Community leaders, activists, and engaged citizens gathered on March 1 at the Where We Go From Here event at Community Coalition in South Los Angeles.
The event served as a call to action for equity, justice, and unity in the face of systemic challenges impacting the region. With mounting political and economic threats to working-class communities, the speakers emphasized that the fight for justice requires both resilience and collective action.
Dr. Manuel Pastor, a distinguished professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California, moderated the conversation. He was joined by Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party, and April Verrett, president of the Service Employees International Union. Their discussion explored strategies for advancing social justice, economic empowerment, and civic engagement.
Mitchell delivered a powerful message on the strength of community, emphasizing that in moments of crisis, connections outweigh material wealth.
“When I didn’t have anything except the clothes on my back, and the thing that was more valuable than the things that I lost was community,” he stated. “The most powerful thing on the planet, is our connections, which is why we organize.”
Verrett reflected on the lessons she learned during the COVID-19 crisis, saying, “California and the pandemic taught me to focus. And I think it’s what we have to remember to do most in this moment is prioritize and to focus.
Pastor challenged the panelists to rethink their strategies for mobilization and growth, asking, ”What are you rethinking as you start to think about how to build a majority, how to scale up to actually not just resist, but win going forward?”
Mitchell responded with a sharp critique of the political landscape, stating, ”We can’t be afraid of calling out who our enemies are, right? Otherwise, we’re just throwing hands. I need to know where, what direction to throw those hands. And this election and the past month or so has made the battle lines very clear.
“There’re a few thousand billionaires on the planet. Some people got high schools that are bigger than the amount of billionaires on the planet. So that means if you ain’t them, you’re with us. Those are the battle lines.”
Verrett reinforced the need for transformation in the labor movement, asserting, ”We got to be different. We cannot continue to do the same things in the same ways that we’ve done for the last 200 years… But how do we change our institutions, our unions so the 60 million and the nine and ten can see themselves in our union?
The Honorable Isaac G. Bryan, California State Assemblymember for District 55, further emphasized the stakes of the moment.
“We’re in a fight. We’re in a fight for our health care. We’re in a fight for education. We’re in a fight for our retirement. We’re in a fight for our right to exist and be recognized,” he declared.
Labor solidarity was another key focus of the event. Yvonne Wheeler, president of the Los Angeles Federation of Labor, reinforced that labor movements must serve all communities, not just a select few as she detailed the union’s rapid response to the devastating fires that tore through Altadena and the Pacific Palisades.
The Honorable Sade Elhawary, 57th District Assemblymember, spoke candidly about the emotional toll of the moment and the necessity of continued resistance.
“I don’t know about y’all, but this sh** is hard. And what we’re experiencing, what we’re seeing, what we know is happening at the federal level against us is not okay. But just because it’s hard doesn’t mean we can’t fight,” she insisted.
A central theme of the gathering was action-oriented dialogue. Each speaker encouraged attendees to commit to tangible steps toward community empowerment.
Their words emphasized that progress depends on continued advocacy, resource-sharing, and coalition-building. The event underscored a shared belief that collective power, when organized and mobilized, can challenge systemic injustices and create lasting change.
