Los Angeles

Why LAUSD Teachers Walked Out

At the heart of the walkout of 60,000 education professionals is the reality that the school district's policies are keeping teachers and students in poverty that makes it harder to teach and learn, says a union official. 

30 Years Later, "Falling Down" Still Shows the Shallowness of Suburbanites' Views of the City

by Carl Abbott

Set in a moment of economic upheaval, racial conflict, and media-driven fear of crime, Joel Schumacher's film reflected the degree of separation between America's suburbs and cities. Today, it's necessary to recognize that its portrayal of hostility and alienation isn't inevitable. 

The Virgin of Guadalupe is a Constant on the Changing Streets of Los Angeles

The image of the Virgin Mary is both a protector of small businesses and a symbol of ethnic pride across Los Angeles; photographer Oscar Rodriguez Zapata has been documenting her appearances for a decade. 

Historian Kelly Lytle Hernández Teams Up with New LA City Councilors to Review City's History

A historian and two recently-elected progressive city council members teamed up to tour the sites of the city's community of Mexican revolutionaries in exile, asking how the past can inform social movements today. 

Black-Brown Solidarity has been Elusive in Los Angeles

by Erin Aubry Kaplan

For decades, the increasing Latino presence in previously Black neighborhoods in South Los Angeles has raised concerns about political representation and hopes for a cross-racial movement for a more just city. Recent leaked city councl tapes show things are far from settled. 

California Historians and Writers Remember Mike Davis

Matt Garcia, William Deverell and others share personal reflections on their personal and professional intersections with the mold-breaking historian and activist. 

Mike Davis, 1946-2022

by Jon Wiener

"Mike hated being called “a prophet of doom.” Yes, LA did explode two years after City of Quartz; the fires and floods did get more intense after Ecology of Fear, and of course a global pandemic did follow The Monster at Our Door."

LA Council Racism Shows Ethnic Politics Covers for War by Landlords on Renters

The recorded remarks in a council meeting show that while Angelenos have been encouraged to vote along ethnic lines, their representatives have been more intersted in catering to politically powerful landlords and developers. 

Remarks by LA City Council Members Struck at Local Oaxacan Community

by A.S. Dillingham

Remarks stigmatizing Mexican immigrants with indigenous ancestry point to the fallacy of a unitary Latino identity and highlight the persistence of racial hierarchies in Latin America. 

Los Angeles to Memorialize 1871 Anti-Chinese Massacre

Architect Annie Chu describes the task of using design and space to evoke an emotional connection to the victims of mass violence whose identities and stories have been largely lost. 

Noir Politics in Mike Davis's "City of Quartz"

by Charlotte Rosen

The late Mike Davis wrote his influential and controversial history of Los Angeles as a noir thriller, exposing the greed and corruption beneath the sunny surface. 

The Walls of Troy: Pandemic and Exclusion at an Urban University

by Arabella Delgado

The pandemic has clarified and underscored ways that the University of Southern California, like most private urban campuses, has long sought to maximize the separation between its campus and the surrounding community. 

Los Angeles's Response to 1992 Riots Remains Model of How Not to Do It

by V.N. Trinh

The strategy of encouraging private business development, without seriously reforming police, fixing public schools, or addressing poverty, proved unequal to the task of promoting justice in LA. 

Racist Jokes Were the Glue of the LAPD Culture that Led to 1992 Riots

by Raúl Pérez

The LAPD was never forced to confront the documented ways that a culture of racial stereotyping and bigoted jokes cemented the systemic abuse of communities of color in the city. 

Greg Ginn, SST Records, and the Rise of SoCal Punk

"In its 1980s heyday, SST released at least a dozen canonical rock albums that were notable for their rejection of convention."

Two Artists Unearth Hidden Histories of LA

Devon Tsuno and Alan Nakagawa discuss the histories and daily life of the Japanese American community in Midtown Los Angeles, an area that has largely been erased from Angelenos' maps of their city. 

Broken Homes of the Drug War

by David Helps

Rather than a mistake or an isolated instance of excess, a notoriously brutal and destructive LAPD raid on an apartment complex in 1988 should be seen as part of a political attack on the city's Black poor, enabled by cultural stereotypes of families of color. 

CORE's Fight for Fair Housing in Los Angeles

by M. Keith Claybrook, Jr.

The fight for fair housing in Los Angeles demonstrates the way that racism has been maintained through the institutions of housing and real estate. 

CIA Director John Deutch at Los Angeles Town Hall in 1996 Denies Agency Sold Cocaine in City

A town hall meeting in Los Angeles grew heated when the CIA director denied allegations published by reporter Gary Webb that the Agency was involved in importing and distributing drugs to South Central Los Angeles. 

Black Family's Success in Recovering California Land Could Spark National Land Return Movement

"Activists and scholars say there are other similar cases nationwide, but proving them — and getting the current property owners to cooperate — will be a different matter."