Cultural historian, DJ, and author Ruben Molina has spent decades recovering musical and visual histories that get left behind. In conversation about memory, identity, and his newest book, The Dreamy Side: Rhythm & Blues and Chicano Culture in 1950s Los Angeles, Molina joins us to explore how Black vocal harmony and R&B became the defining soundtrack for Chicano youth — so deeply woven into barrio life that it endures 70 years later. Drawing on rare label scans, archival research, and an extraordinary collection of original '50s barrio graffiti, Molina traces the cultural thread running from the pachuco era of the '40s to the rise of Chicano rock 'n' roll.

• We are pleased to partner with the Seminary Co-op Bookstores, the country’s first not-for-profit bookstore.
• Copies of Chicano Soul Recordings and History of an American Culture and The Dreamy Side: Rhythms and Blues and Chicano Culture in 1950s Los Angeles will be available for purchase on site.
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