Our Back to School Party is Coming Together Los Angeles,

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TO every supporter: Thank you for your support and for sharing this fundraiser to spread the word! Just to keep you all in the loop, I’m happy to highlight the “first half” of the workshops we’ve now secured for our event.

Workshops now written into our itinerary include Women’s Self-Defense with Peace Over Violence, Renters’ Rights with the VyBe Chapter – Los Angeles Tenants Union, Literature and Literacy with L.A. based Salvadorean-American author Randy Jurado Ertll, Zine-Making into Book Publishing with Dryland: Los Angeles Underground Art & Writing‘s Viva Padilla, and more.

Please also note that our workshops will include people of various histories in the community, including, (new and “old”) business owners, artists and activists, teachers, Senior citizens, and other local residents and supporters. We will also install an “art wall” or art exhibit with work BY locals, FOR locals.

Lastly, please trust that we’ll be photographing this special occasion as much as humanly possible to get as many of our supporters to enjoy the summertime bash with us; what arts and education are all about!

And keep up the support and well wishes. One step at a time! 👌🏾

J.T.

 

Keep the Momentum Los Angeles,

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We are now *SIXTEEN days away from the big day and with our Facebook donation link NOW ACTIVE, we know we’re going to win it Los Angeles!

“This is a day of workshops for communities in the “East Hollywood” neighborhood who are currently under-served in the arts and education experience. Our “Back to School” Party will feature group sessions on everything from Live Art for youth to Renter’s Rights for parents, as well as self-defense workshops for all, and also discussions with business and brand owners about how youth may develop their own ideas into trades. All funds raised will go towards items for youth which will be handed out in our “Back to School” raffle including backpacks, a scooter, a bicycle, a skateboard, helmets, printed photography, and more. The experience is also designed to bring different members of the community together, from new business owners to long-time residents, into conversations about how they might support one another to develop a “richer” and more inclusive neighborhood overall.”

J.T.

Summer daze in L.A.

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It’s Wednesday evening now, and the question is, just what to do next? There’s this comfortable seat I find myself in, but I wonder to myself: have I grown too attached to it? Surely there’s something better elsewhere.

Suddenly I think to myself that I haven’t looked up at the sky to simply gaze at the stars in ages…

JIMBO TIMES is changing; as the days go on, the life-force that the town has been is shifting forms. It’s been stranger in some way. Or maybe I’ve been the stranger.

To be sure, Los Angeles is still a gift, but I look around for a moment and somehow feel like The City is trapped inside of its own concrete, in need of rescue from sweltering heat overhead and ringing commotion all around.

I tell myself to remain committed to the place and the people I come from, but I can’t help but think about how I’ve placed myself here, and how I can still place myself elsewhere, anywhere else.

Maybe it’s just work as of late, the routine.

But today I broke with routines. For one, I didn’t have a cup of coffee in the morning, nor did I even feel the need. For another, I took my mom out for supper after work. We ordered our plate to go, and headed out to the park together.

After circling around for ages looking for a spot to station our ride, finally I just didn’t care anymore. Parking enforcement be damned, we needed our dinner, so I left the car in the red somewhere.

Our plate was delicious, and the breeze at the park liberated and refreshed our spirits. I also realized something there: car or no car, I’ve got find a way back to walking through The City again.

When I’m driving through L.A., I’m just missing it all in a blur. There are too many traffic lights to obey, too many other cars waiting behind me, too many pedestrians trying to cross, and more.

But it’s when I walk through Los Angeles that I’m truly connected to its pulse. It’s when I’m on the bus that I meet all of its characters, and when I’m on the Subway that I gauge L.A.’s vibrant, absurd features behind the scenes.

I suppose that walking The City lately hasn’t been ideal, however. The air’s been saturated with so much heat that after just a minute under the sunlight I find myself retreating to find an air conditioning room, anywhere, anyhow, thank you.

The summer nights are beautiful, but the workdays filled with warmth can be long, exasperating deliriums that just barely subside when the day finally melts into evening. 

The sunrises in the summer are also beautiful; the sky is just a faint whisper cradling The City before the hustle and bustle of the morning as the light distantly promises better days soon.

Even so, I think to myself, if it’s still so great why does it still feel like I haven’t seen the stars in ages?

I leave my seat and step out of the scene for a moment to finally look up again, when it hits me: there’s a blanket of smog covering the night sky. If I’m going to find any stars, I’m going to have to find some place else to look up and see.

J.T.