By Melissa Reyes
On the corner of Mission and Persia streets at noon, the sun illuminates the colorful multitude; passerby, merchants, and residents speak various tongues and communicate through hard stares and half smiles. Restaurants, community and advocacy centers, and small businesses line the gum-stained sidewalks. Some keep their doors wide open, luring people in by the trailing aromas of hot tortillas and fresh cilantro.
However, others are not as inviti...