Yareli Arizmendi

Santa Ana takes him seriously. On Friday, the mayor will issue a proclamation declaring it Rick Najera Day in the county's largest city. Happy to have his ego massaged, Najera still manages to make fun of the upcoming homage. "It basically means I can park anywhere I want," he jokes. "It's like diplomatic immunity." Which is not to say he doesn't take himself seriously ("I'm an egomaniac, but I admit it") or take an effusive pride in his achievements.

Los Angeles is widely regarded as the international hub of rock en espanol, or Spanish-language rock. The top bands record here. Many leading acts are managed by local agencies. And rock en espanol shows here--in such celebrated venues as the Greek Theatre, and in the more than 30 local nightclubs devoted to the genre--regularly sell out. Strange thing is that until last month Los Angeles had no commercial radio outlet for the music.

Zarmina Khalili says she never considered herself white until she moved to the United States 15 years ago. Race was a nonissue in her native Afghanistan, she said. There, the basic distinctions were tribal, between Tajiks and Pashtuns. Khalili knew where she stood: She was a Tajik. In America, it wasn't so clear. The census forms that came in the mail asked Khalili, 42, a Canoga Park homemaker, to place herself in one of six racial categories. She picked "white."

Friday After Freedom Drama Vitagraph With: Mic Tomasi, Greg Satamian, Sophie Chahinian The idea: Cultural tug of war set in Glendale as a young Armenian American is torn between his tightknit community and finding his own way. Writer-director: Vahe Babaian * So?

Aida Mancillas was scared. She'd come to Dairy Mart Road, at the U.S. border, as part of a counter-protest against a campaign by conservative San Diegans angry at the rapid flow of illegal immigrants coming from Mexico. As she joined the line that night little more than a year ago, she held up a mirror and turned back the beams from hundreds of burning headlights toward the anonymous cars.