Hispanic Heritage Month​ recognizes the contributions and influence of Hispanic Americans to the history and culture of the U.S.

In 1968, Congressman Edward R. Roybal of Los Angeles sponsored a legislation to establish "Hispanic Heritage Week," which was eventually expanded 20 years later with the help of another LA congressman, Esteban Edward Torres.

Hispanics have been the largest racial or ethnic group in California since 2014 — with 15.6 million people — and have shaped nearly all facets of life in Southern California.

In this week's "In Focus SoCal," host Tanya McRae sits down with Santa Ana Mayor Vicente Sarmiento to discuss different issues the city is dealing with due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"When the vaccines were introduced, they weren't arriving in Santa Ana, which was counterintuitive to us and to me because you normally want to hit those spots that are, you know, that have been hardest hit," said Sarmiento. "Unfortunately, they were going to other parts of the county."

Sarmiento added that the city is studying a plan to form its own public health department after seeing how Pasadena and Long Beach — which both have separate health departments from LA County — were able to respond to the pandemic.

Sarmiento, who is a Santa Ana native, talked about how the city has changed since he moved there with his family in the 1960s — including a demographic shift.

"Our median age is about 27.6," he said. "So we have a very young population. They have a renewed pride in who they are and what their city is."

McRae also delves into the history of LA's LatinX theater community which got its start in 1912 at the Teatro Hidalgo. As of 2021, there are over 20 theater companies in LA. A project called "Voces Del Teatro" is the first series of video and audio chronicles of the artistic contributions of the LatinX theater community.

Senator María Elena Durazo, chair of the California Latino Legislative Caucus, joins the conversation to talk about SB 62 and SB 321, which ensure that garment and domestic workers are protected.

"Forty-five thousand garment workers and significant numbers of them do not get paid the legal minimum wage," said Durazo. "There's something wrong with that system. That business model should not exist in an industry that affects so many tens of thousands of workers."

The senator was also behind an initiative that expanded Medi-Cal services to older undocumented workers in California.

McRae meets one group of LatinX women who are advocating for policy change when it comes to pre-trial incarceration. La Defensa is currently working on an initiative called "Rate My Judge" that educates the public on what it's like to be inside a courtroom and how to interact with judges. It's a tool to help keep judges accountable and promote transparency.​

Send us your thoughts to InFocusSoCal@charter.com and watch at 9 a.m. and noon Sundays.