People, Power, and Preservation for All

Youth economic advancement

County of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a countywide benefit)

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

LA is home to a rich cultural landscape with a remarkable history of community organizing. Many of LA's longest running social, cultural, and political organizations started as small grassroots efforts, building power and solidarity within and across communities. Hundreds of these significant LA organizations, particularly those founded by BIPOC and LGBTQ communities have little or no investment in the preservation of their institutional archives. This means large swaths of LA history is inaccessible and vulnerable to destruction in a disaster. These archives help us understand ourselves and each other so we can continue to build people power within and across communities and across generations in LA. Training youth on the preservation of these archives offers an opportunity for mentorship, skills development, connections to community resources, education and career pathways, and appreciation for the struggles of the past while informing how to organize for today and the future.

An internship program for youth focused on skills development, connecting to community resources and education and career pathways through hands-on learning and mentorship. The internship will function as a jump-start guide for youth who are out of school and not yet employed to expose them to career pathways in arts and culture, while developing skills that can also be used in related fields and trades, as well as research and project management. The internship will use partnerships with LA organizations to provide opportunities for hands on training in preservation, while connecting to that organizations' resources and networks, and engaging with LA history through the interactive experience of caring for the archives. The interns can select organizations they feel connected to as their project organization, and under supervision, will design a preservation plan and public program that utilizes the archives in partnership with that organization. The program will support 3-4 interns who will form a cohort, supporting each other with their individual projects allowing for exposure to a greater range of LA social history. The interns will then finish the program with a group project that asks them to focus on what interconnected story their projects tells about LA, and how it informs the present moment and offer guidance on the future of organizing in LA. Cultural organizations impacted by the recent LA fires and immigrant organizations will be prioritized for preservation.

We envision an LA where the histories of all the communities here will be preserved respectfully and made available for public programs, research, and learning from the past to guide how to build successful inter-community and inter-generational care and solitary today. The practice of preservation can also serve as a training, education, and career opportunity for youth who in the process will also be taught that their connections to community in LA are a source of strength, creativity, and support. We envision an LA that understands how our histories are connected, how we have been able to successfully overcome challenges, learn from failure, an LA that is more connected across diverse communities and generations, where there is less loneliness, more understanding and appreciation for how our communities have contributed to LA and our democracy. An LA where youth are connected to community and feel confident, prepared, grounded, and supported.