiffmeyer/Courtesy of Disneyland

)

If you’re like me and always on TikTok, you may have seen the “Disney100” game trending. It’s basically a card game where you collect Disney cards by doing a bunch of tasks and then you get rewarded with a profile picture frame.

Since I didn’t want to experience FOMO, I started to play, and now my algorithm has suddenly shifted to all things Disneyland and Disney content, including conspiracy theories about Disneyland cats, secret rooms and mind control through scents. If you’re curious but also don’t want to mess up your algorithm, here’s a roundup of all the urban legends.