In our 86th episode, we connect with Bryant Odega (@BryantOdegaLA), a born and raised resident of the Harbor Gateway neighborhood of L.A.’s south side who is now running for council district 15, which includes the neighborhoods of San Pedro, Harbor City, Harbor Gateway, Wilmington, and Watts. Bryant and I discuss his upbringing as the child of a single-parent household, his study of the labor movement at UCLA, and his transformative experience as a part of the Sunrise Movement. Bryant also discusses disparities in quality of life rates for the areas of Watts and Wilmington and particular, including food apartheid in the former, and more than 2,700 oil and gas wells in the latter. Finally, Bryant shouts out legacy organizations such as the Watts Initiative, which continue to uplift the neighborhood despite ongoing disinvestment by the city of Los Angeles.
J.T.