Party Crews: The Untold Story

Carribean Fragoza is a writer, artist and co-founder of the South El Monte Arts Posse. She writes about Latinx women and girls whose narratives aren’t always portrayed in the mainstream. In 2014, she wrote a short story for Bomb Magazine titled “The Vicious Ladies'' — inspired by the news coverage surrounding Emmery Muñoz’s real-life party crew following her murder. 

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All episodes coming March 14, 2023. For many LA Latinx teens coming of age in the 2000s, flier parties and the party crew scene were an escape from the pressures from immigrant parents and the harsh realities of the world. From VICE and LAist Studios as part of the My Cultura Podcast Network, a series that explores what happens when your safe space isn’t always safe. Hosted by Janice Llamoca.

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Janice Llamoca was one of the hundreds of mostly Latinx kids that made up LA’s underground party crew scene in the 2000s. But as an adult, she thought she had left all that behind. Until one day when she learns of the unsolved case of Emmery Muñoz, a 14-year-old high school student whose body was found in a warehouse that authorities claimed was used for throwing parties. And Janice gets pulled back in.  

Additional special thanks for this episode to Marlon Bishop, Nadia Reiman and Maria Garcia.

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Growing up in the San Gabriel Valley, Janice saw the party crew scene as a little slice of freedom, a place to let loose, and a break from her religious, immigrant household. But the scene was also complicated for her and holds painful memories.

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Emmery was last seen on a Friday afternoon in January of 2006. In this episode, we delve into the investigation into Emmery’s unsolved murder. Emmery’s link to the party crew world was part of why her killing got a lot of media attention. But what evidence was there that her murder was tied to party crews? And why is her case still unsolved?

A warning that this episode gets graphic and talks in detail about a violent death.

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We go behind-the-scenes in the making of a mid-2000s flier party with an entrepreneurial teen party crew promoter from South Central to understand how parties were major money makers, but more importantly how they were created by kids who wanted to be the architects of their own worlds. Consider this your official invite to a ~*flier party*~. 

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A year after Emmery’s death, a now-notorious Los Angeles City Council member became interested in her unsolved case and led a rallying cry for LA to crack down on party crews. But the battle between the city and party crews wasn’t new. In this episode, we learn of LAPD’s strategies in the 2000s to police party crews and attempt a citywide crackdown. For the kids, dealing with the cops was just part of being in the scene.

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Before TikTok, Instagram and even – MySpace, party crew teens found ways to create communities online. One of these early social media sites was called Techno4.us — where Janice and Emmery both had profiles once upon a time. In T4’s heyday, party crew kids all over LA and beyond would connect through colorful and chaotic digital profiles where teens were showing their lives uncensored and on their own terms. 

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In 2022 – more than sixteen years later – we hear from Emmery’s entire family who gather and re-hash more than a decade’s worth of information when an investigator joins the case.

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What does the party crew scene ultimately tell us about what it means to have a safe space - and how might that shape the way Emmery is remembered? Janice looks back and learns that the rosy memories are not the only ones worth remembering.

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