EPISODE 80 – VERMONT & BEVERLY COMMUNITY LAND TRUST

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In our 80th episode, we sit down with Kasey Ventura, the director of Land and Tenant Justice at the Vermont & Beverly Community Land Trust, a non-profit housing organization which serves communities in Koreatown, Little Bangladesh, East Hollywood, and more. Kasey and I discuss the definition of a community land trust, as well as how its very structure, including its board membership, is actually a “democratic engine” seeking to create more participatory and inclusive communities by involving local residents in the creation of affordable housing. We also discuss the connections between today’s movements in housing with the Civil Rights era, and more. A can’t-miss session for listeners, especially housing buffs in Los Angeles.

J.T.

J.T. SUPPORTS STREET VENDORS IN EAST HOLLYWOOD

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The 80th episode for J.T. the L.A. Storyteller Podcast arrives next Monday, November 29th. In the meantime, we bring listeners’ attention to an East Hollywood Neighborhood Council meeting taking place via Zoom on Tuesday, November 23rd starting at 7 PM, on what’s being framed as “illegal” street vending in the LACC area/Vermont avenue stretch.

As listeners of our podcast will know, vendors on the streets of Los Angeles rely on their commerce for their living, that is, to eat. This makes any gestures towards outlawing their access to these streets an attack on their right to survival.

Access the Zoom meeting, which is supposed to be quite full, at the following link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86090940896

J.T.

EPISODE 79 – KATE PYNOOS FOR CD-13

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In our 79th episode, we sit down with Kate Pynoos, a former policy adviser for L.A. City Councilmember Mike Bonin. Kate is now running to represent Council District 13, and tells us how she’s gone from working at the staff level to throwing her own hat into the ring for leadership in the central side of Los Angeles.

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J.T. OBSERVES INDIGENOUS PEOPLE’S DAY

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On this Indigenous People’s Day, yours truly uplifts the name of the Lucayan people of the Bahamas, as well as the California Indians, whose stories remain invisibilized by still-dominant narratives of the state’s “Gold Rush.”

J.T.

shoreline under blue sky

Eagle Owls

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Each of us will watch the world unfurl into the greatest and most arduous of journeys

Facing the heaviest of winds and the steepest of earths

We will do this, and we will be challenged by this

And we will have to learn from this

Even when we feel entirely alone

Alone and away from home
No extra lifeline over-the-phone

Just one heart
And two lungs

Beating over a fractal of tired bones

We will grow tired, and we will grow impatient,

We will grow angry, and we will grow to feel unrecognizable to ourselves

We will be pushed by this journey, cornered and exhausted by its unimaginable lengths

But when we are—-

When we are,

Just remember who you are

And how you are.

Remember that you’re formed by the nexus of a community;

That you come from the same earths and the same winds that seem to push you;

Remember that you come from a million stars, and one;

That you are here to rise, fall, and re-emerge

Only stronger,

Like our bodies in the ocean

Setting free our minds over the crashing, thunderous waves;

This is who you are, and how you are.

J.T.

EPISODE 77 – KENNETH MEJIA FOR CITY CONTROLLER

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For our 77th episode, we sit down for a chat with Kenneth Mejia, the millennial Filipino-American who is trailblazing in his race for the L.A. City Controller’s office. Kenneth and I discuss his upbringing in Los Angeles as the youngest of a single-parent household in the San Fernando Valley, as well as how he came to develop a passion for budgets over a decade, leading to his and his community’s special attention to the L.A. City budget today. We also discuss the actual meaning of “defunding the police” as it relates to public safety, as well as how folks out there interested in supporting his campaign can get involved. A can’t miss-session for voters everywhere in Los Angeles, but especially those in SFV, K-town, and then some.

J.T.