The holiday season is here, and with it comes an opportunity to be a source of light and love for our city.

So many of the winter holidays are centered around the theme of light. As we reach the shortest days of the year, we don't succumb to darkness, but celebrate the light each of us can bring to our communities.

We see this light in holiday celebrations, community food drives, and neighbors helping neighbors. We see it whenever someone extends a helping hand to those in need. I got to see it recently at my beloved alma mater, Cal State LA, where dozens of students created artwork around belonging, inclusion and solidarity.

I hope you can be the light for someone in our diverse and beautiful city this holiday season. Because when we shine on others, we can illuminate the world with hope and healing for our darkest moments. Happy Holidays!

Keep the faith and keep the fight,

- Capri Maddox

LA Civil Rights stopped by Cal State LA's undergrad graphic design program to see the final semester projects: Their own LA For All campaign! These talented students have been working all semester long to imagine their own version of our campaign for belonging and inclusivity in Los Angeles. Their incredible creativity and lived experiences were clear in these works, which ranged from illustration and photography to abstract art pieces and typographic designs. Thank you to Professor Zachary Vernon and all the students in his Concept Development course!

LA For All, launched in May 2021, is the largest anti-hate PSA campaign in Los Angeles city history. Translated into 18 languages and engaging over 4,000 ad spaces, the artistic PSA campaign encourages the reporting of hate acts and stands up for our Los Angeles values of inclusion, diversity and belonging.

We are so excited to share these original works with the world - stay tuned for more!

Last week, City Council gave the final vote of approval on LA REPAIR, our department's Participatory Budgeting (PB) pilot program to lift up communities impacted by a legacy of structural and institutional racism.

The Los Angeles Reforms for Equity and Public Acknowledgment of Institutional Racism, or LA REPAIR, will give nine LA communities the power to allocate $8.5 million in their neighborhoods. Anyone in these communities can propose ideas and vote on final projects. In doing so, LA REPAIR will empower these communities with a direct role in our city's budget - deepening our local democracy, increasing civic engagement and strengthening under-resourced communities.

The nine communities, called LA REPAIR Zones, are: Skid Row, Arleta-Pacoima, Boyle Heights, Mission Hills-Panorama City-North Hills, Westlake, West Adams, South Los Angeles, Southeast Los Angeles and Wilmington-Harbor Gateway. 

We were honored to join the Community Hanukkah Celebration hosted by the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles on December 3rd. The outdoor event brought together city, county and state leaders, Jewish faith leaders, and communities from across Los Angeles to celebrate Hanukkah and shine a light on anti-Semitism. Thank you so much to the Jewish Federation for having us, and to the incoming President, Rabbi Noah Farkas for your beautiful event!