Clinton Middle School Winter Festival gathers community

December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment


imageBy Camille Houphouët-Boigny

More than 630 people attended the first annual Winter Festival at William Jefferson Clinton Middle School in South Los Angeles on Saturday, December 10.

“This event is great for our students, excellent for the parents; it is a good school but we needed this for our kids, they were a little lost, bored, so having this event makes them have fun, that’s why there are so many kids,” said Anitra Thrower, a full-time worker at Clinton.

The Winter Festival was a community resource fair sponsored by Warner Brothers Home Entertainment and City Year, a non-profit organization working to combat high school drop outs by working as tutors and mentors at elementary and middle schools in the L.A. area. The festival was organized with the objective of providing services to the community.

image“It is very scary to see what’s happening in public schools in California; I and my company want to make as much of a positive impact as we possibly can,” said Kevin Tsujihara, President of Warner Brothers Home Entertainment.

During the four-hour event, Kid DJ, a 15-year-old DJ mixed some music, the Clinton Middle School’s Advanced Band and Glee Club performed and Warner Brothers sponsored a dance party. Forty-two booths were installed in the courtyard; some of them were community-based organizations, others had food and beverages, and about eight game booths were available for the children. And the best part: everything was free.

“What’s special about it is that it’s trying to bring the community inside the school to give them access to community-based organizations and resources they may not otherwise know about or have access to,” said Principal Sissi O’Reilly. “We hope that we can do this every year.”

Filed Under: Education, Featured

HomeWalk 2011 attracts 10,000

November 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment


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Lakers star Kobe Bryant joined about 10,000 people participating in this year’s HomeWalk. The 5K Run/Walk annual event, hosted by the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, aims to end homelessness by bringing awareness to the problem and raising funds to help those who need to find a permanent home.

This is the fifth year of the HomeWalk. The event started at 8:30 am on Saturday, November 19 at the Exposition Park with an opening ceremony. The Run/Walk begun at 9:00 am and ended at 10:15 am.

image“I am touched to see that so many people are raising money for us,” said Trevor, a homeless man who was at the HomeWalk 2011. “I have been living on the streets for three years and thanks to all of the HomeWalk participants, I believe that someday, I will have a permanent house.”

Over the past four years, HomeWalk has mobilized over 18,000 walkers, raised $1.7 million and created organizations that have moved 9,000 homeless people to a permanent house.

imageAccording to the United Way, there are over 51,000 homeless people in Los Angeles County. Of those:

* 18% are veterans
* 40% are women and children
* 32% have a bachelors degree or higher

One of the leading reasons for homelessness is the loss of a job.

Filed Under: Community, Featured

Digital media helps amplify immigrant voices

October 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment


More than 100 people attended a special event at USC last Thursday to learn about projects that support immigrant communities in Los Angeles. Organizers showed how three different projects – VozMob, the LA Flood Project and the Transborder Immigrant Tool – help immigrant communities use mobile phones and poetry for daily communication.

Volunteers from all the projects say the want to improve the lives of immigrants and believe it’s important to show their contributions and the unfair treatment they often receive.

Voces Móviles/Mobile Voices (VozMob) is a collaboration between the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and the institute of Popular Education of Southern California (IDEPSCA).

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VozMob makes use of technology to empower communities and get greater participation in the digital public sphere from people who don’t have access to computers. Eight day laborers, who were at the event, explained how Voces Móviles allows them to record and share their stories using cell phones.

“I have the opportunity to learn more every day and also share more with the community,” says Marco Rodriguez, a day laborer who uses VozMob.

This platform also gives immigrant workers the opportunity to report abuse and injustices, like when employers refuse to pay them after they’ve done a job.

Another project showcased during the evening was the LA Flood Project, a multi-media experience that simulates a flood in Los Angeles. People get to participate during the simulated crisis, calling in on cell phones to provide information and to hear the latest on the situation from wherever they’re located.

The event ended with a presentation of the Transborder Immigrant Tool, a mobile-phone app created by the Electronic Disturbance Theater 2.0/b.a.n.g lab, a group or artists, activists and performers. The phone app provides immigrants crossing the border into the United States with directions to water as a way to help them survive their journey.

The Mobile Voices of L.A.’s Immigrants was co-sponsored by the Institute for Multimedia Literacy, the Center for Transformative Scholarship, the Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration, El Centro Chicano and the Latina/o Student Assembly.

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