los-angeles

Whoops, It's Time to Leave Los Angeles (Maybe)

Jordan Sargent · 10/22/15 06:01PM

Los Angeles offers many things. Sun. Sand. Millions of horrible people. Cocaine. Unfortunately, all current and near-future residents of America’s entertainment capital may soon have their lives put in danger by an almost certain earthquake. Or not!

Jason Parham · 09/23/15 09:13AM

Los Angeles is set to declare a “state of emergency” and commit $100 million to help end its homelessness crisis, which has ballooned out of control. It is not exactly clear, however, where the money will come from. According to the LA Times, the budget “only recently began to recover from revenue shortfalls.”

Riot City: A Remembrance 

Jervey Tervalon · 08/13/15 10:10AM

I was a young boy in 1965 when we moved into an area of Los Angeles where many New Orleans expatriates settled. I got to watch my older brothers and their friends run like rabbits when the pigs would roll by. At one point I thought that’s what you called the police, “pigs,” but Gregory, my second oldest brother said don’t you ever call them that to their faces. Once, when the police roared up on us with their high beams, Gregory dragged me like a limp doll to escape. All these well-built, tough-ass knuckleheads scattered to avoid arrest or worse. Their crime: smoking weed and drinking beer on the steps of our house. Gregory threw me down behind a hedge and covered me with his body while the police looked for someone to apprehend. They didn’t see us, but the impression stayed with me. The police were to be feared.

To Live and Die in LA

Tiffany Hobbs · 08/01/15 12:30PM

It’s late July. There is a helicopter circling. A “ghetto bird” on this clear, dark blue night. I’m in my bed, staring at the ceiling fan, trying to sleep. It’s 1:30 a.m. It’s 2:00 a.m. I’m struggling. I’m tired. It’s hot. Someone’s dog is barking. I am now on Facebook, seeing post after post about rumors, or fact, of two black bodies being found in a car at a Taco Bell about 10 minutes away from where I rest my head. I think about how many pillows are being soaked by hot, angry tears of black families asking the questions that come along with this sort of thing.

Jury Finds LAPD Officer Guilty of Assault Captured on Video

Brendan O'Connor · 06/06/15 02:45PM

On Friday, a jury in Los Angeles found Officer Mary O’Callaghan guilty of assault under color of authority, the Los Angeles Times reports. Video shows O’Callaghan slapping and kicking the handcuffed Alesia Thomas, who lost consciousness and died soon after, in the back of her squad car. O’Callaghan was not charged in Thomas’ death.

Catfish, Cornbread, and Condos: South LA on the Verge of Transition

Nijla Mu’min · 06/06/15 12:00PM

I work at a soul-food restaurant owned by a very attractive black biracial man. The restaurant is located in South Los Angeles, across from what used to be the Magic Johnson Theater, a place once known for shootouts during movie screenings. But, I digress.

Surviving the Drought

Anelise Chen · 06/05/15 11:00AM

Since the drought began in California, my mom has become even more overzealous about conserving water. “The lawn is all brown blotches,” she giggled before I went home to visit last summer. “I turn off all the sprinkler but I think Marcelino turns it on.” Marcelino is our neighbor. He is retired gardener who sometimes comes over with his grandkids to tend to our yard. I think he feels bad for it.