Hello Nicole,

When our team at LA Civil Rights walks into our Downtown LA offices, we walk in with one mission - to work tirelessly on behalf of Angelenos to ensure that our city is fair, equitable, and just for everyone.

Each day, I'm guided by not only my personal faith, but my faith in humanity that makes this work possible. Recent attacks on local houses of worship, a blistering heatwave impacting our most vulnerable communities, and unsettling national headlines give us a feeling of hopelessness. These situations have tested us and tested our faith, but the work we do here at LA Civil Rights is what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. alluded to when he taught us that faith is taking that first step even when we don't see the whole staircase.

Here at LA Civil Rights, we are walking step-by-step along with community organizations and faith leaders, because we know, and most importantly - we do - what it takes to create a more equitable and inclusive Los Angeles. Through Faith Leaders Roundtable, faith-based unity events, reparations studies, and Peace and Healing Centers, we show our commitment and dedication by lifting our most sacred rights as citizens.

I end every one of these newsletters with the same salutation for a reason, because I know that together, through good work, and through faith, we will all make it up that staircase.

Keep the faith and keep the fight,

- Capri Maddox

Executive Director

Civil + Human Rights and Equity Department

LA Civil Rights

Faith-Based Roundtable

Multi-faith engagement is a cornerstone of deepening LA Civil Rights community partnerships to uplift our mission of creating an equitable, inclusive, and just Los Angeles. Since the inception of our department in 2020, LA Civil Rights worked intently to form multi-faith engagements, starting with the first convening of a faith leaders’ roundtable where issues of addressing hate and building equity were focal points of these engagements. 

Today, we continue to make strides in advancing these goals celebrating faith traditions, such as Shine a Light Against Anti-Semitism event hosted by the Jewish Federation, Jewish Heritage Month, and co-hosting the 10th Annual Interfaith Iftar at City Hall with Mayor Bass and Councilmember Raman, we are bringing faith leaders together to lock arms and show solidarity in ensuring that Los Angeles is a place for everyone.

Back in May, LA Civil Rights hosted a roundtable discussion with Mayor Bass and faith leaders to discuss how faith communities in Los Angeles can contribute to informing solutions to some of the most complex challenges facing our City, including homelessness, discrimination, and way to affirm an including city where religious pluralism is a core value. 

With the recent anti-hate incidents and rising attacks on faith communities, LA Civil Rights will continue to be intentional about bringing faith leaders into the conversations just as we have done in the past with our Solidarity Vigils, Unity Prayers, Interfaith Dialogues, and more.