Using Art to Help Undocumented Students Become More Visible, On Their Own Terms

A Poet’s Powerful Example Inspired Immigrant Students in South L.A. to Dream Bigger

For three years, I was a high school English teacher at 103rd Street and Broadway, the southernmost tip of South Los Angeles, a stone’s throw west of Watts. Many Californians think of this as drive-over, landlocked, and lock-your-doors Los Angeles. But my students know this small patch, one of the lowest income zip codes in the county, as home.

There are approximately two million undocumented minors in the United States today, and if I were to guess, I’d say about 20 percent of my students were part of that population. …

By Ky-Phong Tran | July 7, 2016

Created to Appeal to Nostalgia, Faux Plazas Serve a Traditional Purpose

Mexican-Americans in the South L.A. Region Enjoy Shopping Centers Designed to Remind Them of Mexico’s Popular Public Spaces

By Jorge N. Leal | July 7, 2016

The area of Los Angeles south of the 10 Freeway is not generally known for its shopping or dining destinations, nor for its great public spaces. But the region is …

Inside a South L.A. Union Hall, a Tool for Saving Money—and for Fighting Predatory Payday Lenders

Traditional Lending Circles Get a Modern, Credit-Building Makeover for the City’s Service Workers

By Melissa Chadburn | July 7, 2016

To find an old way of saving that is new again, head to the line of mortuaries along Los Angeles’ Washington Boulevard, between Hoover Street and the 110 Freeway. One …

In South L.A., a Growing Interest in Urban Gardening

A Place Called Home Offers Local Youth a Chance to Farm in the Middle of South Central Avenue

July 7, 2016

A Place Called Home is one of the treasures of the South Central Avenue corridor. It’s been so successful at serving young people ages 8 to 21 (they’re called members)—providing …

Prop. 47 Has the Power to Transform South L.A., If More People Used It

By Reclassifying or Expunging Prior Convictions, Many Californians Could Gain Opportunities

By Gilbert Johnson | July 7, 2016

One way to help transform South L.A.—and communities across California—would be for people to use the new power they have under Proposition 47 to expunge or reduce the felony convictions …

Who Gets to Represent a Richer South L.A.?

A Place of Possibility Shouldn’t Remain a Pawn of the Establishment

By Jorge Nuño | July 7, 2016

There is more opportunity in South Los Angeles now.

You can see it in the houses, in the development, in the grocery stores finally arriving, in the people who—as I did …

South L.A. package