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From the LA Times- http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-boyle-heights-gentrification-coffee-20170621-story.html

Months after the activists won an apparent victory by pressuring an art gallery to close down amid what the owners called “constant attacks,” the protests against the galleries — and now Weird Wave Coffee — have illustrated both the demonstrators’ knack for annoying their targets as well as the limits of their tactics.

Anti-gentrification forces spent weeks trolling the coffee house on Instagram before and after it opened June 15. They held protest rallies outside the business, holding posters, including one that read “… White Coffee” and included an expletive, and another that said “AmeriKKKano to go.” They passed out fliers with a parody logo that read “White Wave.”

Some Latino residents who defended Weird Wave Coffee said they were called “coconuts” by activists. Brown on the outside, white on the inside.

“It makes us look bad,” Koda Torres said of the confrontational tactics used against the cafe. “The way they handle the situation of gentrification wasn’t appropriate. They were almost vandalizing their windows, harassing the customers, calling people sellouts and racists.”

Early on in the battle against the galleries, protesters stormed into shows and threw detergent on patrons as well as the food they were being served, according to witnesses and news reports. The Los Angeles Police Department investigated the graffiti of one gallery that included an expletive and said “… White Art.”

But the activists who have fought against gentrification have so far failed to rally a large number of residents to their cause.

Some longtime residents like the rising property values and increased retail choices. Others are concerned about people being pushed out of the neighborhood. They also struggle to connect the dots, like the activists, between widespread gentrification and a cafe or art galleries in an isolated part of Boyle Heights.

When the owners of Weird Wave Coffee decided to open their shop in Boyle Heights, they were aware of the movement against gentrification. But they did not think they would be targeted like the art galleries. They were selling coffee, not pricey paintings.

Also, Weird Wave was hardly the first cafe or trendy business in Boyle Heights.

Not far from 1st Street and Boyle Avenue, Eastside Luv, a popular wine bar, opened years ago. Across Mariachi Plaza, a Victorian-era building, once home to many mariachis, went through extensive restoration and served as affordable housing. In 2014, La Monarca Bakery, an upscale Mexican cafe and panaderia, opened in the building’s ground floor.

Initially, protesters thought they were protesting against two owners, Jackson Defa and John Schwarz, who are white.

Defa, 34, a San Francisco native, said he tried to extend an olive branch to the protesters when they showed up at the business, but was rejected. Defa may have made things more difficult when he snapped an Instagram photo of a fruit vendor and used the hashtag "local yokel," a phrase used to describe someone living in a rural area. Defa removed the post, apologized for the remark and said he was actually making fun of himself, not the vendor, whom they sometimes purchase fruit from.

“I wasn’t surprised,” Defa said of the protesters. “I was surprised they didn’t want to listen.”

“So I went out there and said, ‘What’s going on? What seems to be the problem?’ And they said, ‘These guys in there are trying to change the community,’” Chavarria recalled. “And I said, well, I don’t think we’re doing that. I’m part of the business. This is my place and I think, as a Hispanic, you’re willing to support someone like you who is trying to get ahead, using his own private money.’”

Chavarria said he was called a vendido — sellout.

Critics like Vilchis say the shop’s minimalist aesthetics and hipster style represent a danger to the community, encouraging property owners to increase rents and eventually price out longtime tenants.

But though Vilchis and other activists oppose some businesses, they also admit they can be selective in their opposition.

They don’t protest a Starbucks in Boyle Heights, for instance, because it’s a “post-gentrification” business that no longer poses a threat, Vilchis said.

A day after Weird Wave Coffee opened in mid-June, the protesters’ confrontational tactics got the attention of the media, but the coverage only made others in the area curious about the cafe. Some residents and business owners also found themselves targets.

“I really couldn’t believe people are that mean in our neighborhood,” said Francisco Torres, 47, a longtime resident. “I didn’t like that.”

Protesters gathered outside the shop, live-streaming the event and recording themselves as they paced back and forth, holding signs. But they also recorded telling interactions between residents and protesters.

In one recording, Ashley Aragonez, 29, expresses annoyance with the anti-gentrification activists.

“What are you gonna get out of this? Do you think they’re going to close down?” she told a protester.

“That’s our mission — for them to get out of the neighborhood,” he said.

Another protester, a woman, chimed in: “What do you want? Do you want a white coffee shop here?”

“I want to be able to come and drink coffee and not have people yelling at me,” Aragonez said.

“That’s not gonna happen,” the young man replied.

A little backstory- Boyle Heights is a predominantly Latino neighborhood bordering the resurgent Downtown Los Angeles. Since the gentrification of downtown, and other neighborhoods like Highland Park and Echo Park (both Hispanic majority), Boyle Heights is next on the list for rising rents, property values, and artisanal coffee, gelato and brews.

That has led to residents that want the rising property values and more food options, versus those that want to stop displacement of renters and keep the neighborhood the way it has been since the 60s, when the Jewish and Japanese residents left the neighborhood.

And so this battle has been brewing in Los Angeles. imo, progress is unstoppable. The coffee shops will come, the artisanal bread will come, etc, so you might as well have a seat and enjoy a cuppa.

Post-gentrify me if old.