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Our Mission Is To Maintain And Strengthen The City's Diversity, Equity, And Accountability.
LA Civil Rights Executive Director Capri Maddox in a blue dress with a lapel pin that says "LA."
Greetings!

"Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot un-educate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore."

Today, we celebrate the life and legacy of Cesar Chavez, a Mexican-American civil rights leader who changed history for working people. Cesar Chavez inspired generations of activists with his nonviolent protests, just as he was inspired by the teachings of Francis of Assisi, John Lewis, and Mahatma Gandhi.

Chavez knew that when people become empowered, they cannot be stopped. This is a legacy we continue at LA Civil Rights, through our policy reports, equity programs, and community outreach.

If we can imagine a better future, we can create it. If we can believe in our own worth, we will no longer accept being sidelined. If we believe in an LA For All, then we must make all people feel valued in LA.

Happy Cesar Chavez Day! His work continues.

Keep the faith and keep the fight,

- Capri Maddox
Executive Director
Civil + Human Rights and Equity Department
Time to Vote! L.A. REPAIR Participatory Budgeting Vote Begins April 1st
Graphic design shwoing people voting. Text reads LA REPAIR Participatory Budgeting. DECIDE HOW $3M WILL SERVE THE COMMUNITY! Vote APRIL 1 at repair.lacity.org
Attention Boyle Heights, Southeast LA, and Mission Hills-Panorama City-North Hills! It’s time to VOTE for your favorite community idea to be funded through L.A. REPAIR Participatory Budgeting!

Last year, residents from across these three REPAIR Zones submitted ideas for improving our community. Now, YOU have the power to decide how a portion of the City's budget will be spent. Vote starting April 1st at repair.lacity.org.

Voting is open to anyone over the age of 15 who lives, works, or studies in these three REPAIR zones. Proposals range from housing programs to environment and green space. If you care about these issues in your community, make your voice heard!
Our Latest Equity Report
New LA Civil Rights Report: Violence Against Black & Latina Women in Los Angeles.
LA Civil Rights shared its report on Violence Against Black and Latina Women to the City Council's Civil Rights, Equity, Immigration, Aging and Disability Committee last week, publishing previously undisclosed crime data facing women of color.

Our report found that:

  • Black women are 5% of LA's population, but 33% of the women murdered in the City of Los Angeles over the last decade.
  • Despite violent crimes declining over the last decade, the number of Latinas murdered increased 38% in Los Angeles from 2011 to 2022.
  • Between 2011-2018, Black women saw an average yearly increase of 4.09% in domestic violence aggravated assault reports.

The report follows the unsolved murder of Tioni Theus, a 16 year-old Black girl from South LA, and a motion by Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson and Councilman Curren Price to study the issue. The report provides policy recommendations to invest in prevention methods and improve data collection practices.

We are grateful to Councilmembers Price and Harris-Dawson, and well as Councilwoman Heather Hutt, Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez, and Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez for championing this important issue. We look forward to the report being heard again in Committee before moving to the full city Council.
Two Peace & Healing Centers Open
in the Valley
Two more Peace & Healing Centers are now open! El Nido Family Centers recently welcomed community members and partners for the opening of their centers in Arleta-Pacoima and Mission Hills-Panorama City-North Hills.

LA Civil Rights created the Peace & Healing Center Program (PHC) to provide social, economic, and environmental healing in communities hardest hit by institutional racism. El Nido, in partnership with First 5 LA - Best Start, will provide programs, including storytelling workshops, social healing circles, art activities, yoga and meditation, nutrition classes, food banks, gardening, financial literacy workshops, street vendor workshops, and more. For updates on El Nido's PHC programming, visit @beststartpcn on Instagram and Best Start Panorama City & Neighbors on Facebook.
Artwork showing Cesar Chavez and the United Farmworkers
Honoring Cesar Chavez
Civil rights activist and labor organizer Cesar Chavez fought for the rights of farm workers through a multiracial coalition alongside Dolores Huerta and Filipino-American labor leader Larry Itliong.

Under Chavez’s leadership, United Farm Workers led nonviolent boycotts, pickets, and strikes, improving the lives of thousands of farmworkers. In the process, Chavez inspired generations of labor organizers and Chicano activists.

Today, we celebrate Cesar Chavez Day and his legacy at LA Civil Rights. As our department continues to seek equity and justice, we continue the fight led by heroes like Cesar Chavez.
LA Civil Rights Team at the LAURA Event.
Standing Up for Peace
Last weekend, LA Civil Rights joined L.A.U.R.A (Life After Uncivil Ruthless Acts) and families of victims from violence and homicide at Fred Roberts Recreation Center in South Central for the 16th annual peace walk and resource fair.

This important event brings resources and leaders - like Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Curren Price - together to call attention to violence in our communities and build solidarity for victims and their families.  To learn more about our LA for All campaign, click here.

Interested in joining one of our community outreach events? Join the LA Civil Rights Volunteer Corps! Click here to learn more.
201 N. Los Angeles St., Suite 6
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 978-1845