dwb newsletter #17: Doodles, Kites + Skid Row Communarts May’23

May 10, 2023 / communityartivist / Leave a comment

*Image: Skid Row Neighborhood banner via Doodles Arts Table, in support of the Skid Row Now and 2040 campaign*

**Kind light /*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 light” (բարի լույս [baree looys])*
…

Highlights:
1) THIS Saturday, May 13, 2 – 6 PM, **LA Annual Kite Festival** at LA State Historic Park (1245 N Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90012). FREE with lots of activities! Doodles w/o Borders will be there with a table!
2) **Artwork Storage as a Human Right** – a glimpse from the Community Arts Depot story, and **Skid Row Now and 2040** passes the latest hurdle despite multi-billion business interests

**ALSO,** Selection of **UPCOMING ACTIVITIES in May,** Monthly Skid Row Commun/Arts Calendar, Some Community/ Arts Resources, doodles in person and online, Support Community Arts Depot and Quote of the month

*For previous newsletter(s), go to www.doodleswithoutborders.com homepage*
***UPCOMING in and near SKID ROW, April 2023***
**Some neighborhood events, celebrations, and parties to join**
This Fri, May 12, 3:30pm – Doodles without Borders is at Transformative Arts LA with a drawing workshop.410 S Spring St. If you are interested, please reply to reserve a spot!
**THIS Saturday**, May 13, 2 – 6 PM, **LA Annual Kite Festival** at LA State Historic Park (1245 N Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90012). FREE with lots of activities! Doodles w/o Borders will be there with a table!
Thursday, May 18, 10:30am-12noon: **Creative Writing** monthly workshop is back on at Skid Row Museum, monthly meeting hosted by Ivy @ Skid Row History Museum and Archive (250 S. Broadway). **If you are interested, please reply to let us know.**
Friday, May 19th, 7pm: **MOVIE NIGHT”Ornette: Made in America”** @ Skid Row Museum (250 S. Broadway).
Saturday, May 20th, 2pm: Systemic change in Action @ Skid Row Museum, 250 S Broadway
Friday, May 26, **3-6pm**: **GRAND OPENING of Creating Justice LA** @ 116 E 5th St, 90013
Friday, May 26, 5-7:30pm – **OPEN MIC + bdays with Hayk, FEATURING Guest Co-Host Tyson** this month @ Skid Row Museum (250 S. Broadway)

Printable/Online Monthly Skid Row Calendar of some arts and community activities here.

**ONGOING**
Thur-Sat, 2-5pm: **Cosmology and Community: Networks of Liberation** – exhibit by community curator Charles Porter, who makes connections between Africa, Black diasporan heritage, his own family history in New Jersey’s Porterville, and Skid Row neighborhood. On exhibit at Skid Row Museum (250 S. Broadway) through July 2023.

THOUGHTS ALOUD
Artwork storage as a human right?
One of the ways to measure neighborhood strength is through all its creative and cultural expressions.Those who know LA’s Skid Row neighborhood, have passed by the Cuban Corner with it’s distinct Afro-Latinx Caribbean sounds, food, and residents, may have heard of Blaze’s Photography Club that used to meet at UCEPP, stopped by the cultural hubs of Stephanie’s White House and Pastor Blue’s Blue Hollywood. You may have noticed Kaniah’s paintings at the Festival for All Skid Row Artists year after year, with her growing up together with the growing body of her work, you may have seen OG’s art at events at General Jeff (formerly Gladys) Park. Poets, painters, bands, singers and performers putting together events, collaborating, hauling musical equipment to and fro. To say nothing of countless creatives who make work and bring together fellow artists in ways that is known to much smaller circles: Koi, and Addy, and Pearl, and so many more. And you know I’m just getting started. (an excerpt from “Artwork Storage As a human right?” , also published in latest Skid Row Arts Alliance’s ArtsZine)
This May 2023 Community Arts Depot renewed its lease with JACCC and SLT with a 3 year term! Looking forward to more collaborations in Skid Row and beyond!
*As before, you can help with rent/ insurance/ materials by donating to the ongoing fundraiser: www.givebutter.com/communityartsdepot*

And this month as well, after 6 years of Skid Row Now and 2040‘s and Central City United People’s Plan‘s (follow links to read more on this) continued work and pressure resulted in a number of community strengthening recommendations from Skid Row passing as the **DTLA 2040 Rezoning plan got approved** by LA City Council.
The banner at the top of this email is Doodles Without Borders’ contribution to this collective work.
In the process, council members stripped some of the bare minimum needs from the plan last minute, and went on trivializing years of community work, bothsidism-ing businesses’ violent, anti-human money interests and community resident needs, while making empty self-congratulatory statements. So the struggle (**and the joy of collective struggle and mutual support!**) continues!
It is very important to recognize this milestone on the zoning plan passing, with all credit going to collective community efforts from Skid Row and neighboring neighborhoods! Congratulations to all the community activists and many thanks to the LA’s Planning Dept, too!

Last but not least, **Happy Mother’s Day** to all mothers and mother figures!
Per special request, Doodles’ current banner we’re working on (still in progress) is dedicated to Mother’s Day.

Lastly lastly, just got a message from a friend and comrade as I was about to send this, that a very dear unhoused artist who was imprisoned on completely bogus charges is being released as his case was dismissed!
Raising my morning cup of coffee to prison abolition, and together growing collective institutions and structures of an abolitionist, liberated world!

**doodles without borders (dwb)**
Weekly doodles without borders “How dare you!” **community arts table** at General Jeff ( formerly Gladys) Park **Thursdays, 3-4:30pm**. At **dwb** art is the glue to collectively strengthen community, make local, diasporan, and global connections, and disassemble white supremacy, capitalism, imperialism and patriarchy.
(**NOTE:** we will be switching to Wednesdays at 5pm on Wed, June 14th!)

dwb ONLINE UPDATES
1) Doodles without Borders (dwb) is now on Instagram / Facebook. Social media is still not dwb’s strong suit 🙂
2) There is also now 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?**
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.
Community Arts Depot switched to a new platform called Givebutter in December. **To donate to the campaign click HERE!**

**Quote of the month:**
“I am who I am despite what America has put before me. I am who I am despite the obstacles that I have faced based upon race and based upon social and spiritual humiliation.” & “Each and every one of you in this room, with your gifts and your power and your skills, could perhaps change the way in which our global humanity mistrusts itself.”
– Harry Belafonte *(1927-2023, Rest in Power!)*
…

*You can see the full* dwb newsletter #17 here.

dwb newsletter #16: Liberation Networks Now & 2040 + Skid Row Communarts Apr’23

April 14, 2023April 15, 2023 / communityartivist / Leave a comment

*Image: Doodles Arts Table flyer for Thurs 3-4:30pm @ General Jeff/ Gladys Park; assorted markers in bkgd*

**Kind light /*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 light” (բարի լույս [baree looys])*
…

**THOUGHTS ALOUD**
In place of any thoughts, sharing group **photo from last month’s (March 2023) Open Mic** at Skid Row museum. Thank you Silkiie for the reminder to restart this tradition!

***UPCOMING in and near SKID ROW, April 2023***
**Some neighborhood events, celebrations, and parties to join**
TONIGHT, **Fri, Apr 14, 6:30pm – Utilizing Skid Row Parks** @ Skid Row Museum (250 S Broadway)
Sunday, April 16, 2pm, **Urban Voices Project’s annual** **COFFEEHOUSE** live performances @ Inner City Arts (720 Kohler St)
Tuesday, April 18th, 1pm at Hippie Kitchen (821 E 6th Street) – **Skid Row Now and 2040 PRESS CONFERENCE** at a critical point to defend a vision for community and resident centered plan and urge the City to get it on the agenda, possible march to City Hall after by those who are able. **COME ONE, COME ALL!** Check for details at facebook.com/lapovertydepartment or facebook.com/SRN2040 in next day or two.
Thursday, April 20, 10:30-12pm, **Creative Writing / Writers’ Workshop** for Skid Row writers, monthly meeting hosted by Ivy @ Skid Row History Museum and Archive (250 S. Broadway). **If you are interested, please reply to let us know.**
Friday, April 21, 7pm: **MOVIE NIGHT + INTERVIEW with John & Henriette** @ Skid Row Museum (250 S. Broadway). **This one is a one-o-f-akind opportunoty to ask John/Henriette questions! Come one, come all!**
Saturday, April 22, 2pm – **Music as a Sanctuary** (part of Cosmology and Community: Networks of Liberation exhibit events) @ Skid Row Museum (250 S. Broadway)
Friday, April 28, 5-7:30pm – **OPEN MIC + bdays with Hayk, FEATURING Guest Co-Host Prime Minister Footie** this month @ Skid Row Museum (250 S. Broadway) – every last Friday of the month

**ONGOING**
Thur-Sat, 2-5pm:**Cosmology and Community: Networks of Liberation** – exhibit by community curator Charles Porter, who makes connections between Africa, Black diasporan heritage, his own family history in New Jersey’s Porterville, and Skid Row neighborhood. On exhibit at Skid Row Museum (250 S. Broadway) through July 2023.

**UPCOMING**
Saturday May 13, 2 – 6 PM, **LA Annual Kite Festival** at LA State Historic Park (1245 N Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90012). Doodles without Borders will be there with a table!

…
**doodles without borders (dwb)**
**dwb** “How dare you!” **community arts table** at General Jeff ( formerly Gladys) Park, Thursdays, 3-4:30pm. We will NOT be there on Thur, March 23, returning on March 30th!
At doodles without borders art is the glue to collectively strengthen community, make local, diasporan, and global connections, and disassemble white supremacy, capitalism, imperialism and patriarchy.

dwb ONLINE UPDATES
1) Doodles without Borders (dwb) is now on Instagram and Facebook.
Online presence is not dwb’s strong suit, so please have low expectations 🙂
2) There is also now a monthly **dwb Skid Row Community & Arts Calendar**. I’ll be adding events I see, and if you do community strengthening work in Skid Row and know of an event/meeting that should be on there, please share.
…

SUPPORT Community Arts Depot
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.
…

**Quote of the month:**
*“To live in America you need to forget. Not only about what came before but also regarding what or who will supplant you next. I can’t forget, as these stories are in my bones[.]”* – Hrag Vartanian, “*The Story of My Body”, We are all Armenians*
…

*You can see the full* dwb newsletter #16 here.

dwb newsletter #15: Group for Writers in Skid Row + Commun-arts Mar’23

March 14, 2023March 14, 2023 / communityartivist / Leave a comment

Image: (1) Doodles table @ San Julian Park; (2) Eye of Ra and Eye of Horus by collaboratively drawn as a dwb contribution to an interactive component of a Transformative Arts LA exhibit; (3) Anti-capitalist Arts Table @ General Jeff Park

**Kind light /*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 light” (բարի լույս [baree looys])*
…

March is celebrated by many as Women’s History Month. International Women’s Day falls on March 8th. Celebrating women and femmes in Skid Row neighborhood–both ancestors and those with us–makes me think of the importance of connecting visibility and representation with collective organizing, support, and celebration as essential.
Makes me think of…
…Jen (Sharkie) noting that “women’s rights are human rights” to myself and another smartass, both of us socialized as men, as we were discussing women’s rights at Studio526 a few years back :),
…the unambiguously socialist roots of March 8th, International Women’s Day, from women textile workers’ strike in mid-19th century in New York, to women workers led by feminist Alexandra Kollontai marching and striking in Petrograd, Russia on Feb 23, 1917 (March 8 new style) in what played a pivotal role in abdication of the Czar,
…March 31st of this year, when both Transgender Day of Visibility and Cesar Chavez Day are celebrated, and of Chella, who is an incredible Black trans activist and lead vocalist of the awesome punk band You Guys Suck Like Real Hard, Shut the Fuck Up, Thanks (Y.G.S.L.R.H.S.T.F.U.T) band, and her song reminder to us–taking new ownership of a socialist activist tradition that spans Mother Jones and IWW–to mourn the dead, and fight like hell for the living!

Also many thanks to Eiko, Kaoko, Vicki, Silkiie, and Pearl among others, the women who are majority of Doodles Without Borders regulars and are key to the pro-community atmosphere of our weekly arts table!

***UPCOMING in and near SKID ROW, Feb/March 2023***
**Some neighborhood events, celebrations, and parties to join**
Thursday, March 16, 10:30-12pm, **Creative Writing / Writers’ Workshop** for Skid Row writers, first monthly meeting (3rd Thursdays) hosted by Ivy @ Skid Row History Museum (250 S. Broadway). If you are interested, please reply to let us know.
Fri, March 17th, 7pm – **MOVIE NIGHT “Who We Are: Racism in America”** @ Skid Row History Museum and Archive (250 S. Broadway); *Movie Nights are every 1st and 3rd Friday of the months*
March 24, 25, and 31, 4:30-6pm: **Basketball 3×3 March Madness** @ General Jeff (Gladys) Park. More info here.
Sat, March 25th, 6pm: **“Soften Yourself”** Ticketed Concert by Street Symphony @ Skid Row Museum. To purchase tix and for more info: https://www.streetsymphony.org/events/
Friday, March 31th, 5-7:30pm – **OPEN MIC with Hayk and Guest Co-Host Silkiie** @ Skid Row History Museum (250 S. Broadway) – every last Friday of the month

**ONGOING**
Thur-Sat, 2-5pm:**Cosmology and Community: Networks of Liberation** – exhibit by community curator Charles Porter, who makes connections between Africa, Black diasporan heritage, his own family history in New Jersey’s Porterville, and Skid Row neighborhood. On exhibit at Skid Row Museum (250 S. Broadway) through July 2023.

**SAVE THE DATE**
1) IN L.A. REGION: Friday, April 14, 5:30-8:30pm, **Moving Pieces** by Painted Brain, designed with a mindset that acknowledges mental health and its intersection with art, music, and community participation. More about the event and to RSVP click here
2) IN SKID ROW: Sunday, April 16, 2pm, Urban Voices Project will be doing their annual **COFFEEHOUSE** live performances @ Inner City Arts.
…
**doodles without borders (dwb)**
**dwb** “How dare you!” **community arts table** at General Jeff ( formerly Gladys) Park, Thursdays, 3-4:30pm. We will NOT be there on Thur, March 23, returning on March 30th!
At doodles without borders art is the glue to collectively strengthen community, make local, diasporan, and global connections, and disassemble white supremacy, capitalism, imperialism and patriarchy.

dwb ONLINE UPDATES
1) Doodles without Borders (dwb) is now on Instagram and Facebook.
Online presence is not dwb’s strong suit, so please have low expectations 🙂
2) There is also now a monthly **dwb Skid Row Community & Arts Calendar**. I’ll be adding events I see, and if you do community strengthening work in Skid Row and know of an event/meeting that should be on there, please share.
…

SUPPORT Community Arts Depot
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.
…

**Quote of the month:**
When a reporter asked Fannie Lou Hamer, a Black SNCC orgaziner, if she was seeking equality with the white man she peered at him imperiously. “No,” she said. “What would I look like fighting for equality with the white man? I don’t want to go down that low. I want the true democracy that’ll raise me and that white man up . . . raise America up.”
…

*You can see the full* dwb newsletter #15 here.

dwb newsletter #14: Celebrating Black Diaspora in Skid Row + Communarts Feb’23

February 15, 2023 / communityartivist / Leave a comment

*Image: #SkidRowConnected banner by Doodles without Borders*, 2021

Kind light /*Բարի լույս**to you, dear neighbors, artists, collaborators, community partners, co-conspirators, supporters of arts in Skid Row and of doodles without borders,

**the “good morning” greeting in Armenian literally translates as “kind light”*
…

February. How to celebrate Black History Month in this country whose main, best oiled operational systems will devour and appropriate anything that threatens capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchy, settler colonialism, and its global imperialist insatiability? As an immigrant and not being Black, one way for me is to co-celebrate Black freedom fighters, Black liberation movements, Black cultural heritage past and present, the global reach of Black diasporas, and to find ways to align with the love, collaboration, and communal work that disassemble the aforementioned operational systems.
Happy Valen… collective liberation day!

**UPCOMING in and near SKID ROW, Feb/March 2023**
**Some neighborhood events, celebrations, and parties to join**
1) Friday, Feb 17th, 7pm – **MOVIE NIGHT “After Skid Row”** @ Skid Row History Museum and Archive (250 S. Broadway); *Movie Nights are every 1st and 3rd Friday of the months*
2) ***Saturday, Feb 18, 10am-3pm – 23rd Annual Skid Row Neighborhood Black History Celebration: 23 AND WE – CELEBRATING HERITAGE OR THE BLACK DIASPORA @ San Julian Park***
Organized by UCEPP together with LA Rec and Parks and multiple community partners.
Doodles without Borders will be there with a table 🙂
3) Saturday, Feb 18, 5-7pm – exhibit opening of **Cosmology and Community: Networks of Liberation** @ Skid Row History Museum (250 S. Broadway). Curated by Charles Porter
4) Friday, Feb 24th, 5-7:30pm – **OPEN MIC with Hayk (+ bdays and milestones)** @ Skid Row History Museum (250 S. Broadway) – every last Friday of the month

SAVE THE DATE
Thursday, March 16, 10:30-12pm, **Creative Writing / Writers’ Workshop** for Skid Row writers, first monthly meeting hosted by Ivy @ Skid Row History Museum and Archive (250 S. Broadway), coordinated by Doodles without Borders. If you are interested, please reply to let us know.
…
**doodles without borders (dwb)**
**dwb** “How dare you!” **community arts table** at General Jeff ( formerly Gladys) Park, Thursdays, 3-4:30pm.
At doodles without borders art is the glue to collectively strengthen community, make local, diasporan, and global connections, and disassemble white supremacy, capitalism, imperialism and patriarchy.

dwb ONLINE UPDATES
1) Doodles without Borders (dwb) is now on Instagram and Facebook.
Online presence is not dwb’s strong suit, so please have low expectations 🙂
2) There is also now a monthly **dwb Skid Row Community & Arts Calendar**. I’ll be adding events I see, and if you do community strengthening work in Skid Row and know of an event/meeting that should be on there, please share.
…

SUPPORT Community Arts Depot
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.
…

**Quote of the month:**
*“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.”
*– from the upcoming “Cosmology and Community: Networks of Liberation” exhibit by Charles Porter*
…

*You can see full* dwb newsletter #14 here.

dwb newsletter #13: MLK Day + Skid Row Communarts Jan-Feb’23

January 16, 2023January 16, 2023 / communityartivist / Leave a comment

*Image: Doodles without Borders table at Festival for All Skid Row Artists, Oct 2022*

Kind light /*Բարի լույս* *(the “good morning” greeting in Armenian literally translates as “kind light”)* to you, dear neighbors, artists, collaborators, community partners, co-conspirators, supporters of arts in Skid Row and of doodles without borders,

“The evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and racism. The problems of racial injustice and economic injustice cannot be solved without a radical redistribution of political and economic power.”
*– Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.*

One transformational understanding of King’s legacy can be the recognition that equitable, meaningful, and sustainable **community, collaboration,** and creativity are impossible without simultaneously being intentional tools in the continuing struggle of disassembling capitalism, and anti-black racism, white supremacy, imperialism, patriarchy that are all inseparable from it.
A great way to celebrate King is to actively look for your role (big or small) in continuing this struggle, en route to collective liberation.
…

**Some neighborhood events, celebrations, and parties to join**
Now – March 5, 2023 – **Adornment | Artifact: experience ancient Nubia through eyes of LA Contemporary Artists** (and add your own mark, too, with an interactive component!) @ Transformative Arts LA (410 S Spring St; Mon-Sat, 12-6p)
Friday, Jan 20th, 7pm – **MOVIE NIGHT “The Last Black Man in San Fransisco”** @ Skid Row History Museum and Archive (250 S. Broadway); *also Movie Nights on Feb 3rd and 17th, every 1st and 3rd Friday of the months*
Friday, Jan 27th, 5-7:30pm – **OPEN MIC with Hayk (+ bdays and milestones)** @ Skid Row History Museum (250 S. Broadway)

**SAVE THE DATE**
Sunday, February 5, 12-5pm, **8th Annual Bob Marley Day in Skid Row**, hosted by none other than dear Sir Oliver @ Skid Row History Museum and Archive (250 S. Broadway)
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SUPPORT Community Arts Depot
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.
…

*Read the rest of d **wb newsletter #13 here**.*

dwb newsletter #12: Holiday events Skid Row + Support artwork storage, Dec’22

December 5, 2022December 9, 2022 / communityartivist / Leave a comment

*Image: Doodles without Borders table at Festival for All Skid Row Artists, Oct 2022*

Good morning dear neighbors, artists, collaborators, community partners, co-conspirators, supporters of arts in Skid Row and of doodles without borders,

Another revolution, around the sun. The year is getting close to its end. Our collective work, struggle, celebration– all in one–continues! In this issue:
– **Upcoming Neighborhood Events for Dec 2022** and
– 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.

**Why support storage of Skid Row artist work?**
A critical pillar of neighborhood strength is all its creative and cultural expressions. Community entrenched **artwork storage** is one of the structures and tools that encourage, preserve, remember, and pass on these expressions. And adequate and equitable accessibility of an artwork storage is an inseparable part of the fundamental human right and collective responsibility of accessibility to arts and culture, essential to both individual and collective arts and cultural work everywhere.Community Arts Depot starts to address this vital need, currently storing some of the individual as well as collaborative visual work created in Skid Row from early 2000s and to present day.
*Please join us in supporting this effort by donating to or spreading the word about their campaign!*

Community Arts Depot just switched to a new platform called Givebutter. **To donate to the campaign click HERE!**
…

**Quote of the month:**
“…it is necessary to revise what we mean by success or failure as far as revolutions are concerned. …Revolutions are learning curves.”
*– Yassin al-Haj Saleh, Syrian political writer and former leftist detainee*
…

*Read the rest of d **wb newsletter #12** here.*

dwb newsletter #11: 13th Skid Row Artist Festival + dwb hours, Oct-Nov’22

October 27, 2022December 9, 2022 / communityartivist / Leave a comment

*Image above: Doodles without borders in Yerevan, Armenia*

**Good evening dear neighbors, artists, collaborators, community partners, supporters of arts in Skid Row and of doodles without borders.**

***UPCOMING***
**THIS SATURDAY and SUNDAY, October 29 and 30,** 12-4pm – **13th** ANNUAL FESTIVAL FOR ALL SKID ROW ARTISTS organized by LA Poverty Department in collaboration with multiple community orgs in LA’s Skid Row Neighborhood’s General Jeff Memorial (formerly Gladys) Park, 808 E. 6th Street (corner of 6th and Gladys).
This event is FREE and open to the public, good music, workshops, performances, and a good time are guaranteed! doodles without borders will also be there!
…

**STUDIO 526 Transition 2.0**
A lot of you know that I had returned to the Studio for a few months part-time to help onboard new leadership. I’m very happy to say, Studio 526 now has two (already not so) new staff: Alice, the Arts Program Manager, and Josh, the Arts Program Specialist.
I’m no longer at Studio 526, as of July 14th, but you can find me at Doodles Without Borders (or doodles beyond borders, as Silkiie calls it), and by emailing info@doodleswithoutborders.com .
On July 12th the new Arts Program Manager, staff, and artists threw me an amazing little almost-surprise goodbye party, and it was such an incredible, wonderful experience! Thank you all so so much!
For Studio 526 related questions please email Alice at ACorona@thepeopleconcern.org or Josh at Joshua.Castro@thepeopleconcern.org .
…

P.S. Special SHOUT OUT to Maestro, King, Sir Oliver! 8+ years of pure joy and love through music and collaboration, reggae, roots reggae DJ, a gift of global connections to LA and amazing example of the rich Black African Diaspora from London to Kingston, from New York to Skid Row and beyond! Thank you for everything!

P.P.S. Been back from Armenia for less than 24 hours, and looking forward to catch up with everyone, and get in the groove of amazing creativity and thrilling collective work here in LA and Skid Row with the Festival starting this weekend!

Quote of the month:
“No amount of moral admonishment or “indirect pressure” will guarantee that our demands are met, in the absence of our own organizational presence on the ground. Only by struggling ourselves can we convince our allies of our attachment to the revolution, to the land, and to our national rights. And only by struggling ourselves will we have the chance to impose our demands, in the face of all reactionary opposition.”
– Monte Melkonian, freedom fighter in the Armenian liberation struggle

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Read the rest of dwb newsletter #11 here.