Image: “We… Rebel now” banner from Skid Row neighborhood’s 10th Annual Bob Marley Day celebration (Feb 6, 2025) by Sir Oliver and Sir Oliver Productions. Mark your calendars for this year’s celebration: Friday, Feb 6, 2026, 4-7pm!

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, (3) Quote of the Month.
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***SUPPORT Doodles by supporting Arts Depot*** 
1) THE T-SHIRTS ARE HERE! Doodles and Arts Depot journey into swag has begun:) Get one by donating $30 or more to Community Arts Depot, or come to Bob Marley Day on Fri, Feb 6th and buy
one in person!
2) DONATE $10 or more , get Doodles “Quotes of the Month” 2026 calendar zine.
3) Become a sustaining member at $5/month or more (or donate once $50 or more) & get copy of 2026 calendar, an exclusive t-shirt and art print or wordoodle of your choice.
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HIGHLIGHTS in and near Skid Row neighborhood, Jan 2026
Some neighborhood events, celebrations, and parties to join

1. Fri, Feb 6, 4-7pm: Skid Row neighborhood’s 11th Annual Bob Marley Day with Sir Oliver, at Skid Row Museum
2. Fri, Feb 13, 5-7pm: OPEN MIC at Studio 526 (526 San Pedro)
3. Fri, Feb 20, 7pm: MOVIE NIGHT @ Skid Row Museum
4. Sun, Feb 22, 1-4pm: Spread the Love Community Day with Skid Row StreetBall League at General Jeff Park
5. Thur, Feb 26, 9:30a-1p: 26th Annual Skid Row neighborhood’s Black History Celebration, at General Jeff (Gladys) Park.
6. Fri, Feb 27, 5-7:30: OPEN MIC @ Skid Row Museum
7. Fri, Feb 27, 6p/ Dusk: Outdoor Movie Night by StopLAPDspying
8. Sun, Mar 1, 10a-1pm: Humanitarian Day with Skid Row StreetBall League at General Jeff Park

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
• Hotels in Crisis exhibit at Skid Row Museum (250 S Broadway)
Museum hours are Thu, Fri, at 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) 1st/3rd Fridays 11a-1p: BuckFest at Care Campus (442 S Crocker) by Urban Voices,  (3) every 2nd Friday, 5-7pm, at Studio526 (526 San Pedro St) (on break til Feb 2026); (4) every last Friday of the month, 5-7:30pm with Lorinda at LA Poverty Dept‘s Skid Row Museum (250 S. Broadway)

**WHERE IN THE WORLD IS DOODLES ARTS TABLE this month??**
– Weekly @ General Jeff Park, Tuesdays 3-4:30pm this month.
– Bob Marley Day: Feb 6th, 4-7pm at Skid Ro Museum
– Leftist Armenian Hangouts (date/location TBD, follow Doodles on instagram for updates)
– 26th Annual Skid Row neighborhood’s Black History month celebration – Thur, Feb 26th, 9:30am-1pm

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THOUGHTS ALOUD

BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU:
MECHANICS OF SURVIVAL, MECHANICS OF LIBERATION
”Don’t bite the hand that feeds you” is always a trap, unless there is genuine power balance. And in the case of systemic oppressions (capitalism, wt supremacy, patriarchy, colonialism, imperialism) “the hand” is the hand that steals from us, steals our lives, uses what it stole to exploit and oppress us, and now ‘feeds’ us the millionth of what it stole: rations to keep us alive so more of our labor can be stolen, until we die.

band together
take the hand’s hoarded means of life
(anything it gives or does not give)
but give the hand zero credit
(redistribute; include yourself in the redistribution)

delegitimize the hand
bite the hand
strategize collectively to abolish the hand

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QUOTES OF THE MONTH – a pairing

“Ancestral voices sing songs reaching through time and space
Healers that fight, teach, and laugh in battle,
Soldiers, survivors, sages.

Conjuring worlds of wonder
Reclaiming roles of power
Restoring broken bonds
The wholeness of We”

– Charles Porter, a descendant from a Black / African diasporan freemen family lineage, one of the organizers of Skid Row neighborhood’s annual Black History Celebration events (26th annual this year) through UCEPP,  and curator of 2023 “Cosmology and Community: Networks of Liberation” exhibit at Skid Row museum

“We treat Black History Month like a museum exhibit. It should be a survival manual. …If you aren’t studying the mechanics of survival, you are wasting the inheritance… Ida B. Wells didn’t just “endure” injustice. She bought a Winchester rifle. …Fannie Lou Hamer didn’t just “march” for the vote. She built food systems. … The “peace” you are trying to keep is actually just compliance. If you are waiting for a racist system to validate your “boundaries,” you have already lost.”

– Christabel Mintah-Galloway, Registered Nurse. African. Lesbian. Storyteller (instagram.com/christabelmintahgalloway), in a post made on Feb 1, 2026. Per post’s central message to go beyond quotes, read the entire post and pick up the reading recommended in it.

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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 

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

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