^{Image: Skid Row artists working on an “Independence… from what?” banner, in preparation for the upcoming 10th Anniversary of the Jamaican Independence Day celebration in Skid Row neighborhood, which will happen on Saturday, Aug 9, 2-6pm at Skid Row museum. Come join on Aug 9th and add to the banner or make a protest sign!  For more, look under the Black August rubric below}

Kind light / Բարի լույս* to you, dear neighbors, artists, collaborators, community partners, co-conspirators, supporters of arts in Skid Row and doodles w/o borders,
^{*morning greeting in Armenian translates as “kind light” (բարի լույս [baree looys])}

Post highlights: (1) Events/Activities in and near Skid Row, (2) Thoughts Aloud – Local to Global, (3) Quote of the Month.

Black August
During Black August, it is especially important to remember that Skid Row neighborhood is part of Black LA, part of the history, present, and future of resistance work of freeing all political prisoners and abolishing prisons and jails. For more Black August resources, here is one starting point: bit.ly/BARHandbook

In Skid Row neighborhood,
1) LACAN will be hosting a Black August centering community event on Friday, August 22, 3-6pm in their space (838 E 6th St),
2) Jamaican Independence Day’s Skid Row celebration 10 year anniversary on Saturday, August 9, 2-6pm, will include Black August topics and awareness. Doodles table will encourage attendees to add to the Independence… from what? banner, as an invitation to think deeper about independence. Can we imagine independence from capitalism? From white supremacy and patriarchy? Independence from settler-colonialism? From individualism? Independence from carcerality and prisons? Come and imagine with us!

Look out for more Black August themed events in Skid Row, in the region, learn about prison abolitionist organizations and how you can participate.

INVITATION
u.s. empire centers destroying life everywhere on the planet, while maintaining a bread, circuses and prisons discipline here in imperial core. The empire was built on and continues to function by geno//ding Indigenous peoples and Black / New Afrikan peoples. From an endless list of horrors: locally the empire now mu/ders 7 unhoused people in LA county every day, unleashes its colonial police force called ICE to kidnap and torture people, and globally is central in the u.s. imperial outpost state of /s/ae/ facilitated mass starvation and geno//de of Pa/est/nians.
Doodles without Borders invites you to make it a practice to vomit a little in your mouth every time the irreformable settler-colonial regimes of 249 y.o. u.s. empire or its outpost 77 y.o. state of /s/ae/ are mentioned. And find groups to join that contribute to life affirming, caring, collective liberation work with this understanding.
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HIGHLIGHTS in and near Skid Row neighborhood, August 2025
Some neighborhood events, celebrations, and parties to join

1. Friday, Ausust 1, 7pm: Movie Night at LA Poverty Dep’t ‘s Skid Row Museum (250 S Broadway)
2. Fri, Aug 8, 11am: Sound Bowls and Self Healing with Ptah and Linda at Skid Row Museum
3. Fri, Aug 8, 5-7pm ARTS JAM @ Studio 526 (526 San Pedro)
4. Fri, Aug 8, 7pm: Church Without Walls is 19 years old! (5th/ Maple)
5. Sat, Aug 9, 2-5pm: 10 year anniversary: Jamaican Independence Day in Skid Row neighborhood, hosted by Sir Oliver, at Skid Row Museum.
6. Tue, Aug 12, 4-6:30pm: Doodles Arts Table will host a screening of u.s. dept of arts and culture’s “Artists and Cultural Workers Against Authoritarianism” training at General Jeff Park (formerly Gladys Park,  808 E 6th). You can also register and attend where ever you are at bit.ly/WTF-Training
7. Wed, Aug 13, 6pm: Movie night at the General Jeff (Gladys) Park
8. Fri, Aug 15, 3-5pm: FROM FILM LOVER TO FILMMAKER workshop at Skid Row Museum
9. Fri, Aug 15, 7pm: Movie Night at Skid Row Museum
10. Sat, Aug 16, 1-4pm: COFFEE HOUSE by Urban Voices at Inner City Arts (720 Kohler)
11. Sun, Aug 17, 1-4pm: Back to School Bash by Skid Row Streetball League and Brigade, at General Jeff (formerly Gladys) park
12. Tue, Aug 19, 1030-12, Creative Writing @ Skid Row Museum
13. Fri, Aug 22, 3-6pm BLACK AUGUST – Marketplace at LACAN (838 E 6th)
14. Fri, Aug 22, 7-9pm: J-Town Bronzeville Suite @ Grand Performances , Downtown LA
15. Fri, Aug 29, 5-7:30: Open Mic @ LA Poverty Dep’t Skid Row Museum
16. Fri, Aug 29, Dusk: Movie Night by StopLAPDSpying coalition in front of LAPD headquarters (check their instagram for more info)
    
    To view or print the full monthly calendar, go to doodleswithoutborders.com/calendar
    

Pa/est/ine + Skid Row Actions: some places to find local downtown LA and nearby actions that make local Skid Row to global connections: Pal Youth Movement – LA, Organize – LA, StopLAPDSpying, LACAN

SAVE THE DATE / ONGOING
Exhibit: Walk the Talk Portraits 2014-2024 at the Skid Row Museum through Aug 23
Exhibit: Scratching the Surface: 40 years of visual art in Skid Row: OPENS Saturday, September 6
Regular museum hours are Thur, Fri, Sat 2-5pm

OPEN MICS as places to come together, and plant seeds of collective struggle.
There are at least FOUR regularopen mics currently in Skid Row:
Weekly – (1) every Thurs, 6:30-9pm at Peace and Healing Center (116 E 5th)
Monthly – (2) every 2nd Friday, 5-7pm, at Studio526 (526 San Pedro St); (3) 3rd Fridays 11a-2p: BuckFest at 5th/San Pedro by Urban Voices Project, (4) every last Friday of the month, 5-7:30pm with Lorinda at LA Poverty Dept‘s Skid Row Museum (250 S. Broadway)

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THOUGHTS ALOUD

SCRATCHING THE SURFACE: an upcoming exhibit
(a version of this text appears in the latest Skid Row Arts Alliance ARTS ZINE)

Drawings, paintings, sculptures, murals, an improvised phone booth, banners, photographs, 3D art, 2D art, masks, DIY clothing… The list goes on, with subcategories in each category. 

As I sat down to plan the upcoming exhibit showcasing the recent history of visual art in Skid Row neighborhood, just one conversation yielded material to fill five Skid Row museums, even only focusing on the last 40 years. Somewhere in the conversation it came up that “we will be just scratching the surface,” and the title for the exhibit was born.

Skid Row neighborhood is never in isolation. Skid Row is part of downtown LA, part of the LA region, part of Black LA, part of Indigenous Tovaangar and occupied Turtle Island. Skid Row is diasporan, is Mexican, Caribbean, Abya Yalan (so called South American), Afrikan / New Afrikan, East Asian, etc. Skid Row is queer and trans, is Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, spiritual, humanist, atheist. Skid Row is the largest recovery community. And Skid Row is part of the working class and working class people’s struggle for a dignified life for everyone. Part of the global, internationalist anti-colonial struggle, from Skid Row to occupied Palestine.
By showcasing a snippet of the history of creativity and cultural production in Skid Row, the exhibit will contribute to revealing and fortifying a connection-centering neighborhood identity that already is and continues to be.

The exhibit is slated to open at the Skid Row Museum on Saturday, September 6th, 2025 and run until October 25th.

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QUOTE OF THE MONTH

“We must now collectively undertake a rewriting of knowledge as we know it. This is a rewriting in which… I want the West to recognize the dimensions of what it has brought into the world… . Because the West did change the world, totally. And I want to suggest that it is that change that has now made our own proposed far-reaching changes now as imperative as they are inevitable.” 

– Sylvia Wynter
From “On Being Human as Praxis” by Sylvia Winter and Katherine McKittrick


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) dwb wishlist!  You can find it here: bit.ly/dwbwishlist 

Able and interested to SUPPORT Doodles?
Support Artwork Storage as a Human Right (and Collective Responsibility)
Community Arts Depot is 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. This project’s sustainability is deeply dependent on grassroots support.  To donate to the campaign click HERE!
Email us for donating directly via Venmo, Paypal, or other ways.

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For previous newsletter(s), go to www.doodleswithoutborders.com homepage

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