The Braz Project

More than 1/3 of the CA prison population under CDCR custody comes from or paroles to Los Angeles. Despite being hyper criminalized and incarcerated for generations, East Los Angeles has very few resources and safe spaces in the community that serve as alternatives to suspension, expulsion, court, detention, and/or incarceration. There are even fewer agencies that assist formerly incarcerated and directly impacted individuals with their successful re-entry back into society. The problem is that East Los Angeles is a resource desert - trauma informed and culturally relevant support is a scarcity for people directly impacted by the legal system and their families. Our community needs more safe spaces where people can receive wrap around support to heal from their trauma and the cycles of violence, incarceration, and death that have been perpetuated throughout generations of families. It is time for people from the community to create new transformative networks of care.

We Are Currently Working in the Future. We strive to prepare directly impacted community members to sustain successful lives and take over transformative, community care work when we are gone. The My LA2050 Challenge will provide Pride In Truth with everything needed to launch The Braz Project. The Braz Project will uplift individuals impacted by the incarceration and legal systems by providing wrap around ReEntry support such as immediate needs services; vocational and education pathways; alternatives to suspension/expulsion, court, and incarceration; and programs for local youth after school. By working with local service providers, educational institutions, job industries, neighborhood councils, and elected officials, the Braz Project will strengthen the existing nexus of community care that families and directly impacted individuals can utilize to seek support and healing from their traumatic experiences. One major principle of Pride In Truth is to encourage and teach personal autonomy; where all community members and leaders are able to make choices regarding the direction of their own actions in ways that they are most comfortable and empowered in. We hope for this project to be an inspiration for our members to replicate and lead their own businesses or initiatives that better their communities. In these ways, The Braz Project will break the chains of slavery, incarceration, and cultural hegemony that have oppressed our communities and families for generations.

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative

The Braz Project will help Los Angeles County transform into a safer and healthier place for future generations to be free from cages; to be educated and empowered community leaders with integrity, honesty, and empathy; to be their own business owners and community service providers; to have a deep understanding of the history and legacies of colonization and slavery; and thus to be committed to the sustainable healing and progress of their community. This work will create a positive pipeline to support youth and adults that are directly impacted by the legal and carceral systems. This pipeline will begin from inside juvenile detention and adult incarceration facilities and guide individuals on a positive path throughout their successful reintegration and growth in the community. We hope for The Braz Project to be a model for other empowered leaders to replicate, begin their own initiatives, and mushroom the nexus of community-based care providers in Los Angeles.

We hope to change lives, but we do not see numbers as useful indicators of genuine relationship building. We can measure success by how many members we retain; how many are released from incarceration; how many post-incarceration do not recidivate; how many sustain jobs or graduate from school; and how many are empowered to begin their own community-based initiatives. We will also measure success by how many youth are diverted away from the school-to-prison pipeline and are on a positive path of self-development and civic empowerment. We will also know the Braz Project is positively impacting our communities based on social and cultural changes. For example, we hope for East LA to have a better understanding and responsiveness to trauma-informed and healing-centered approaches to justice. We strive to inspire impacted youth and adults to have a different perspective in the world; where they are free from oppression and confident that they can turn their experiences into power.