It’s our first full week of January 2014 — but before leaping forward, let’s take a look back. In 2013, Intersections covered community development, visual and performing arts, health, education, poverty, politics, crime, history and more…  What were the highlights? Here are one editor’s top 10 picks. 

South LA teenager finds home in poetry

“On a chilly night in South L.A., over a hundred young people have packed into a small theatre for an open-mic poetry reading. Seventeen-year-old Kenzie Givens is an African American poet and tonight is her first time performing at the venue. On stage, Givens looks tough. She’s dressed in a leather jacket, mini-skirt and combat boots and her hair is done up in dreads. Despite her apparent confidence, Givens doesn’t always fit in with her peers. She writes poetry because she often can’t connect with students her age.”

South LA corner stores try to get healthy

“There’s not a lot of merchandise on the shelves at Oak’s Jr. Market these days. The refrigerators along the wall keep some beers and sodas cool. A shelf stores canned chili and Aunt Jemima syrup. But the shelves below the sign that reads “Fresh Produce” sit vacant, waiting to be filled with fruits and vegetables.”

Breaking South LA’s cycle of teen pregnancy

 May 29, 2013 By Melissah Yang

“For months, Marissa had kept her small baby bump hidden. She practiced soccer drills with her dad, wore loose clothes and pretended she was still a normal teenager. She hadn’t told anyone she was pregnant because she was too scared. … South L.A.’s teen birth rate remains stubbornly high at nearly double the national average, according to the L.A. County Department of Public Health. And it continues to be the highest in the county, nearly 10 times the rate for the more affluent Westside, which includes Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and Malibu.”

South LA’s man in Sacramento

May 29, 2013 By Matt Hamilton

“What makes [Celes] King different from others is that he’s neither a lobbyist nor a gadfly, neither elected nor appointed. He’s the master community advocate. The son of legendary civil rights bail bondsman Celes King III is now engrossed in a fight to save his family’s livelihood – the bail industry – and continue advocating for marginalized communities.”

Street art finds another canvas at the home of South LA resident

July 5, 2013 By Subrina Hudson

“Awash with bright, spray-painted colors, the brick wall enclosing a portion of Arcelia Gante’s house is becoming a piece of public art. Five years ago, her family moved into the house located on the corner of La Salle Avenue in South Los Angeles, and since then graffiti artists have used the side of her house to create intricate murals and portraits.”

Photoetry: A testament to the community

“I felt that with my poetry I could express the humanity of my community,” [Hiram] Sims said. … This does not mean Sims paints an overly idealistic image of the community. Sims challenges ideas of race, violence and religion in the community in poems such as “The Wrong Red Shirt,” “god Hates Me,” and “I Feel the Love (Ode to the LAPD).” Balancing these tensions in his work was not always easy. Sims knew at the outset that he did not want to portray the same image of South L.A. often portrayed in movies.”

South LA neighborhood in the aftermath of the Martha Sanchez shooting

“Brenda Ramirez and her husband had finished work and were driving home when they saw police and a crowd gathered around a South Los Angeles discount store a block away from their upholstery shop. Enrique Espino, a high school student, was sitting on his couch watching TV when he heard his neighbors run out of their homes. Eva Alvarez, who was working in her bail bond store, saw an ambulance on her store’s surveillance camera and sprinted towards the shop across the street. Their neighbor, Martha Sanchez, had been shot.”

First person: Thanksgiving without turkey?

November 27, 2013 By Shanice Joseph

“As our family ate tacos and cupcakes on the occasion of my grandmother’s 65th birthday last week, my four-year-old brother Bryce—the youngest of the seven of us, four of whom were present—asked her, “Nana, what are we doing for Thanksgiving?””

 

Leimert Park: Chronicles of a changing community

This historic South L.A. neighborhood had a year of ups and downs, but is still vibrant. Community members are optimistic that the new Metro station and long-standing art centers and small businesses can coexist.

Leimert Park plays to its own beat
May 23, 2013 By Ashley Riegle

Reporter Corps

In 2013 Intersections inaugurated its first Reporter Corps class, a group of college-age students from South L.A. who spent the summer learning to report on their communities. Here are three of their stories that have been published — with more to come in 2014.

Crenshaw High’s magnet conversion and Baldwin Hills families
October 7, 2013 By Ryan Johnson

Growing up queer in Watts: What happens when school is still not a safe place
October 13, 2013 By Xochil Frausto

‘College Isn’t For Us?’
October 21, 2013 By Skylar Endsley Myers