By Stephen OduntanContributing Writer


LOS ANGELES — As 2025 begins, members of the Black community are questioning how to not only survive but thrive in the face of systemic barriers? From calls for reparations to grassroots organizing, advocates are addressing housing, economic obstacles, and long-standing injustices with renewed urgency.


“We’re being squeezed out by forces we can’t control,” said Billion Godsun, sitting in the Lion Arts Gallery in Leimert Park — a section of the city act...

By Stephen Oduntan Contributing Writer


WATTS — Local residents, including children and senior citizens, are grappling with a growing crisis as lead-contaminated water threatens their health and safety. 


Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, described the situation as “a Flint-like crisis” during a press conference Nov. 22 at the Nickerson Gardens Housing Project. He questioned whether the response would have been faster if the crisis occurred in wealth...

By Stephen Oduntan Contributing Writer


LOS ANGELES — A program that will provide $1,000 a month for 250 students in the Los Angeles Community College District to assist with basic living expenses was launched this week by the district with support from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and the California Community Foundation.


The BOOST program, short for Building Outstanding Opportunities for Students to Thrive, is the largest guaranteed basic income initiative for community college stude...