little tokyo cosmetics closed shop a few weeks ago following a rent increase. it’d been around for over 50 years and is credited for introducing shiseido to the united states
im a freelancer recovering legal fees for fighting a defamation lawsuit after I reported on illegally operated Airbnbs in LA. Grateful if you can read and donate within your means. Hope this reaches other freelancers so I thank you in advance for sharing
at Compton Community Garden for the fight to keep their plot after Realty Group Advisors abruptly put it up for sale in April (current bid at $448K). nearby grocery stores are 20-40 min walking distance. their food drives feed up to 300 families. full report soon
@prismreports
wrote about Compton Community Garden, the only people-powered garden in Compton who await their fate after learning that the land they're on is for sale
this is a story about the precarity of handshake agreements when real estate is king
@prismreports
Compton Community Garden is saved! They will remain on S Long Beach Boulevard, which makes this statement that the City of Compton gave me super hilarious
wrote about Compton Community Garden, the only people-powered garden in Compton who await their fate after learning that the land they're on is for sale
this is a story about the precarity of handshake agreements when real estate is king
@prismreports
i interviewed
@nithyavraman
, the progressive candidate whose homework is graciously and intentionally out there for all (yes, you and David Ryu!) to see
read on
@theLAndmagazine
, and peep their L.A. voter guide too
these homes are owned by the state. they’d rather keep housing-insecure families struggling than to house them
it’s easy to say that L.A.’s unhoused population is due to soft leadership or wtv. but look...our officials are anything but soft. they’re hateful and violent
The sheriffs just used a battering ram to break into a house in order to violently drag poor people out of their shelter. There is a child in the house
korean americans have long organized for each other in L.A. the movements have started to be in service of and solidarity with Black lives. my story on
@LATACO
(next Ktown 4 Black Lives gathering is saturday 12-2pm)
In the middle of a horrible and terrifying COVID spike, LA just cancelled all of its Dec 1 appointments at Union Station (one of the only transit-accessible facilities) with less than 24hrs notice because of A FILM SHOOT!!
@MayorOfLA
@metrolosangeles
@lapublichealth
WTF???!!???
When I interviewed Genai Nakama about her blossoming modeling career and keeping it 💯 in East L.A., I asked about her favorite place in the city. She said the bus!! 😩 Get to know her on
@LATACO
landlords make $$$ by keeping their units vacant for backdoor hotels. many subject tenants to untenable conditions so they can flip those into illegal airbnbs. now we have 39,486 rentals sitting vacant
more from
@nolympicsla
and me for
@KnockDotLA
she's opened her house for one stay from February 12-14
@airbnb
has been going all in with their advertising for the super bowl to get people to look for short-term rentals in Inglewood. meanwhile evictions and sweeps are happening leading up to the big event
i spend therapy being upset guilty thankful for my parents for moving to this fucking country but the work is unraveled on a year like 2020 or a day like today when they say they're sorry. it's an unknowable grief to half of yall and that's not your fault but also it's very heavy
at 4:30AM a fence went up around Toriumi Plaza in Little Tokyo in preparation for a sweep.
@kdeleon
’s office is here with water and coffee on site.
@JTOWNACTION
is here calling out the hypocrisy of de León’s office with their provisions as they prepare to sweep out the community
though many lament how rapidly it’s changed and shrunk, little tokyo is (and always has been) incredibly mobilized against gentrification. the recent news of the arrival of
@MokuyobiThreads
is a good example
new report on
@LATACO
you know that meme of the silhouette of the person's head and in the head is a coherent train of thought but then the speech bubble is a really rudimentary crude statement
here's the thought, and my speech bubble says "eric garcetti sucks"
@KNOCKdotLA
this is Saturday! it will include political education around community alternatives to policing. program will also be provided in korean and spanish! invite fam so they can start fighting for what’s right if they aren’t already ✊🏻
asking as someone at her wit’s end from work and in need of something comforting and wholesome so that she doesn’t succumb to her vices…who has the best seasoned fries in L.A.
While the City of Los Angeles’ COVID-19 threat level remains at orange, we are very close to moving to red. Please stay home when you can, avoid gatherings, and only visit businesses when you have to.
went long on LA 84 with fellow NOlympians. LA 2028 is the same old recycled garbage of false promises 🚮
analysis is live on
@NOlympicsLA
’s site! and for the love of the people, let’s cancel this shit
please know that you can make big impact by putting pressure on mayors and councilmembers.
@MayorOfLA
has been pushing for police brutality/criminalization of the poor and homeless under the guise that LA '28 is gonna be fun and good. here's a READDDD
The pandemic has made it abundantly clear the Tokyo 2020 Olympics should be canceled (NOT postponed).
But we and our Japanese allies
@hangorinnokai
and
@okotowa_link
were calling for its cancellation long before Covid.
Here are some of the MANY reasons why:
#CancelTheOlympics
a day in L.A. feels like a week with testing site nonsense and so-called renter stimulus plans, but here’s a story i’d been working on for
@prismreports
when
@MayorOfLA
’s angling for a position on
@JoeBiden
’s cabinet became all too real
i couldn’t believe the hold AEG had on music venues when i was working for them. with all that they own + radius clauses...it is virtually impossible for artists not to acquiesce
i hope this message reaches music fans who do not yet know how live music has become monopolized
I’d like to make a toast to Armon’s, a 60-year-old diner with my fave corned beef hash, menudo, and a hangover obliterating Thai dish called Dr. Special
read on
@eaterla
"I timed myself, 'cause I knew I had to make it count"
Interview with the man who told the LAPD to "suck my dick and choke on it, I yield my time, fuck you"
Profit-seeking landlords are doing anything to get tenants out, from neglecting maintenance requests to just straight up evicting them for no substantial reason.
If you're in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood, chances are you'll then spot these landlords listing illegal Airbnbs
One of the first things that landlords will do before turning their buildings into illegal Airbnbs is evict their existing tenants for unwarranted reasons.
Through
#LocksOnMyBlock
, we received a story from one tenant in Mid City about living through this hell for four years. ⬇️
this some lazy reporting on Korean Americans 😑
...if i never again see a lede that sets the stage of a Korean who was on his rooftop in ‘92, it won’t be soon enough
subscribe and save
@LATACO
, who gave me my break when i began writing 5 years ago, reaffirmed that style is not mutually exclusive with good reporting, and taught me to never write for the newcomers
Today was tough. Myself + the entire newsroom at
@LATACO
(minus our fearless leader
@theglutster
) were furloughed. The next two weeks are crucial! We need thousands of new members to keep me and my talented coworkers on staff.
Sign up to save LA TACO -
.
@lisaskwon
writes about
#Parasite
for all the children of immigrants who don’t need subtitles because they grew up basically being the subtitles for their parents and grandparents!
noooo the pulitzer prize board nominated a journalist who gave this city irresponsible exploitative perseverance stories, inaccurate reporting on the homeless numbers in LA, and perpetuated the harmful narrative that our unhoused =/= residents
there’s a new talk show in Ktown and
@TheoHen95302259
,
@theglowingstars
, and I were the first guests! 📻 📺 we talked about the homelessness crisis, local politics,
@KtownforAll
, and Theo’s podcast! excited about L.A. residents finding new ways to get media right 👏🏻
Portmeirion, a UK dinnerware brand, has cited South Korea as their second-biggest export market for many years. Meanwhile, millennial Korean-Americans are changing up their plate taste. I wrote about it for
@Eater
! 🍽
just saw this morning that my essay is live, alongside
@thelapod
’s voter guide, on their beautiful new site! thanks
@hayesdavenport
for letting me talk my talk 🚫🌴 maybe i can change my name now
It happened quickly, but for the owner of famed mochi shop Fugetsu-do, the day couldn’t come soon enough. A community meeting never happened and on March 17,
@kdeleon
swept Little Tokyo’s Toriumi Plaza.
@JTOWNACTION
stood in defense. Read on
@LATACO
Meet my Ktown neighbor
@natiabooboo
who just dropped a very L.A. hip hop album.
As if being an independent artist isn’t already $$, Natia had been homeless for years. He beat devastating statistics by finding housing in Koreatown.
Read on
@LATACO
🙏🏻
the IOC forced this to happen against all advice and warnings. now is a good time to follow
@NOlympicsLA
and help build transnational power so that we can abolish them and the Olympics for good
In Los Angeles, area codes change, demographics shift, but the signs outside shops in
#Koreatown
remain largely the same. It's a true testament of the power of word-of-mouth.
@lisaskwon
has our
#SundayRead
i am floored…beyond moved. this all just makes me want to do better. thank you all so, so much
also please support the work of your local orgs like that of
@NOlympicsLA
, who can go long on how the specifics of how Airbnbs ruin our housing stock. that’s the shit I care about!!
im a freelancer recovering legal fees for fighting a defamation lawsuit after I reported on illegally operated Airbnbs in LA. Grateful if you can read and donate within your means. Hope this reaches other freelancers so I thank you in advance for sharing
Chong's Sesame Oil has been milling and selling sesame/perilla oils (and more!) in Koreatown for 34 years.
It's one of the last mills in the neighborhood.
It's losing its space to hotel/apartment development.
Read my latest on
@LATACO
! (h/t
@ranacho
)
so like this thing happened (and also i will not say a thing about Anthony McClain, who died in my own city) and as an official who has the power to change said horrific things, I will do nothing!!
Jacob Blake was shot in front of his children and before our eyes — another horrific reminder that the march for justice continues.
I stand with Angelenos demanding equity and fairness, athletes showing strength and solidarity, and all of our communities crying out for change.
man said he didn’t wanna cancel even though his bud was just in headlines for violent behavior. he showed up to sugarfish /hammered/ and fell asleep at the table but not before saying “be honest: am i fire or am i trash?” the waitress mouthed “im sorry” all night. i ate his sushi
Got some words in about the hidden prevalence of Christianity in
#Koreatown
⛪
Getting an interview with these churches was difficult – the ones I started talking to in March were gone when I revisited them a few weeks ago!
TY
@LATACO
🙏
having a favorite neighborhood in L.A. is tired. every neighborhood in L.A. is great L.A. is great
(sent from the back of a lyft staring wistfully out the window)
if you're sick and tired of your tax dollars going towards policing, militarized security, and private development, you're gonna hate knowing what the olympics brought, brings, and will bring for as long as they continue to exist!
#CancelTheOlympics
#NOlympicsAnywhere
bookending the weekend learning that the General Sherman Tree in Sequoia was previously the Karl Marx Tree named by organized socialists experimenting with collective enterprise in the area before the southern pacific railroad wrested it away for capital…goodnight to me!
if it is overwhelming defeat that you feel, there are more tangible things you can do with your electoral power on a local level like demand proper redistricting, seek more seats on city council, bully villanueva out of his joke of a job, and replace these dry as hell palm trees
We’re about to go on Radio Korea to talk about why everyone should be paying attention to the City Controller race and our work in the Koreatown community.
As the person who made the palm tree on our logo, i would like to issue a formal apology.
palm trees are not native to LA and are a monoculture to our area. They have a terrible impact on our communities and local ecosystems.
We should be planting native plant species.
blogging about LA skate and arts culture for Australia (?!)'s Monster Children now, and my first article was a no-brainer!
@ShotOn35mm
on reporting through photography, AD-ing Tinashe's m/v, and how everyone learned in 2020 that they can shoot photos