dwb newsletter #30: Neighborhood Identity as Resistance + June’24 Skid Row CommunArts Calendar

June 3, 2024June 5, 2024 / communityartivist / Leave a comment

^{Image: 2024 Walk the Talk honorees, celebrating visionaries, artists, activists of Skid Row neighborhood. Portraits by Hayk Makhmuryan, arranged by him in a way to reveal an image of the Pa/est¡nian flag. May 2024}

Wed, June 19, 1-5pm – JUNETEENTH with Sir Oliver at Skid Row Museum (250 S Broadway)

Friday, June 21, 12-3pm – Marketplace at LACAN (838 E 6th St)

Friday, June 21, 7pm: Movie Night at Skid Row Museum

Sat, Jun 22, 10a-12p: Parables Convening: an Octavia Butler Celebration at LA Central Library

Friday, June 28, 5-7:30pm, Open Mic with Lorinda @ Skid Row Museum

Fri, June 28, Dusk: Movie Night by StopLAPDSpying coalition in front of LAPD headquarters

To view or print the full monthly calendar, go to doodleswithoutborders.com/calendar

SAVE THE DATE
August 8 or 9: Opening Reception of the Windows of Bronze Little Tokyo project, Skid Row and Little Tokyo shared past, present, and future.

ONGOING
1) “Welcome to Covid Hotel” at Skid Row Museum (250 S Broadway) until December 2024
2) “Visions of Transcendence: Creating Space in East and West” at Wende Museum in Culver City, including a number of Skid Row neighborhood artists is up until September 2024. Entrance is Free. Fri-Sun 10a-5p (10808 Culver Boulevard, Culver City, CA 90230)

OPEN MICS as places to come together, and plant seeds of collective struggle.
There are at least FOUR open mics currently in Skid Row neighborhood:
Weekly – (1) every Thurs, 6:30-9pm at Peace and Healing Center (116 E 5th)
Monthly –
2) every second Friday of the month, 5-7pm, at Studio526 (526 San Pedro St)
3) every third Friday, 12-3pm as part of LACAN‘s Marketplace (838 E 6th St)
4) every last Friday, 5-7:30pm with Lorinda at LA Poverty Dept‘s Skid Row Museum (250 S. Broadway)
…

THOUGHTS ALOUD
NEIGHBORHOOD IDENTITY AS RESISTANCE
Last month in Skid Row neighborhood included the Walk the Talk parade and Come Together and the unveiling of the General Jeff Mural at the Skid Row park now named after him. In other words, taking community (and you know we don’t use the word “community” lightly here at Doodles; community as inherently anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist, among other things) control and care of a more and more visible Skid Row neighborhood identity through arts and cultural work!
Skid Row Neighborhood …Pride! …Art and Music Legacy! …Vision! …Archives! …Open Mics! …Creating Justice! …Harm Reduction! …Roots, Culture and African diaspora!
It was an absolute honor to be the community coordinator for the mural project, and above all, to make the portraits for this year’s honorees, all of whom I’ve known for many years! I think of these portraits as a mini-series, and the collective title for them in my mind is “We Already Are”, an homage to a short essay by So California Library’s Yusef Omowale, who talks from the Black/ African diasporan perspective rooted in Black radical tradition, and in the process gets at the heart of a collective liberation framework for everyone.
An LA Times article also highlighted all the honorees and asked me about the portraits:”Each of the portraits has a map of Skid Row neighborhood — 3rd to 7th and Alameda to Main — and then zooms in on one part and imagines, for instance, a street being named after Gary Brown. The work that happens in the Skid Row neighborhood is not in a vacuum. It’s part of the larger work. It’s important when we make global connections — there is a genocide happening in Pa/est¡ne now — to ask how it is related. Because actually, it is related to things that happen that are sometimes very local. One direct way is that the money that’s not going to places like the Skid Row neighborhood is going overseas to bombs.”
#SkidRowConnected = Free Pa/est¡ne = Free Skid Row = loving, caring, joyful collective liberation work

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.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH
Every month in u.s. imperial calendar is yet another oppressed minority month. Is yet another way that the system works tirelessly to co-opt and integrate. And invariably there are voices pushing against this cooptation. June is Pride Month, LGBTQIA+ Month, and it is no different.

[We are] “…living in a historical moment in which the conservative anxiety and despair about queers bringing down civilization and its institutions… is met by the anxiety and despair so many queers feel about the failure or incapacity of queerness to bring down civilization and its institutions, and their frustration with the assimilationist, unthinkingly neoliberal bent of the mainstream GLBTQ+ movement…
…[Y]ou can be victimized and in no way be radical; it happens very often among homosexuals as with every other oppressed minority. (Leo Bersani). This is not a devaluation of queerness. It is a reminder: if we want to do more than claw our way into repressive structures, we have our work cut out for us.”
― Maggie Nelson, The Argonauts

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

For this Newsletter in full: https://mailchi.mp/cfbfee263946/walk-the-talk-roots-may2024

dwb newsletter #29: Walk The Talk, Roots + May’24 Skid Row CommunArts Calendar

April 30, 2024May 4, 2024 / communityartivist / Leave a comment

^{Image: “Արմատ / Armat” (meaning “Root” in Armenian) banner, decorated by dozens of children, at Glendale Library’s annual Armat Armenian Cultural Celebration, April 2024}

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])
…
.
TONIGHT
Tue, April 30, 4:30pm – LA Tenants Union Rally, Pershing Square, announcing newest Downtown/Skid Row Local of LA Tenants Union!

ART ACTION ITEM
CALL FOR ARTISTS, register by May 3rd! – Artist connected to Skid Row or Little Tokyo? Windows of Little Bronze Tokyo community orientation (orientation is on May 11th)! FREE and Open to any and all creative practices. Register at bit.ly/sltwindows by May 3rd, required in order to attend the orientation.

ART EVENT OF THE MONTH
Saturday, May 25, 12-4pm: WALK THE TALK Parade, celebrating Skid Row visionaries, organized by Los Angeles Poverty Department. Starting point is Skid Row museum (250 S Broadway). Portraits of this year’s honorees by yours truly (it was an absolute honor to be asked to make them!)

HIGHLIGHTS in and near SKID ROW, May 2024
Some neighborhood events, celebrations, and parties to join
1) Wed, May 1, 4:30pm: May Day Worker’s Rally at MacArthur Park
2) Friday, May 3, 7pm, Movie Night “Propriedad: Privados” and “Falling Up” at Skid Row Museum (250 S Broadway)
3) Fri, May 10, 5-7pm: Arts Jam Open Mic @ Studio 526 (526 San Pedro)
4) Sat, May 11th – 2-6pm: Annual People’s Kite Festival by Clockshop at LA State Historic Park. Doodles will be there with a table!
5) Thursday, May 16th, 11:45a-1:30p: Largest Drum Circle in LA, in downtown’s Grand Park
6) Thurs, May 16, 2pm – Ase Ase Drummers from the Heart @ General Jeff Park
7) Friday, May 17, 12-3pm – Marketplace at LACAN (838 E 6th St)
8) Friday, May 17, 7pm: Movie Night at LA poverty department‘s Skid Row Museum
9) Sat, May 18, 10a-4pm – ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY Party at Peace/Healing (116 E 5th St)
10) Sat, May 18, 2-4:30pm – COME TOGETHER – Honoring 8 more Skid Row visionaries @ Skid Row Museum
11) Tues, May 21, 10:30-12 – Creative Writing @ Skid Row Museum
12) Sat, May 25, 12-4pm: WALK THE TALK Parade is back!
13) Friday, May 31, 5-7:30pm, Open Mic with Lorinda@ Skid Row Museum
14) Fri, May 31, Dusk: Movie Night by StopLAPDSpying coalition in front of LAPD headquarters

To view or print the full monthly calendar, go to doodleswithoutborders.com/calendar

SAVE THE DATE
Juneteenth: Keep an eye out for Skid Row Juneteenth Celebration on or around June 19th.

ONGOING
1) “Welcome to Covid Hotel” at Skid Row Museum (250 S Broadway) until December 2024
2) “Visions of Transcendence: Creating Space in East and West” at Wende Museum in Culver City, including a number of Skid Row neighborhood artists is up until September 2024. Entrance is Free. Fri-Sun 10a-5p (10808 Culver Boulevard, Culver City, CA 90230)

OPEN MICS as places to come together, and plant seeds of collective struggle.
There are at least FOUR open mics currently in Skid Row neighborhood:
Weekly – (1) every Thurs, 6:30-9pm at Peace and Healing Center (116 E 5th)
Monthly –
2) every second Friday of the month, 5-7pm, at Studio526 (526 San Pedro St)
3) every third Friday, 12-3pm as part of LACAN‘s Marketplace (838 E 6th St)
4) every last Friday, 5-7:30pm with Lorinda at LA Poverty Dept‘s Skid Row Museum (250 S. Broadway)

…
THOUGHTS ALOUND
ROOTS, MOUNTAINS, and WALKING THE TALK. Earlier this month, Doodles without Borders participated in a Glendale Library event called “Armat” (meaning “Root” in Armenian), celebrating Armenian cultural history. April 24th is also the Armenian genocide commemoration day, with the wounds still fresh from geno//dal final stage of ethnic banishment of Artsakh Armenians in Sept 2023, and the connections to the geno//de of Palestinians as well as economic and racial banishment of Black and Brown and Indigenous, poor and unhoused, working class people right here in Skid Row and across Turtle Island all the more visible. Whether cultural roots or roots of the devastating inequalities we experience and see all around us, understanding our roots, the roots is a prerequisite to firm and principled solidarities and alignments. A prerequisite to understanding that We are Our Moun tains: a metaphor of rootedness and resistance instantly understood by Armenians, that also has echos across liberation movements in many parts of the world. I remember hearing it from Ruthie Gilmore in the same context (in the “Abolition on Stolen Lands” talk), in reference to Cuba, Vietnam, and beyond, whether the place is with actual mountainous terrain or not. The moment she said “the people have to be the mountains,” I had tears in my eyes.

From Skid Row neighborhood to all of Turtle Island, Palestine, Kurdistan, today’s Armenia, Artsakh, Armenian highlands, and beyond–despite capitalist, white supremacist, patriarchal, imperialist violence –people upon people are and choose to be the mountains.

Finally, on May 25th LA Poverty Department will be rolling out Skid Row neighborhood’s 7th biennial Walk the Talk Parade, celebrating some of the people who are the mountains in Skid Row!

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.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH
Continuing with Charisse this month, from the same talk (link to video right after the quote), because it’s THAT good, and it is so much about thinking creatively, and beyond borders we are typically boxed in.

“…we are inside united states, but that does not make us americans, Malcolm X says this. …Racism will never be resolved in the context of u.s. nation state.
When you ascribe to americanism, you ascribe to imperialism, to the oppression of the overwhelming majority of the people in the world, who are colonized people, racialized people, and people who are the sufferers under imperialism. So there is no way to believe in the *american project* and to be a revolutionary, or to even be a progressive. They are just fundamentally incompatible. And it does not mean [physically leaving] …Some people say, “well, go back to Africa,” or “go back to where ever you came from.” But it’s just like [how] we all participate in capitalism, even as we are working to overthrow it. Well, some of us are.
…There are just so many life affirming, human, flourishing identifications that we can have. And it does not have to be with ‘america.’ “

― Charisse Burden-Stelly, speaking on her book “Black Scare, Red Scare” (link to youtube video interview: bit.ly/blackscare-redscare)

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

For this Newsletter in full: https://mailchi.mp/cfbfee263946/walk-the-talk-roots-may2024

dwb newsletter #28: Reclaiming Collective Power + Apr’24 Skid Row CommunArts Calendar

March 31, 2024April 1, 2024 / communityartivist / Leave a comment

^{Image from the archive: “Reclaiming Our Power” banner for the theme of 22nd annual Skid Row neighborhood’s Black History Month Celebration, February 2022}
**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,** **and blessed Equinox, Easter, 🍉 Land Day**, **Nowruz, Trans Day of Visibility, César Chavez Day & spring renewal to you,**
**the morning greeting in Armenian translates as “kind morning” (բարի լույս [baree looys])*
…

**ACTION ITEMS**
1) **CALL FOR ARTISTS – Are you a creative person connected to Skid Row or Little Tokyo?** Consider registering for Windows of Little Bronze Tokyo community orientation on May 11th, to be eligible to submit an artist proposal for the project! More information on the project here. Open to any and all creative practices.
Register at **bit.ly/sltwindows** by May 3rd, required in order to attend the orientation. Please share with people you think would be interested!
2) **VOTE –** **Do you live or do work in Skid Row neighborhood?** Please participate in **LA Repair participatory voting** process, and share with those who also qualify. **Online voting is open until April 7th.** You get three choices, and there are three great projects you can support: Creative Justice LA, LA Poverty Department, and Skid Row Brigade.
3) Lastly, **if you are a tenant at an SRO apartment building/hotel in Skid Row or Downtown**, consider joining the LATU Tenant association meetings. Reply to this email or direct message Union de Vecinos Eastside Local on instagram for meeting day and time information.

***HIGHLIGHTS in and near SKID ROW***, April 2024
Some neighborhood events, celebrations, and parties to join
1) Friday, April 5, 7pm, **Movie Night** Public School LA at Skid Row Museum (250 S Broadway)
2) Thur, April 11, 7pm, **Panel Discussion** in conjunction with “Welcome to Covid Hotel” at Skid Row Museum (250 S Broadway)
3) Fri, April 12, 5-7pm: **Arts Jam Open Mic** @ Studio 526 (526 San Pedro St)
4) Mon, April 15: **Global Actions for Free Pales//ne**. Check for specifics at a15action.com
5) Tues, April 16, 10:30-12 **Creative Writing** @ Skid Row Museum
6) Thursday, April 18, 12-3pm – **Marketplace** at LACAN (838 E 6th St)
7) Friday, April 19, 7pm: **Movie Night** at LA poverty department‘s Skid Row Museum
8) Friday, April 26, 5-7:30pm, **Open Mic** with Lorinda @ Skid Row Museum
9) Fri, April 26, Dusk: **Movie Night** by StopLAPDSpying coalition in front of LAPD headquarters
10) Sun, April 28, Time: TBA – **Come On sing** with Urban Voices, in Skid Row, DTLA

To view or print the full monthly calendar, go to doodleswithoutborders.com/calendar

**SAVE THE DATE**
1) Saturday, May 11th – 2-6pm: Annual **People’s Kite Festival** by Clockshop at LA State Historic Park
2) Thursday, May 16th, 11:45a-1:30p: Largest **Drum Circle** in LA, in downtown’s Grand Park
3) **Saturday, May 25: WALK THE TALK** **Parade in Skid Row neighborhood** by LA poverty department, a biennial honoring of Skid Row neighborhood visionaries

**ONGOING**
1) “Welcome to Covid Hotel” at Skid Row Museum (250 S Broadway) until December 2024
2) “Visions of Transcendence: Creating Space in East and West” at Wende Museum in Culver City, including a number of Skid Row neighborhood artists is up until September 2024. Entrance is Free. Fri-Sun 10a-5p (10808 Culver Boulevard, Culver City, CA 90230)

**OPEN MICS** as places to come together, and plant seeds of collective struggle.
There are at least **FOUR open mics currently in Skid Row neighborhood:**
Weekly – (1) every Thurs, 6:30-9pm at Peace and Healing Center (116 E 5th)
Monthly –
2) every second Friday of the month, 5-7pm, at Studio526 (526 San Pedro St)
3) every third Thursday, 12-3pm as part of LACAN‘s Marketplace (838 E 6th St)
4) every last Friday of the month, 5-7:30pm with Lorinda at LA Poverty Dept‘s Skid Row Museum (250 S. Broadway)

…
**THOUGHTS ALOUD**
*In the spirit of spring, a fresh reminder, reframing of our collective power, this month LA Tenants Union brilliant organizer Tracy Rosenthal’s thoughts aloud on* **rights vs power and liberation,** *during “We Make our Community by Defending It” episode of Millennials Are Killing Capitalism podcast, July 2022.*

***Tracy: “***I think it is important to note, and even – admit – that the first meeting of LATU was a tenants rights training. And I laugh to think of it now, because one of the things that we realized is that –
*Beginning with rights really seeds the terrain of our work* to legislators and lawyers; it doesnt actually reflect our organizing practices, which are about **building capacity for collective bargaining and collective action**. The things we are doing now in the Union: **eviction defense, mutual aid, rent strikes**. These are the practices that self-organization – and NOT rights – make possible.
And especially now, when we are seeing the kind of stripping of rights by reactionary right wing in the courts. Also, tenants have known for a long time that rights are only as good as their enforcement. For instance, we have a right to habitable housing, and yet so many of us live with mold, and roaches, and structural leaks. We have a right to an eviction process, and yet we are kicked out by the sheriff, who sides with the landlord, even when they do not have a legal justification to do so. …
I think about this a lot in the context of the tenant movement, in the context of the unhoused communities I organize with. **The thing we are fighting for is not “tenants rights”, it is tenant power, and it is not “housing” it is housing liberation.** Understanding liberation as a project beyond rights, that achieves rights in its wake. …
The last thing I have to say, at the risk of sounding righteous or embarrassing is: don’t wait. Don’t wait to join a union. So much of our political life is tied up in our disorganization or stalling. Like *waiting for the election cycle, to seed power to people who claim to represent us, and they just end up negotiating our defeat, and calling it a victory.* We are trying to **build a kind of mass organized power to intervene in power relationships** between bosses and workers, between landlords and tenants; the kind of power that can leverage state capacity, not get hemmed in by it, or go around begging to be heard by it. If we have been called by history to build the institutions capable of saving the planet and the world, we gotta answer that call.”

**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.*

**Quote of the month**

“In this time of the hegemony of social media, which is meant to distract and entertain, as opposed to educate and illuminate, We need to be clear, and precise, and careful with our language, especially because political education is so crucial.
…
We don’t have to say ‘this is new McCarthyism’, we can say, ‘this is a moment of repression by the one party, two faction state, that is to say democrats and republicans, whereby it is criminalized to be against war, to be against funding of police, to be for Black liberation, and to be against forever wars.’ We can just say that and not make analogies as a shorthand to describe what’s happening, which can actually run the risk of describing very little.”
― *Charisse Burden-Stelly, speaking on her book “Black Scare, Red Scare” (link to youtube video interview)*

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

dwb newsletter #27: Struggle Beyond Borders + Mar’24 Skid Row CommunArts Calendar

February 29, 2024February 29, 2024 / communityartivist / Leave a comment

^{Image: “Resisting, Protecting, and Healing through Art” , Collaborative Banner based on the theme of Skid Row’s 24th Annual Black History Month Celebration, February 23, 2024}
**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])*
…

***HIGHLIGHTS in and near SKID ROW***, March 2024
Some neighborhood events, celebrations, and parties to join
1) Friday, March 1, 7pm, **MOVIE NIGHT** “Festival for All Skid Row Artsits 2023” documentary at Skid Row Museum (250 S Broadway)
2) Saturday, March 2, 1pm: **March for Pales//ne** at Los Angeles City Hall
3) Fri, Mar 8, 5-7pm: **Arts Jam Open Mic** @ Studio 526 (526 San Pedro St)
4) Sat, Mar 9, 4-7pm, **Opening Reception** of “**Welcome to Covid Hotel**” at Skid Row Museum (250 S Broadway)
5) Friday, March 15, 7pm: **MOVIE NIGHT** at LA poverty department‘s Skid Row Museum
6) Tues, March 19, 10:30-12 **Creative Writing** @ Skid Row Museum
7) Thursday, March 21, 12-3pm – **Marketplace** at LACAN (838 E 6th St)
8) Wed, Mar 27, 6:30pm – **Adversity Generates Innovation**, panel discussion, part of Welcome to Covid Hotel exhibit at Skid Row Museum (250 S Broadway)
9) Friday, March 29, 5-7:30pm, **Open Mic** with Lorinda @ Skid Row Museum

To view or print the full monthly calendar, go to doodleswithoutborders.com/calendar

**ONGOING**
“Visions of Transcendence: Creating Space in East and West” at Wende Museum in Culver City, including a number of Skid Row neighborhood artists is **up until April 7, 2024**. Entrance is Free. Fri-Sun 10a-5p (10808 Culver Boulevard, Culver City, CA 90230)

**OPEN MICS** as places to come together, and plant seeds of collective struggle.
There are at least **FOUR open mics currently in Skid Row neighborhood:**
Weekly – (1) every Thurs, 6:30-9pm at Peace and Healing Center (116 E 5th)
Monthly –
2) every second Friday of the month, 5-7pm, at Studio526 (526 San Pedro St)
3) every third Thursday, 12-3pm as part of LACAN‘s Marketplace (838 E 6th St)
4) every last Friday of the month, 5-7:30pm with Lorinda at LA Poverty Dept‘s Skid Row Museum (250 S. Broadway)

**MARK YOUR CALENDAR**
End of May, 2024: **Walk the Talk Parade** honoring Skid Row neighborhood leaders and visionaries, organized by Los Angeles Poverty Department!

…
**THOUGHTS ALOUD**
A collective, creative struggle that resists, protects and heals is beyond borders. As a migrant from the Global South, from South West Asia (aka Middle East), from Armenia, from what I call the borderlands (between Global North and South), how I fit in this country did not make sense to me until I started looking at the Black and Indigenous perspective.
And then it clicks. Because as the various voices from the Black radical tradition together Brown and Indigenous comrades–Black Panthers, Combahee River Collective, Red Nation, and beyond–have said in many different ways: what this country does to the oppressed people all over the world, it does first and foremost to the Black and Indigenous and other oppressed groups inside this country.
It becomes clear that u.s. imperial funding of geno//dal mu//er and displacement of people in Armenian Artsakh, in Palestine, in Congo, and all over the Global South from Asia and Africa to South and Central America, is the exact same funding that goes to target Indigenous, Black and Brown people and communities in this country, and do NOT go to housing for everyone, healthcare for everyone, food for everyone.

Global Capitalism and Imperialism mean that our struggle is collective, borders only benefit the rich, and being a resident of u.s. empire just means that in our struggle we must always remember that any semblance of stability for those of you that have it is always at the cost of exploitation elsewhere, both “domestically” and across the planet.
A collective, creative struggle that resists, protects and heals is beyond borders.

**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.
We 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**

***“Healing the planet is ultimately about creating infrastructures of caretaking that will replace infrastructures of capitalism. Capitalism is contrary to life. Caretaking promotes life.”***
― *The Red Nation, “The Red Deal: Indigenous Action to Save Our Earth”*

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

dwb newsletter #26: celebrating Black liberation work, Open Mics in Skid Row + Feb’24 Calendar

February 1, 2024February 16, 2024 / communityartivist / Leave a comment

^{Image: Doodle from one of Peace and Healing Center’s weekly Off the Top Open Mics in Dec 2023}
**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])*
…
February is celebrated as Black History Month in u.s. empire, a time to especially underscore going beyond celebration of history alone, and finding ways to align with Black liberation, Pan-African liberation as part of collective liberation work globally!
*Following and supporting the work of **Black Alliance for Peace** is one such starting point*

***HIGHLIGHTS in and near SKID ROW***, February 2024
Some neighborhood events, celebrations, and parties to join
1) Friday, Feb 2, 7pm, **MOVIE NIGHT** “Boyd Street Fire” at Skid Row Museum (250 S Broadway)
2) Saturday, Feb 10, 1-5pm, ***9th Annual Bob Marley Day*** with Sir Oliver (at Skid Row Museum)
3)Thursday, Feb 15, 12-3pm – **Marketplace** at LACAN (838 E 6th St)
4) Friday, Feb 16, 7pm: **MOVIE NIGHT** at LA poverty department‘s Skid Row Museum
5) Tues, Feb 20, 10:30-12 **Creative Writing** @ Skid Row Museum
6) Fri, Feb 23, 10a-3p: ***24th Annual Skid Row’s Black History Celebration*** at San Julian Park, stay tuned for details via UCEPP
7) Friday, Feb 23, 5-7:30pm, **Open Mic** with Lorinda @ Skid Row Museum

To view or print the full monthly calendar, go to doodleswithoutborders.com/calendar

**ONGOING**
“Visions of Transcendence: Creating Space in East and West” at Wende Museum in Culver City, including a number of Skid Row neighborhood artists is **up until April 7, 2024**. Entrance is Free. Fri-Sun 10a-5p (10808 Culver Boulevard, Culver City, CA 90230)

**MARK YOUR CALENDAR**
Early March 2024: Projected opening of the new exhibit at Skid Row Museum relating to life of unhoused people in hotels during early years of Covid.

…
**THOUGHTS ALOUD**
OPEN MICS are among the places to come together, and plant seeds of collective struggle. We, the people living in “the belly of the beast” (u.s. empire) have become more and more aware not just about the many parts of the world where genoc/da/ violence is taking place–from Pa/est/ne to Congo to Sudan to Artsakh and beyond–but how much the funding of genoc/des globally is coming from u.s. empire, and always at the expense of social, racial, gender, and economic violence done onto us here.
As we recognize that a key part of the struggle for liberation is in joining with like-minded folks, I want to highlight local, community OPEN MICS anywhere and everywhere as one entry point to collectivity!

And as someone who used to run an Open Mic, I’m especially heartened to see that there are at least **FOUR open mics currently in Skid Row neighborhood:**
Weekly –
1) every Thursday, 7-9pm at Peace and Healing Center (116 E 5th St.)
Monthly –
2) every second Friday of the month, 5-7pm, at Studio526 (526 San Pedro St)
3) every third Thursday, 12-3pm as part of LACAN‘s Marketplace (838 E 6th St)
4) every last Friday of the month, 5-7:30pm with Lorinda at LA Poverty Dept‘s Skid Row Museum (250 S. Broadway)

**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**

***“I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.”***
*― James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time*

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

dwb newsletter #25: TOGETHER/ՄիաSEEN + Jan’24 SkidRow Communarts Cal

January 4, 2024January 4, 2024 / communityartivist / Leave a comment

dwb newsletter #24: #NotAnotherLoss + Dec’23 SkidRow Communarts Cal

December 6, 2023December 19, 2023 / communityartivist / Leave a comment

*Image: “Free Skid Row, Free Palestine” banner that was started at the doodles table during the 14th Annual Festival for All Skid Row Artists, Oct 2023*

**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])*
…

*HIGHLIGHTS in and near SKID ROW,* December 2023
Some neighborhood events, celebrations, and parties to join
1) **Thur, Nov 30 10a-3p** – #NotAnotherLoss **National METH AWARENESS DAY** – **Community Resource Fair** @ General Jeff/Gladys Park (808 E 6th St, Skid Row), multi-group collab led by UCEPP
2) Fri, Dec 1, 7pm: Four Movie Shorts – **MOVIE NIGHT** at Skid Row Museum (250 S Broadway)
3) Sun, Dec 10, 10:30a-4pm – Re/Sound by Street Symphony @ 677 Imperial St, 90021
4) Fri, Ded 15, 6pm: **Holiday Party by LA Poverty Department** @ Skid Row Museum
5) Sat, Dec 16: 12-4pm: **A Holiday Called Home** by Urban Voices @ Inner-City Arts (720 Kohler St)
6) Mon, Dec 25, 10a-12noon: **Christmas Carol Crawl** by Urban Voices in Skid Row neighborhood
7) >>>For Skid Row neighborhood centering **YEAR END/ HOLIDAY PARTIES NOT YET FINALIZED** stay tuned with (a) **Peace and Healing Center**, (b) **LACAN**, (c) **UCEPP**

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 Dec 18th: **E nough is (never) Enough: Hard Truths and the People Who Live Them**. On exhibit at Skid Row Museum (250 S. Broadway).

**MARK YOUR CALENDAR**
2024: Year of rootedness in art, creativity, and community as liberatory and grounding practices, especially through crises. Year of saying the unsaid things; seeing politeness and charity for the grotesque oppressive violence they can hide behind them, and casting them aside in favor of kindness and solidarity.

**THOUGHTS ALOUD**
#NotAnotherLoss is a hashtag that will be used in the upcoming Meth Awareness Day, but the words carry beyond the struggle against overdosing, to struggles against dispossession, oppression, banishment, and mur/er: be it economic, ethnic, racial, gender, or social. From Skid Row to Palestine, from Congo to Kurdistan, from Artsakh to Turtle Island and beyond.
All these as life affirming struggles FOR collective liberation.

**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:**
[***Trigger warning***: discussion of neurodivergence, mental illness, madness outside dominant framing]
Today I am thinking about mental health. In every possible way. Collective and individual mental health. I just read/listened to “There is no revolution without Madness” and it made me mad about how the mainstream has stigmatized, pathologized conversations about madness, sanity, mental stress, trauma, neurodivergency (mental illness). My thinking comes from 15+ years of working alongside people who are neurodivergent / live with mental illness, close family members living with mental illness, etc. A part of the suffocating power of stigma that the whitestream/mainstream holds over us around mental illness is the appearance of inability to discuss the liberating aspects of understanding madness and sanity WITHOUT fetishizing or diminishing the real struggles of many people in our deeply ableist society.
With that, “Freedom exists outside Sanity. It will never be “sane” to negotiate your individual life for collective liberation. … We want sovereignty within our communities and lands that keep us peacefully. Such desires— kind stewardship— are interrupted, bulldozed, shot point blank, enslaved, tortured, maimed, brutalized, strung up and buried by the te//orist organizations called the nation-state. … *Madness kisses us in our chapters of despair. … We are mad to survive in the face of imminent death and have* been **mad— through generations, through genocides, fast and slow. And so what? So what of the madness? If you surrender to the Mad, you can ride it.”** – Ismatu Gwendolyn discussing Dr. La Marr Jurelle Bruce‘s “How to go mad without losing your mind” in her audio/essay titled “There is no Revolution without Madness”

…

dwb newsletter #23: Skid Row Artist Fest + Interconnected Struggles + Nov’23 Cal

November 6, 2023November 6, 2023 / communityartivist / Leave a comment

*^{Image: fragment from a doodles IG post artwork by Hayk that reads “HՈւ՞ՄANIZE – ԴԵ՜WHOM?-ANIZE: From Skid Row to Hawaii to Palestine to Artsakh, All Looks very}*^{Familiar”, September 2023
(quote of the month at the bottom of the email speaks to this very well)}

**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])*
…

**DOODLES TABLE IS BACK:** Our weekly Doodles table will return to General Jeff (Gladys) Park on Thursday, November 2, 3-4:30pm!

*HIGHLIGHTS in and near SKID ROW,* November 2023
Some neighborhood events, celebrations, and parties to join
1) Sat/Sun, Oct 28-29, 12-4pm: 14th Annual Festival for All Skid Row Artists @ General Jeff Park (808 E 6th St, 90013). Come one, come all! *Doodles without Borders will be there with a table both days!*
2) Thur, Nov 2, 1-3pm: **Walk with Amal** (from ICA LA to General Jeff / Gladys Park
3) Thu, Nov 2, 3:30-5pm: **Doodles without Borders Arts Table IS BACK**@ General Jeff / Gladys Prk
4) Fri, Nov 3, 6-9pm: Share and Show Open Mic @ Painted Brain (5980 W Pico Blvd)
5) Fri, Nov 3, 7pm: “White Hoax” **MOVIE NIGHT** at Skid Row Museum
6) Sat, Nov 4, 1pm: **Skid Row 3on3 Celebration** at Terasaki Budokan
7) Wed, Nov 8, 6pm (movie starts at dusk) – **MOVIE IN THE PARK @ General Jeff Park** – LACAN’s documentary “The Dirty Divide”
8) Thur, Nov 9, 7pm: **“The Big Picture” with Andreea and Hayk** @ Skid Row Museum (250 S Broadway) – https://www.lapovertydept.org/the-big-picture-11-3/
9) Sat, Nov 11, 3pm: **Multimedia presentations on investigative reports** @ Skid Row History Museum and Archive (250 S Broadway), part of Enough is (Never) Enough Exhibit
10) Nov 17, 7pm: **MOVIE NIGHT “Enough is (Never) Enough“** at Skid Row Museum
11) Tues, Nov 22, 10:30am-12pm, **Creative Writing** @ Skid Row Museum
12) Fri, Nov 24, 5-7:30: **OPEN MIC with Lorinda** @ Skid Row Museum
13) Thursday, Nov 30, 10a-2p: **National METH AWARENESS DAY** @ San Julian Park, led by UCEPP

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: **E nough is (never) Enough: Hard Truths and the People Who Live Them**. On exhibit at Skid Row Museum (250 S. Broadway).

**MARK YOUR CALENDAR**
Sunday, Dec 10, 11am-4pm: **2023 Re/Sound Festival by Street Symphony.** A Free Community-Wide Celebration & Resource Fair, at Void Studios, Void Studios, 677 Imperial St. Los Angeles 90021

**THOUGHTS ALOUD**
I am very tired. But I find strength in supportive and kind people around me. Practicing and modeling kindness, love and support IS the route to liberation. But not in a vacuum; understanding that the context is the struggle to collectively disassemble settler colonialism, imperialism, capitalism and their violences. Caring and accountable collective struggle.
Free Skid Row = Free Palestine = Free Hawaii = Free Turtle Island = Free Artsakh =
*“Interconnected struggles. Interconnected stories. Interconnected freedoms. 🍉 ” – Saul Williams*

**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:**
“…The second mistake is what I will call ‘humanization’: I portrayed my people only in the ways that adhere to ethnocentric civility, robbing them of their agency. It is to ‘women and children’ Palestinians to death—to infantilize Palestinians in hopes of determining that, indeed, they deserve liberation… we must qualify our dead with reminders of their nonviolence, humane professions, and disabilities. A Palestinian man cannot just die. For him to be mourned, he must be in a wheelchair or developmentally delayed, a medical professional, or noticeably elderly at the very least. Even then, there are questions about the validity of his victimhood… **Humanization, more often than not, does the exact opposite of what it alleges. I no longer feel the responsibility to give humans eyes for humanity**.”
*-Mohammed El-Kurd, from an interview, from “RIFQA”* (2021)

…

*You can see the full* dwb newsletter #23 here.

dwb newsletter #22: Right to Struggle + SkidRow ArtistFest + Communarts Oct’23

October 2, 2023October 2, 2023 / communityartivist / Leave a comment

*^{Image: fragment from a doodles IG post that reads “there is only one inherent right: THE RIGHT TO Collective STRUGGLE”, with Artsakh flag above the text, September 2023}*

**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])*
…

*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: **E nough 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.

…

*You can see the full* dwb newsletter #22 here.

dwb newsletter #21: Skid Row Communarts September’23

August 30, 2023August 30, 2023 / communityartivist / Leave a comment

	Vicki Maturo on dwb newsletter 42: Pride+Class…
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	dwb newsletter 37: C… on Artwork Storage as a Human Rig…