LibGuides: We Need To Talk : The Eastside

We Need to Talk About The Eastside

The hub of Las Vegas’ diverse Latinx communities, the Eastside is a neighborhood rich in culture and its historical significance now is being acknowledged in county and city circles. Though often the subject of negative rhetoric and stereotypes, the Eastside is undergoing an economic resurgence. Projects are underway to invest in the community and preserve the culturally diverse Latinx history that makes Las Vegas and Southern Nevada unique. Panelists will discuss their connections to the Eastside Las Vegas neighborhood and why the Latinx community’s history is significant to understanding Nevada’s past, present, and future.

Community Orgs

Library Love
"Café con Leche” snack bar & “La Tiendita” used bookstore are operated by Nevada Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation.
Latino Network of Southern Nevada
The Latino Network of Southern Nevada envisions a Latino community that is well educated, prosperous, healthy and has a strong voice and cultural presence in the community, as well as being a networking forum for Latino leaders, community members and organizations that advocate for issues and policies beneficial to the Latino community, with the primary goal of improving education.

Latino Youth Leadership Conference

Grow Youth Leaders
The mission of the LYLC is to encourage our participants to pursue and complete higher education. We also aim to empower our participant's leadership development skills, and encourage community service.The LYLC emphasizes culture, community, and family, as we advocate those for our participants to succeed.

Latinx Voices Podcast

News You Can Use

Latinx oral history project gives grad student a way to up-end the misperceptions of the Las Vegas community he grew up in.
Growing up, I was often asked, “Where are you from?” To the average person, this may seem like an innocent question, but to me it was a moment requiring justification. "I’m from the Eastside.” Growing up, I never realized the difference between the Eastside and the rest of Las Vegas; the Eastside was my reality.
For US Latinos, Identity Is Complex and Varied
There is no single, all-encompassing term that fully captures what it means to be Latino in the United States
Nevada ranks high in diversity, Hispanics fuel growth
More people [are] acknowledging their full racial and ethnic background, said Nancy Brune, executive director at Guinn Center for Policy Priorities. She noted, “You may be seeing people choose two or more races (on the Census), where maybe they chose just white last time,” she said.
How You Can Support Latino Owned Businesses in Las Vegas
It’s impossible to ignore the influence and contributions of the Latino community in Las Vegas. At last check, Hispanics accounted for 32 percent of Clark County's population -- a statistic that will likely increase once the results of this year's census are reported. Latino communities are especially strong east of the Strip and in North Las Vegas, yet housing, jobs, and other opportunities are plentiful throughout the valley for those looking to build a brighter future for themselves and their families.

Scholarship About the Eastside

The “East Side” of Las Vegas: A Latinx Historical Framework
Spanish heritage speakers in the United States are a reflection of everchanging linguistic and sociolinguistic pressures that result in myriad varieties across generations. This paper provides a preliminary historical framework to fill this gap of linguistic knowledge in the Spanish-speaking community of Las Vegas, Nevada. The goals were two-fold: (1) highlight the largest Spanish-speaking communities in Las Vegas and (2) explore the significance of the East Side in the history of the Latinx population of Las Vegas. Through the analysis of oral histories and historical works, the investigation highlights the Mexican, Salvadoran, and Cuban populations of Las Vegas and their connections to Sunrise Manor (Clark County, Nevada, USA), locally known as the “East Side,” where the majority of Spanish-speakers reside.
Immigrant Entrepreneurs in the Las Vegas Area: Motivations for Entry into and Outcomes of Self-Employment
Ethnic Enclaves Motivate Entrepreneurial goals and relocation incentives. This study examined business ownership among foreign-born Hispanic entrepreneurs. Through semistructured face-to-face interviews, the researchers examined motivations to enter business ownership as well as different business practices and the possible relationship between these practices and viability. It appears that in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, pull factors have a stronger impact on entrepreneurship than do push factors, drawing individuals into entrepreneurship.

Your identity is a superpower- not an obstacle

A Selection From the Stacks

Confessions of a Radical Chicano Doo-Wop Singer by Rubén Funkahuatl Guevara
ISBN: 9780520969667
Publication Date: 2018-04-13
A pioneer of Chicano rock, Rubén Funkahuatl Guevara performed with Frank Zappa, Johnny Otis, Bo Diddley, Tina Turner, and Celia Cruz, though he is best known as the front man of the 1970s experimental rock band Ruben And The Jets. Here he recounts how his youthful experiences in the barrio La Veinte of Santa Monica (& Las Vegas) in the 1940s prepared him for early success in music and how his triumphs and seductive brushes with stardom were met with tragedy and crushing disappointments. Recognizing racial identity as composite, contested, and complex, Guevara--an American artist of Mexican descent--embraces a Chicano identity of his own design, calling himself a Chicano "culture sculptor" who has worked to transform the aspirations, alienations, and indignities of the Mexican American people into an aesthetic experience that could point the way to liberation.

UNLV's Latinx Oral History Project

LATINX VOICES OF SOUTHERN NEVADA
Many Latinx residents have greatly influenced the progress of our educational system, multiple business sectors, politics, and cultural life in Southern Nevada. By collecting and preserving these oral histories, the UNLV University Libraries ensures that the perspectives of our region's Latinx residents are reflected in our collections so that present and future generations can learn and study more about their achievements, aspirations, and experiences.

We Need To Talk : The Eastside

Our Panelists