Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Fighting gentrification in L.A. (audio)

Leslie Berestein Rojas, AirTalk (KPCC/scpr.org); CC Liu, Crystal Quintero, Wisdom Quarterly
Latinas in Boyle Heights dress up for Dia de los Muertos (selfhelpgraphics.com)

Activists opposed to gentrification in Los Angeles' historic Boyle Heights are protesting local art galleries, with the latest protest taking place this past weekend.
 
They say new galleries opening in the neighborhood are ushering in wealthy outsiders, and unwanted development. But some say they’re casting too wide a net.
 
In the latest protest on Saturday, activists objected to the opening of the United Talent Agency Artist Space, which is part of an expanding “gallery row” on the western edge of Boyle Heights and along and around Anderson Street near downtown Los Angeles.
 
The anti-gentrification activists view the galleries as contributing to rising rents that they say can displace working-class residents in the neighborhood.

A representative for the United Talent Agency Artist Space did not respond to requests for comment.
 
In the mix of galleries are some unlikely targets, like Self Help Graphics & Art. The community arts nonprofit moved to Boyle Heights five years ago from East Los Angeles, where it had operated for decades.
 
Joel Garcia, director of Self Help, said the gallery's role is to nurture local artists of color. Activists should not paint all of the art spaces...

"This is real. People have lost homes and businesses," one activist group called Defend Boyle Heights posted on its Facebook page. The group also provided video from the weekend protest.

KPCC FM (SoCal Public Radio) has been covering rising rents in Boyle Heights for over a year and mapping cases where businesses and residents have been displaced or evicted. More + AUDIO
A petition started last week on change.org calls for the Irvine-based chain to stop “letting its fans down by failing to serve anything that would satisfy a burger-loving customer who wants a healthy, humane, sustainable option.”
The petition started by The Good Food Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to food sustainability complains:

“If you want a meat-free meal at In-N-Out, you’re going to be stuck eating multiple orders of French fries or a cheese-slathered bun.” This isn’t the first time people have petitioned In-N-Out to change its menu. In 2012, an LA-area vegan also petitioned the chain to add a veggie burger. At last count the petition has already exceeded... More

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