When I created Hollywoodland News, it wasn’t just about nostalgia. It was about rewriting history or more specifically, retelling it the way it should have been told.

Entertainment runs deep in my blood. My grandfather was a wireless radio pioneer who founded the San Jose Radio Club in 1921, which later became the Santa Clara County Amateur Radio Association, now one of the oldest amateur radio clubs in the world. He was also a studio musician who played on cruise ships and even drummed on the iconic radio show Queen for a Day. He passed down a lifelong love of music to my dad, who, despite having zero discernment when it came to talent, always had a home recording studio. So the sound of live bands and jam sessions was just part of the background noise of my childhood. Between he and my mother, it’s no wonder I am always going to ask you: Pardon me, can you repeat what you just said? I didn’t hear you.

Why I Created Hollywoodland News

Representation is about whose stories are considered worthy of being told in the first place. The absence of diverse voices in early Hollywood wasn’t accidental; it was deliberate. The gatekeepers of the industry controlled what the world saw, who got to be remembered, and who was erased.

This isn’t about tearing down the past; it’s about shining a light on the cracks

Hollywoodland News:
Reclaiming What Was Erased

Hollywoodland News is my way of taking back the narrative. I wanted to go beyond the glossy surface of Old Hollywood, the scandals, the fashion, the legends, and dig into the stories that were ignored, erased, or rewritten to fit someone else’s comfort.

This isn’t just about nostalgia. It’s about re-examining history through a lens that honors what was lost and stolen, especially for those of us who were never meant to be in the spotlight. I often find myself as the only Indigenous woman in the room, covering events not just as a journalist, but as someone reclaiming space in an industry built without us. My work is about visibility, truth-telling and pushing past the gatekeeping that still lingers behind the curtain.

What would Hollywood have looked like if it had embraced inclusion from the start?

Why This Work is Vital

We are living in a time where diversity, equity and inclusion are under attack. Across the United States, DEI programs are being dismantled by conservatives who see progress as a threat rather than an evolution.

These programs weren’t created as a trend. They were a response to centuries of exclusion, barriers and systemic inequalities. They were meant to open doors that had been locked for generations.

And now, those doors are being slammed shut again.

Without DEI programs, people like me, and so many others, would continue to be overlooked, dismissed, and erased.

Without these conversations, history will repeat itself.

The DEI Backlash is Real—and Personal

The fight for representation in Hollywood isn’t just about movies; it’s about power, visibility and ensuring that the next generation grows up seeing themselves reflected in the world’s biggest storytelling medium.

Not as an afterthought, but as the main character.

That’s why this work matters. That’s why this mission is urgent.

Hollywoodland News isn’t just about vintage glamour or golden-age nostalgia. It’s about reclaiming the legacy of those pushed out of the frame. It’s about finally being the voice in the room that wasn’t there the first time. I’m not here to romanticize the past. I’m here to rewrite it, so the next act of Hollywood’s story finally includes all of us.

This Mission Is Personal

When I talk about representation, I’m not just talking about casting choices or film credits. I’m talking about my family. My sister, Shelley, known as La Chiquita in the ’90s chola gang life, was a complex, beautiful soul. She lived, loved, and survived in a world that was quick to judge and even quicker to forget girls like her.

Hollywood never made room for women like Shelley. She didn’t fit the mold but she had a story worth telling.

Hollywoodland News exists because she, and so many like her, deserved better than invisibility.

“This work is for her. For the girls in the margins. For every main character who was written out of the script.”

I’ll never apologize for the 12,843 emails I’ve sent to get on press lists, invited to events and to gain exposure for my little brand. What I will apologize for is on behalf of the ones who ignored me, dismissed me or flat-out said no.

Because Hollywoodland News is still here. We’re not going anywhere.

And you can either be part of the movement or end up on the wrong side of history.