From the category archives:
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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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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“I don’t see any of those organizations that were coming to me asking me to stand with them. They’re not standing with me now.” Rev. Eric Lee is disappointed. One of the few prominent black civil rights leaders to come out in support of gay marriage during the 2008 election season, Rev. Lee says he Read More →
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What happens to immigrants after they come to Los Angeles? What are their lives like? Those are the questions a handful of teenagers are trying to answer in their public art project at MacArthur Park. Evilet Diaz is one of a group of young artists involved, who have been interviewing MacArthur Park immigrant families about Read More →
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A little house in El Salvador. That’s what brought Jeronimo Salguera to the U.S. More precisely, it was debt which his parents couldn’t pay and which threatened them with the loss of their house. It was and is the only thing they have, Salguera explained during a community gathering at CARECEN headquarters near MacArthur Park. Read More →
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In the age of mobile smartphones, who uses a payphone anymore? Not too many people, of course. Consequently, phone companies are regularly ripping out or abandoning phone booths for lack of use. Highland Park resident Amy Inouye spent almost every day of the last six years walking right past an abandoned phone booth on her Read More →
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Naui Huitzilopochtli is on a mission. Born and raised in Orange County, Naui picked up a video camera four years ago, and began videotaping what he perceives as hate speech in his neighborhood and throughout Southern California. Naui shadows street protests by Minutemen and other groups who are against illegal immigration. He walks right into Read More →
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