City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas was suspended from office by a divided Los Angeles City Council today, hours before he entered a not-guilty plea to federal bribery and conspiracy charges stemming from his time serving on the county Board of Supervisors. ... read more »

On the day Los Angeles City Councilman Mark Ridley- Thomas is scheduled to be arraigned on federal bribery and conspiracy charges, his council colleagues will vote tomorrow on whether to immediately suspend him from office. ... read more »

A federal appeals court today overturned a Los Angeles judge's sweeping order forcing local government to offer shelter to every unhoused person on downtown's Skid Row by the middle of next month, and sent the case back to the lower court for further proceedings. A panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that the district court had ``abused its discretion'' because it did not have authority to issue the preliminary injunction order based on claims not pled in the complaint brought last year by the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights, an association of downtown residents, homeless individuals and property owners seeking to compel the county and city of Los Angeles to find shelter for the thousands of people camping on city sidewalks. ... read more »

“Keep communities together” was repeatedly expressed by residents during the last two public hearings hosted by the Los Angeles City Council Redistricting Commission. ... read more »

The comments were delivered at the latest public hearing that the commission hosted as part of the redistricting process, which requires that the boundaries of council districts be redrawn following each census and that each district be approximately equal in size. ... read more »

Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas is devoted to the growth of Leimert Park. The civic leader made the monumental plaza a priority after three years of the area being closed; it’s receiving heightened attention and councilmember Ridley-Thomas showcased some of the upgrades during the Juneteenth reopening celebration. ... read more / view gallery »

The City of LA Department of Neighborhood Empowerment or EmpowerLA puts the power back in the hands of the community. It is the “primary support agency” for the neighborhood council system. They are calling on every Angeleno to strengthen the voice of the community; Neighborhood Council is the closest form of government to the people. ... read more »

In the midst of an unprecedented pandemic where intimate physical interaction created the risk of contracting COVID-19, protesters called for justice, confronting the hard reality that incidents of police brutality, which have disproportionately resulted in the injuries and deaths of people of color, persisted across the nation.  ... read more / view gallery »

The heritage and culture of Los Angeles flows through the veins of the Leimert Park Village community. Businesses that took root near historic Leimert Boulevard reflect the neighborhood’s progress and elevation.  In this quaint, Black artistic-mecca, comprised mostly of store fronts, restaurants and vendors in South L.A., there is a history pride for the community and culture. ... read more »

This week we will get to work on the City’s annual budget. The question is: “What will it do for South Los Angeles where most African Americans in our city live?” ... read more »

Pastor Edward “Eddie” Anderson and the members of McCarty Memorial Christian Church are the latest members of the faith community to assist with the COVID-19 testing and the distribution of the vaccines. ... read more »

The Los Angeles Brotherhood Crusade has been providing much needed resources and assistance to the African American community and all people of need and support for over 50 years.   Their mission of self-help and determination has never been more apparent and needed than through their work over the past year in helping the community navigate through this COVID-19 pandemic. ... read more »

Through forum called “African American Equity in Media,” the new city agency known as L.A. Civil Rights brought together three representatives of the city’s leading media to review how Blacks are represented in newsrooms and news coverage. LA Civil Rights Executive Director Capri Maddox moderated the event, which featured Beverly White, NBC4 news reporter; Angel Jennings, L.A. Times assistant managing editor of culture and talent; Brandon Brooks, L.A. Sentinel and L.A. Watts Times editor. ... read more »

The peach cobbler is symbolic for family, holidays, and tradition in the collective community. The recipe holds generations of tweaks in the ingredients and shared experiences in the kitchen, giving the crust its extra flavor and distinction. In most cases, family recipes stay between relatives, but for Crustees’ owner, Sharon Washington, her first slice into the pie artisanship came from a collective pool of inspiration, and she’s been cooking with a sense of unity ever since. ... read more »

The awareness brought on by activist Martin Luther King Jr., outlined a plan for empowerment; he addressed it to a society founded on freedom. King spoke of unity in a time of division, to celebrate his life and reflect on what he stood for, Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas paid tribute to King’s accomplishments; by curating the 29th Annual Empowerment Congress Summit during the week the nation celebrated Martin Luther King Day. ... read more »