In our 59th episode, we have the privilege of speaking with Robert Chlala (@robertchlala), a final-year PHD candidate at USC’s Sociology department and graduate researcher at the college’s Program for Environmental and Regional Equity. Robert Chlala (shuh-ley-la) is a queer migrant, a Nichiren Buddhist, and a cannabis equity organizer from Los Angeles. We discuss Robert’s upbringing through the days of Prop 187, or the draconian anti-immigrant initiative passed by Californians in 1994, his and his family’s experience with L.A.’s regional economy for surplus laborers as described by Ruth Wilson Gilmore, his time studying under none other than UCLA’s Anyana Roy, his work in advocacy for wealth redistribution in Black and Brown communities through L.A.’s Cannabis Social Equity program, and much more. A can’t-miss session for graduate students and organizers in the LOS!
J.T.