The Entrance: Pacoima's Story by Crystal Jackson

Special Autographed Edition

One small town. Centuries of history. An extraordinary American story waiting to be told. ​ In The Entrance: Pacoima’s Story, author and historian Crystal Jackson uncovers the remarkable history of a Southern California community whose story mirrors many of the struggles, transformations, and triumphs that have shaped America. ​ Long before Pacoima became part of Los Angeles, the land—once known as Pacoinga—was home to Native people whose lives were forever altered by Spanish colonization and the Mission era. Over generations, Pacoima would evolve into one of the nation’s distinctive suburban minority communities, shaped by Native, Latino, Black, Japanese, and White residents who repeatedly challenged the social and racial barriers of their time. ​ Jackson spent five years researching Pacoima’s history, interviewing dozens of current and former residents whose firsthand accounts bring the community’s past vividly to life. Her interviews include U.S. Congressman Tony Cárdenas, U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, longtime residents in their nineties, Native leaders, Mexican migrants, descendants of Japanese American internment camp survivors, and civil rights leaders. ​ Their stories reveal a community that endured displacement, discrimination, forced imprisonment, civil rights struggles, economic hardship, and the devastating crack epidemic—yet 

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