Recent Streetsblog LA posts about Legacy of Redlining

Long-Blighted South L.A. Lots to See Groundbreaking on Massive Development Wednesday

By Sahra Sulaiman | Apr 28, 2015 | 12 Comments

As Baltimore grapples with tamping down the police-community tensions that have been brewing for decades, South Los Angeles may be taking a step forward in mitigating the damage done by the unrest that ravaged much of the area in 1992. Twenty-three years to the day after a not-guilty verdict for four officers videotaped viciously beating […]

What Does the “Failure” of the Ban on Fast-Food Restaurants in South L.A. to Curb Obesity Really Tell Us?

By Sahra Sulaiman | Mar 27, 2015 | 13 Comments

“Yea, everything [is] OK…I hope all is well with you. I’m upset right now & crying because I’m starving. Have no food.” I stared at the message on my phone. I had just checked in with 19-year-old South L.A. resident Shanique* to see how she was. I had interviewed her earlier in the summer and […]

“I’m a Cycle-Path”: Los Ryderz’ Founder Joins other South L.A. Superheroes at Visions and Voices Panel Thursday

By Sahra Sulaiman | Feb 24, 2015 | No Comments

“If it weren’t for J.P. …” Ask any of the youth from the Los Ryderz Bike Club how they feel about the club and that is usually one of the first things to come out of their mouths. “…Who knows what I’d be doin’.” “…I don’t know where I’d be.” “…He’s like a second father […]

Location, Location, Location: Contested Public Space Means Moving Watts School Could Deny Some Education

By Sahra Sulaiman | May 14, 2014 | 3 Comments

“They say they care about our safety, but they’re putting us in harm’s way!” It is a refrain I’ve heard several times over the last month from students of INSPIRE Research Academy, a state-subsidized continuation school based at YO! Watts that offers 17-24-year-olds a free education and a rare second chance to get their high […]

Tattoos - symbols of the struggle of his earlier years - warn you against crossing a former gang member. Sahra Sulaiman/Streetsblog L.A.

To Be or Not To Be a Gang-Banger: Is that Really the Question?

By Sahra Sulaiman | Mar 21, 2014 | 6 Comments

*This story features interviews with a number of youth. Some are named. Others requested they remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the information divulged. This story is the second in a series on the impact of generational disenfranchisement and trauma and repressive policing. The first, “Death and All His Friends,” can be found here. […]

Death and All His Friends Cast Long Shadows When They Make Regular Appearances

By Sahra Sulaiman | Nov 6, 2013 | 12 Comments

“I went crazy,” Sherika Simms says quietly of the realization that she would be unable to help her brother. Twenty-two-year-old Maurio Proctor, two years her junior but more like her twin – the boy that had followed her everywhere she went as a child and wanted to do everything she did – had been gunned […]