From the category archives:
Artist Guillermo Gómez-Peña didn’t always take a shine to academia. But he agrees with the creators of “South Park” who maintain that “politicians have hijacked our imagination and replaced it with fear.” He sees this as a particular problem for young artists, so the self-proclaimed “Border Brujo,” who is currently a visiting artist at UCLA, is turning over Read More →
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Set five years in the future in a parallel reality, “Puto” is a sexy sci-fi play that confronts a number of social issues, from immigration to bee colony collapse disorder. From award-winning playwright Ricardo Bracho, “Puto” is in its last phase of staged readings before going into production. “The term puto has a lot of Read More →
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The new Executive Director of ACLU’s Southern California branch has big shoes to fill. As of last month, Hector Villagra has taken over for Ramona Ripston in a position she filled for 38 years. Villagra, the first Latino to hold the post, seems like the perfect person for the job. A native of Southern California, Villagra, Read More →
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We caught up with L.A. Laker Shannon Brown ahead of All-Star Weekend at the Westfield Culver City Mall where he was signing autographs for fans. We asked the high-flying guard about his favorite places to eat, play and shop in L.A. 1) Favorite place to eat after a long road trip?: “If my wife is not Read More →
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LA>Forward caught up with producer/songwriter Dallas Austin at BMI’s pre-Grammy panel, “How I Wrote That Song.” We asked him a few questions about hanging in L.A. 1) Favorite studio?: “Babyface’s studio because nobody else is there. He don’t really rent it out so, if you are in there, you are by yourself… plus, you’ve got Read More →
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Next time you consider giving leftovers to someone who’s living on the street, think about this: what they really might need is some H2O. “Water’s the thing that’s scarce here,” says Alan Pinel, a volunteer with the Burrito Project in South Pasadena. Alan, along with his fellow volunteers, make burritos and distribute them along with Read More →
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Josh Kun, associate professor at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, recently interviewed Mexican actor/director/activist Diego Luna for the Distinguished Lecture Series on Latin American Arts and Culture. Luna, who burst onto the scene in “Y Tu Mamá También,” discusses his new directorial effort, “Abel,” and what it means to be a parent. He Read More →
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Ara Oshagan is an Armenian-American who has lived in the U.S. for more than 30 years. In the past ten of those years, he has been working on a project to trace back his roots and to better understand where he came from. Oshagan worked with his father to document their multiple visits to a Read More →
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A waiter at a restaurant, staff at a hotel, a farmworker in the field, a garment factory seamstress—these are all examples of occupations performed by modern-day slaves here in the U.S., says Chanchanit (Chancee) Martorell, executive director of the Thai Community Development Center. Martorell told L.A. Forward that modern-day victims of human trafficking and indentured Read More →
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In the wake of Tuesday’s arrest of eight former and current officials from the City of Bell related to their alleged misuse of public funds, LA>FWD offers this video interview with Christina Garcia, who grew up in the adjacent community of Bell Gardens. She became involved with the community organization BASTA after some folks in the Read More →
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