L.A. Streetsblog - Lite

This past Sunday, Los Angeles Streetsblog sponsored a basketball team at Boyle Heights’ Neighborhood Music School community basketball tournament. Local organizations like the YMCA, Family Source, and Boyle Heights Chamber of Commerce were involved to help bring awareness to the programming at the Music School, which has been producing musicians since 1914.

Our Boyle Heights writer Kris Fortin joined Rafael Cardenas, Streetsblog contributor Erick Huerta and Javier Guillen in hopes to emerge as the B-ball champions of Boyle Heights (Javier takes some amazing and unique photos of Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles. Check out his photos on either twitter or instagram under @goeastlos). We played so hard that many of my teammates were sore days later. Though we hustled until our faces turned red from the heat and fatigue, we were eliminated in three games.

While Streetsblog wasn’t able to win this time, it was a great chance to tour the Music School. The event was organized by 20-year-old Bernard Leon, the Music School office manager and a student of the school since he was four years old. Supposedly, after he ends his tour with patrons, he asks people to play along with him on piano. Check out some photos Kris and the other Streetsblog teammates took, or go to NMS’s Facebook page for more photos of the event.

To learn more about the school, check out this article from Boyle Heights Beat, or go to the Music School’s website.