Kind morning /Բարի լույս* to you, dear neighbors, artists, collaborators, community partners, co-conspirators, supporters of arts in Skid Row and of doodles without borders,
*the morning greeting in Armenian translates as “kind morning” (բարի լույս [baree looys])
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HIGHLIGHTS in and near SKID ROW, October 2023
Some neighborhood events, celebrations, and parties to join
1) Wednesday, Oct 4, 6pm Doors Open, Movie Starts ad Dusk – MOVIE IN THE PARK @ General Jeff (Gladys) Park (808 E 6th St)
2) Friday , Oct 6, 7pm: MOVIE NIGHT at Skid Row History Museum (250 S Broadway)
3) Saturday, Oct 14th: Photographers Talk @ Skid Row Museum (part of Enough is (Never) Enough exhibit). Check LA Poverty Dept page closer to the date for time.
4) Fri, Oct 20, 7pm: MOVIE NIGHT, at Skid Row History Museum (250 S Broadway)
5) Tuesday, Oct 24, 10:30am-12noon: Creative Writing monthly workshop at Skid Row Museum @ Skid Row History Museum and Archive (250 S. Broadway). If you are interested, please reply to let us know.
7) Sat/Sun, Oct 28-29, 12-4pm: 14th Annual Festival for All Skid Row Artists @ General Jeff Park
(808 E 6th St)
***Sign up to perform or exhibit: info@lapovertydept.org / 310-227-6071***
Here you can find a Printable/Online Monthly Skid Row Calendar of some arts and community activities in and around Skid Row neighborhood.
ONGOING
Thur-Sat, 2-5pm from Sept 16th to Nov 18th: Enough is (never) Enough: Hard Truths and the People Who Live Them. On exhibit at Skid Row Museum (250 S. Broadway).
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Sat, Nov 4: Skid Row 3on3 StreetBall League Day and Celebration at Terasaki Budokan in Little Tokyo
THOUGHTS ALOUD
Centering collectivity in struggle can be a critical anchor for strength. Anywhere.
Especially during most difficult times. For me now it is the genocidal campaign by Azerbaijani and Turkish dictatorial regimes against Artsakh’s Armenians. Over 100,000 people (95%+ of the total population) have been ethnically cleansed out of Artsakh in a matter of days, after enduring a 9 month long choking blockade. Genocide is not just killing, it is often also violent eviction and banishment on a mass scale (for more context, to follow, and for ways to support, @yerazadcoalition is a good place to start).
The main focus of Doodles’ struggle is in contributing to the work for a stronger Skid Row neighborhood on unceded Tongva Land (aka Los Angeles region). But it is never in isolation. Skid Row’s struggle alone is inseparable from the Black Liberation struggle in and beyond the American empire, the Working Class struggle, LGBTQ Rights struggle, Tenant Rights struggle and many more.
In Skid Row, there are many formal and informal groups that contribute to collective liberation and consciousness raising related work; LACAN, Stop LAPD Spying, and UCEPP are good places to start.
And as for art, creativity, and culture, why that is the very fabric and language of imagining and assuming a collective responsibility for a liberated world!
dwb ONLINE:
1) Doodles without Borders (dwb) is now on Instagram / Facebook.
2) There is a monthly dwb Skid Row Community & Arts Calendar. If you do community strengthening work in Skid Row and know of an event/meeting that should be on there, please share.
3) Latest addition – dwb wishlist! You can find it here: bit.ly/dwbwishlist
Why support storage of Skid Row artist work?
Support Artwork Storage as a Human Right (and Collective Responsibility)
A shameless plug asking for your support of Community Arts Depot, a sister project addressing the vital need for artwork storage and access focused on Skid Row neighborhood members and residents.
Artwork Storage as a Human Right – a glimpse from the Community Arts Depot story.
UPDATE: We received a mini-grant from Skid Row Arts Alliance as well as a grant from CCI which will help to cover rent, insurance, and other expenses, many thanks to both groups!! And to all the individuals who have supported and continue to support us; we could not have gotten here without you!!! More details to come in the coming months, including possible additional resources we may be able to expand! We still continue to need support as this project’s sustainability is wholly dependent on grassroots support. To donate to the campaign click HERE!
Quote of the month:
“…neighborhoods became defined as “good” because they were moving towards homogeneity. Or “safe” because they became dangerous to the original inhabitants. … The Nasdaq value system is and was a brutal one. Being consumed by it and being shut out of it are both deadening and result in distorted thinking about private sectors, economic and emotional. Gentrification culture is rooted in the ideology that people needing help is a “private” matter, that it is nobody’s business.“
– Sarah Schulman, “Gentrification of the Mind”
Thank you Dani (@dani_zelko) for introducing me to this book, J/E for introducing me to Dani, John/Henriette for the first intro to J/E at one of the early Skid Row Artists Festivals, as well as to “Streetopia” (another amazing book), which first introduced me to Sarah Schulman.
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You can see the full dwb newsletter #22 here.
Community Artivism 