Erin Stone
covers climate and environmental issues in Southern California.
Published October 20, 2023 5:00 AM
Warehouses dominate the Inland Empire
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Jesse Lerner
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Courtesy of Riverside Art Museum
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Top line
The multimedia art exhibit traces the region's complex evolution from citrus groves to military base to vast rows of warehouses, showing their damaging impact on pollution and health.
Why it matters: San Bernardino and Riverside counties have the most concentrated cluster of warehouses in the world, in no small part fueled by our love for fast delivery. They’re also the reason why the area has some of the highest levels of pollution in the nation, causing serious health impacts to the largely Latino communities who live nearby, and contributing significantly to the heating of our planet.
Why now: A theme through the exhibit is the effect on people’s and the environment’s health. But there’s also another consistent thread — the efforts of local community members who have fought, and continue to fight, for a better way.
San Bernardino and Riverside counties have the most concentrated cluster of warehouses in the world, in no small part fueled by our love for fast delivery.
They’re also the reason why the area has some of the highest levels of pollution in the nation, causing serious health impacts to the largely Latino communities who live nearby, and contributing significantly to the heating of our planet.
So how did this happen? The Inland Empire has a long and often untold commercial history, from the forced displacement of Indigenous people to establish a booming citrus industry, to the U.S. military building infrastructure that would lay the foundation for the explosive growth of the logistics industry.
A theme through it all has been largely false promises of good-paying jobs at the expense of people’s and the environment’s health. But there’s also another consistent thread — the efforts of local community members who have fought, and continue to fight, for a better way.
That’s the story that a two-week pop-up art exhibit at the Riverside Art Museum, and online, aims to highlight.
“There isn't an inevitability of where we got to today — decisions were made at each step along the way,” said Cathy Gudis, professor of history at UC Riverside and a co-curator of the project with her students and two environmental justice groups in L.A. and San Bernardino: East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice and the People’s Collective for Environmental Justice.
Multi-colored panels tell stories of environmental injustice from 22 communities across the U.S., Mexico and Colombia.
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Jacob Willson
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Riverside Art Museum
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Called “Climates of Inequality, Stories of Environmental Justice,” the traveling exhibit will go across the world, highlighting 22 communities from the United States, Mexico, and Colombia which face similar challenges and are fighting for change.
The multimedia project takes viewers on a historical journey through a series of significant locations from the ports of L.A. and Long Beach to Southeast L.A. and Commerce, then east into Mira Loma and finally all the way to San Bernardino and Riverside.
Panels from the exhibition
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courtesy of Riverside Art Museum
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“We need to use media and we need to use history and we need to use the experiences of our people to really understand where we need to go,” said Anthony Victoria, a local journalist with NPR-affiliate KVCR and founder of the environmental justice-focused publication The Frontline Observer. He participated in the project and will speak on a panel as part of it.
The point of the exhibit is not just to highlight the history, but to clearly lay out how that history continues to impact the present, said L.A.-based artist Noè Montes, who also participated in the project.
“The land holds the truth of history,” Montes said. “Once we start talking about that and recognizing it, then we will really be making some headway to the resolution, the reparations that are necessary to achieve justice.”
The exhibit showcases voices of community organizers, artists, warehouse workers, researchers and others involved in the ongoing fight against environmental injustice in the area.
Alicia Aguayo grew up in west San Bernardino and is the communications manager for the group People's Collective for Environmental Justice, which advocates for communities impacted by warehousing.
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Tamara Fleming
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Courtesy of Alicia Aguayo
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“We're telling these stories and making sure that they're not forgotten,” said Alicia Aguayo, the communications manager for the San Bernardino-based People's Collective for Environmental Justice. But she says the exhibit isn’t just about the past — it’s about the present and the future.
“It’s also part of us working with the community and making sure that we're educating each other,” Aguayo said. “We don't believe that this has to be the norm. And we believe that it's possible to have other ways of living.”
A brief history of the supply chain
Postcard images of sprawling acres of orange, lemon and lime groves hearken back to a golden era of southern California agriculture, but the reality was not so rosy.
The citrus industry began with the forced displacement of Indigenous tribes at the start of the Spanish mission era — mission padres planted some of the first citrus trees in the Southland. The industry boomed with the arrival of white American settlers enticed to come West, the railroad, and water diversions from the Santa Ana and Colorado Rivers to help the region bloom. The landscape of southern California was forever changed.
A citrus grove in Highland at the base of the San Bernardino mountains circa 1900.
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Courtesy of LA Public Library
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Indigenous Serrano, Luiseño, Gabrielino-Tongva, Cupeño, Chemehuevi, and Cahuilla people were forced to labor in these fields. In the late 1800s, when the railroad came, Chinese workers largely replaced Indigenous workers. Then anti-Chinese racism led to Japanese immigrant workers becoming the bulk of the workforce.
Another wave of anti-immigrant sentiment came after the first World War, forcing many Japanese workers out as well. By the mid-1940s, Latino workers had become the vast majority of that workforce — as they continue to be today in the region. The cheap labor was essential to making the citrus industry bloom, but people of color benefited far less than most white folks in the region who became some of the wealthiest people in the world at the turn of the century.
“It all goes back to that citrus industry — it's been replaced with low paying jobs in warehouses now,” said Yvonne Chamberlain Marquez, who gathered oral histories and did research for the project during her time as a UC Riverside student in Gudis’ class.
The invention of pesticides and other chemicals further helped the citrus industry boom. But citrus wouldn’t remain king forever — with World Wars I and II, the military took over the area because of its proximity and rail connections to both the ports and high desert military bases. The military’s dumping of toxic waste in the region led to some of the nation’s first Superfund sites, with contamination that still plagues the region’s water tables and landscape today.
The military’s arrival also laid the foundation for the logistics industry the region is now infamous for. For example, the city of Mira Loma, which Gudis and Pitzer College professor Brinda Sarathy call “the roots of logistics,” became a stop for goods and supplies being brought from the ports to high desert military bases, as well as Manzanar, where 10,000 Japanese Americans forced from their homes were incarcerated by the U.S. government during World War II.
A guard stands outside the entrance of Manzanar, where 10,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II.
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Courtesy of LA Public Library
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After the wars, came baby boomers and the need for a lot more space for a rapidly growing population — suburbia replaced many citrus farms that remained. For a time, the Kaiser steel factory provided union jobs for hundreds of thousands of people in the area, who were able to get their slice of the American Dream — but for the largely Latino and Black workers it came at the expense of coping with daily racism and exploitation.
When the factory and military bases closed in the 1980s, the region’s economic struggles skyrocketed. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the logistics industry saw an opportunity.
Yvonne Chamberlain Marquez conducted research and collected oral histories from local activists and elders while she was a student at UC Riverside for the exhibit.
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Courtesy of Yvonne Chamberlain Marquez
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Marquez, who grew up in Chino during the late 1980s and early 1990s, remembers that, and the false promises of how warehouses would provide the next generation of good jobs and a thriving economy.
“In the nineties, a warehouse job was a good job at one point,” she said, “but then they just popped up and grew so fast and now there's so many people stuck in these low wage jobs with no way out.”
The changes have been especially rapid in the last two decades. Marquez herself watched her community’s landscape go from mostly rural to full of warehouses in a span of less than ten years. Today, one in six workers in the Inland Empire are employed in the logistics industry, including many of the UC Riverside students who worked on this project.
Making space
Marquez said that as someone who grew up poor and returned to school as an adult and single mother later in life, she has often felt like her voice didn’t matter. When she got into UC Riverside, she said she was at one of her lowest points. She joined Gudis’ consumerism history class on a whim — she didn’t expect it to change her life.
But her experience as a student gathering oral histories from local elders and working closely with community activists to put together the Climates of Inequality exhibit changed her life dramatically.
Community members part of San Bernardino-based group the People's Collective for Environmental Justice.
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Courtesy of Alicia Aguayo
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“I was able to see myself in these people who were like me, talked like me, who had the same background that I did,” Marquez said. “They were … so, like, sure of themselves as the experts in what they were talking about and just like seeing them be unapologetic about it was inspiring.”
Marquez hopes the exhibit helps people realize, like she did, that their voices matter too.
An image created by San Bernardino artist Brenda Angels (@basoulcreates) depicts a vision of a thriving economy that runs on local businesses. It was part of the promotion for a local small business event put on by the People's Collective for Environmental Justice
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Courtesy of Alicia Aguayo
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“Once the community is able to see the work that the community has actually done, they're able to see themselves a little bit more and maybe be more inclined to show up to a city council meeting when they don't agree with something, or get involved in civics at some level,” she said.
For local activists like Aguayo, the exhibit illustrates the intertwined natures of art, storytelling and action. She said art is key to how the People’s Collective for Environmental Justice works to humanize the impact of the logistics industry beyond a bottom line, and provide a vision for a better future.
“Oftentimes, these regulators and elected officials look at numbers and they don't think about the stories and the people feeling the impacts and so we do think that this exhibit is crucial,” she said. “Being able to see your experience in a museum I hope feels very validating to community members who've been saying this for years — like this is not new.”
See the exhibit and associated live events
The exhibit runs through Nov. 5 at the Riverside Art Museum. The exhibit is free and open to the public. You can also view the multimedia project online at climatesofinequality.org.
You can see the live events associated with the exhibit here. All the events are free and open to the public.
Upcoming events at the museum include:
Sunday, Oct. 22: 2 – 4 p.m. at Riverside Art Museum Rooftop (Julia Morgan Building) “Climates of Inequality: EJ in the I.E.”
A dialogue with environmental justice organizers from the Inland Empire. Spanish/English translation available. Includes same-day museum admission at Riverside Art Museum. RSVP: ramcheech.ticketapp.org/portal/product/130
Thursday, Nov. 2: 6 p.m. at Riverside Art Museum (Julia Morgan Building) Environmental Justice in the IE: Community-based Practices in Art and Activism
Saturday, Nov. 4: 10 a.m. – noon at Riverside Art Museum (Julia Morgan Building) Teaching “Climates of Inequality” Tour and Workshop.
Limited spaces for high school, college, or university-level teachers interested in bringing regional issues of environmental justice into classrooms. Includes same-day museum admission at Riverside Art Museum. RSVP: ramcheech.ticketapp.org/portal/product/129
Sunday, Nov. 5: 1 p.m. at Riverside Art Museum (Julia Morgan Building) “Cultures of Environmentalism: Read Aloud & Artmaking.”
For this closing day public program, families are invited to learn about, and try their hand at, California Indian basket making while learning about the impacts of environmental change on culturally significant plants with Lorene Sisquoc (Mountain Cahuilla/Fort Sill Apache), curator at Sherman Indian Museum. Also featured are English language and bilingual (English-Spanish) readings of Carole Lindstorm and Michaela Goade's “We Are Water Protectors” (2021 Caldecott Medal Winner), and local artists' books including Timothy Musso's "Chasing the Sun." Art-making is for all ages. Read-out-loud: 3-8-year-olds. RSVP: ramcheech.ticketapp.org/portal/product/136
Aaron Schrank
has been on the ground, reporting on homelessness and other issues in L.A. for more than a decade.
Published April 2, 2026 4:23 PM
Supervisor Holly Mitchell, L.A. County Department of Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer, actor Danny Trejo and others gathered at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Wilmington.
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Aaron Schrank
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LAist
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Topline:
A new private foundation called The Fund for Advancing Public Health LA launched Thursday, aiming to raise $2 million to shore up county health services this year. It comes after the Department of Public Health closed seven clinics following $50 million in funding cuts since early 2025.
Who's behind it: The foundation's board includes Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer, the CEOs of Blue Shield of California Foundation and LA Care Health Plan, actors Sean Penn and Danny Trejo and more. Board member Saree Kayne of the R&S Kayne Foundation pledged $150,000 at the launch. Ferrer acknowledged it's "a hard day" when a public agency has to turn to private donors to fund basic services.
Deeper cuts ahead: The federal "Big Beautiful Bill" slashes Medi-Cal funding, and the department anticipates losing up to $300 million over the next three years. Federal dollars account for nearly half the public health budget.
Some government funding streams for L.A. County’s public health system are drying up, and officials are turning to private philanthropy to fill the gap.
A new privately funded foundation launched Thursday to strengthen public health services after $50 million in federal, state and local funding cuts to the county’s Department of Public Health since early last year.
“It is really a hard day for our community when we have to ask for private donations to fund a public good, but unfortunately, we've lost too much money to not take this important step,” said Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.
In February, the county’s Public Health Department closed seven clinics, with six remaining open. About half of the patients seen in those clinics are uninsured, according to county officials. The department also cut hundreds of staff positions.
She said the fund will help the county maintain its basic public health infrastructure, including disease prevention, health promotion, environmental health, and emergency response efforts.
Other board members include several health insurance executives, as well as actors Sean Penn and Danny Trejo. Board member Saree Kayne of the R&S Kayne Foundation pledged $150,000 to the fund Thursday. Kayne said she hopes the donation encourages others to give.
The foundation aims to raise $2 million this year.
More cuts expected
L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell said it’s crucial to have an alternative funding stream to protect services for the county's most vulnerable residents.
“We are saving public health,” Mitchell said. “This fund represents a new approach, one that brings together government philanthropy in the private sector to invest in community-based solutions, protect vulnerable populations, and strengthen our public health infrastructure.”
Officials say more public health cuts are coming, through the federal budget law known as the "Big Beautiful Bill," which slashes funding for Medi-Cal.
The county Department of Public Health anticipates losing up to $300 million in revenue over the next three years because of the federal budget bill and other potential funding freezes. Federal funding accounts for almost 50% of the public health budget, according to county officials.
Mitchell also led an effort to put a half-percent county sales tax increase to fund public health on the June ballot.
If approved by voters, that proposal, known as Measure ER, is expected to raise about $1 billion a year for county safety net health services, including about $100 million for the public health department.
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez
is an arts and general assignment reporter on LAist's Explore LA team.
Published April 2, 2026 4:20 PM
Water infrastructure such as pipes that feed water to drinking fountains and toilets at the Rose Bowl Stadium are getting an infusion of $1 million for fixes.
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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist
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Topline:
Rep. Laura Friedman today announced that she secured $1 million for improvements to the water infrastructure at the aging Rose Bowl Stadium as it prepares for a global starring role in the LA28 Olympics.
Why it matters: The pipes may be working fine — for now — but the fear of backed-up toilets as the world watches is an ongoing worry at the venue.
Why now: Public officials have been pushing for spending to improve Olympic venues and surrounding areas as L.A. and other municipalities roll out the red carpet for the world to attend the Olympics. But they’ve hit road bumps and detours.
The backstory: The Rose Bowl is 103 years old and public officials have committed to spending $200 million to upgrade the Pasadena venue over the next two decades.
The Rose Bowl in Pasadena may be a centenarian, but it’s holding up pretty well as it continues to host events on its way to a starring role in the LA28 Olympics.
But before it can host the soccer final, it needs fixes, especially to the infrastructure serving the bathrooms and drinking fountains. Fears of a toilet backup while in the world’s spotlight led Rep. Laura Friedman to seek federal funds for upgrades. On Thursday she announced she secured just over $1 million.
“Two years from now, athletes around the world are going to compete for gold right where we are standing. This is not the time to find out whether or not these pipes are up to the task,” Friedman said.
The planned work, she added, will lead to improved water flow capacity and water drainage, eliminating the risk of backups and emergency maintenance.
The funds came from the House of Representatives Interior and Environment subcommittee. The fixes, an official said, will be completed by the LA28 Olympics.
The funds, however, are a drop in the bucket when it comes to what’s needed to make needed improvements to the Pasadena venue.
Officials, including (left to right) Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation President Dedan Brozino, Deputy Fire Chief of the City of Pasadena Tim Sell, Congresswoman Laura Friedman, and Rose Bowl Stadium CEO Jens Weiden announced infrastructure funding for the 103-year old Rose Bowl.
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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist
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“Over the next 20 years there's about $200 million that we need to put in and that's everything from updating light fixtures to updating gas, water, wastewater lines, etc.,” said Dedan Brozino, president of the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation, the nonprofit that supports the Rose Bowl stadium's preservation and enhancement.
Getting venues ready will be expensive
The money is a much-needed win at a time when elected officials in city, county, state and federal offices have been struggling to find the funds to get L.A.-area venues ready for the global Olympic stage in two years.
The entrance to a men's bathroom at the Rose Bowl.
Additionally, to save money, LA28 organizers moved Olympic diving to the Rose Bowl complex last year because it has two Olympic-sized pools, while the Exposition Park complex doesn't and would need expensive upgrades.
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Kevin Tidmarsh
is a producer for LAist, covering news and culture. He’s been an audio/web journalist for about a decade.
Published April 2, 2026 3:39 PM
This Cape vulture chick hatched March 14 at the L.A. Zoo.
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Courtesy Misha Body/LA Zoo
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Topline:
The zoo said it’s the first major breeding success in its Cape vulture habitat, which opened up last year. The chick now joins the zoo’s committee — that’s the name for a group of vultures.
About the chick: The chick hatched on March 14. The zoo opened its Cape vulture enclosure in February 2025 after years of planning to encourage the birds to roost and nest, welcoming a new breeding pair that year. When it grows to be an adult, it’ll have a wingspan of eight and a half feet.
About the enclosure: The L.A. Zoo said it spent years developing the vulture habitat, which was designed to mimic the vultures’ natural environment in South Africa. Dominick Dorsa II, the zoo’s director of animal care, said in a statement the successful hatching is “a testament to the design and construction” of the habitat.
How to see the chick: You can’t for the time being. Zoo officials are keeping it away from visitors until the chick matures, though you can still see adult Cape vultures at the zoo’s enclosure.
Though visitors will have to wait until the chick matures to see it in the enclosure, you can still take in the impressive eight and a half foot wingspan of the adult Cape vultures.
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Courtesy Jamie Pham/L.A. Zoo
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What zoo officials are saying: “Welcoming a Cape vulture chick is a thrilling moment for our team and a beacon of hope for African vultures,” the L.A. Zoo’s curator of birds Rose Legato said in a statement. “Vultures are one of nature's most misunderstood marvels, and I cannot wait for our guests to eventually watch this chick grow and learn just how vital they are to our ecosystems.”
About the species: Cape vultures are listed as a vulnerable species due to human activities and encroachment. According to the L.A. Zoo, African vultures are more closely related to eagles and hawks than vultures native to the Americas, like the California condors that just hatched last year at the L.A. Zoo.
Topline:
The Los Angeles Zoo said it’s the first major breeding success in its Cape vulture habitat, which opened up last year. The chick now joins the zoo’s committee — that’s the name for a group of vultures.
About the chick: The chick hatched March 14. The zoo opened its Cape vulture enclosure in February 2025 after years of planning to encourage the birds to roost and nest, welcoming a new breeding pair that year. When it grows to be an adult, it’ll have a wingspan of 8 1/2 feet.
About the enclosure: The L.A. Zoo said it spent years developing the vulture habitat, which was designed to mimic the vultures’ natural environment in South Africa and nearby countries. Dominick Dorsa II, the zoo’s director of animal care, said in a statement the successful hatching is “a testament to the design and construction” of the habitat.
How to see the chick: You can’t for the time being. Zoo officials are keeping it away from visitors until the chick matures, though you can still see adult Cape vultures at the zoo’s enclosure.
Though visitors will have to wait until the chick matures to see it in the enclosure, you can still take in the impressive eight and a half foot wingspan of the adult Cape vultures.
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Courtesy Jamie Pham/L.A. Zoo
)
What zoo officials are saying: “Welcoming a Cape vulture chick is a thrilling moment for our team and a beacon of hope for African vultures,” the L.A. Zoo’s curator of birds Rose Legato said in a statement. “Vultures are one of nature's most misunderstood marvels, and I cannot wait for our guests to eventually watch this chick grow and learn just how vital they are to our ecosystems.”
About the species: Cape vultures are listed as a vulnerable species due to human activities and encroachment. According to the L.A. Zoo, African vultures are more closely related to eagles and hawks than vultures native to the Americas, like the zoo's California condors that hatched last year.
What should have been a celebration for formerly incarcerated youth completing a reentry program at the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory (BHAC) last week instead ended with seven students and two staff members detained by the Los Angeles Police Department, according to witnesses.
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Screenshot courtesy of BHAC
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Topline:
Last week, seven students and two staff members from the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory (BHAC) were detained by the Los Angeles Police Department, according to witnesses. Now, BHAC staff and city officials are demanding answers from the LAPD, with some accusing officers of racial profiling.
What happened: According to the LAPD, officers observed a large group gathered on the corner of Cesar E. Chavez Avenue and Mott Street around 4:16 p.m. on March 26. The group, classified by police as an “aggressive gang group,” consisted of seven 18-year-old students from the BHAC’s Bridge Academy Movement (BAM) program and two BHAC staff members.
Allegations of racial profiling: In total, seven 18-year-old students and two staff members were detained. BHAC staff said one student and one staff member were taken to Hollenbeck Community Police Station and released less than two hours later after advocacy from community members and Councilmember Ysabel Jurado. According to Rene Weber, a teaching artist at the BHAC, the students had gone to coffee across the street at Milpa Kitchen as they often did. After Weber told the officers that all of the students were 18, they said they would investigate whether the group had any gang affiliation.
What is BAM? The BAM program pays formerly incarcerated youth to complete 200-250 hours in media and visual arts training to prepare them for creative careers. That day, students were set to showcase their work at the BAM program graduation for families and community members.
What should have been a celebration for formerly incarcerated youth completing a reentry program at the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory (BHAC) last week instead ended with seven students and two staff members detained by the Los Angeles Police Department, according to witnesses.
Now, nearly a week later, BHAC staff and city officials are demanding answers from the LAPD, with some accusing officers of racial profiling.
According to the LAPD, officers observed a large group gathered on the corner of Cesar E. Chavez Avenue and Mott Street around 4:16 p.m. on March 26. Authorities then requested backup for what they described as “a large group surrounding officers,” LAPD Public Information Officer Tony Im said.
The group, classified by police as an “aggressive gang group,” consisted of seven 18-year-old students from the BHAC’s Bridge Academy Movement (BAM) program and two BHAC staff members.
The BAM program pays formerly incarcerated youth to complete 200-250 hours in media and visual arts training to prepare them for creative careers. That day, students were set to showcase their work at the BAM program graduation for families and community members.
Rene Weber, a teaching artist at the BHAC, had been with the students setting up for the ceremony minutes before the incident occurred.
According to Weber, the students had gone to coffee across the street at Milpa Kitchen as they often did, when staff were alerted that they were being detained.
Weber said he arrived to find students and a staff member pressed against the wall in handcuffs.
Video from the scene, taken by a staff member at the BHAC, shows multiple officers surrounding the group. At one point, an officer orders a person to “get on the wall” and displays a stun gun.
“No, none of that, these are kids right here,” the staff member replies.
Another staff member, Teotl Veliz, recorded a large police response.
“I counted 12 cop cars, that’s at least 25 cops, and they had a helicopter,” Veliz said. “It was just so comedic, tragically comedic, that it was on their graduation day too.”
Officers established a perimeter with yellow tape along the side of Ashley’s Beauty Salon as local business owners and witnesses gathered around the students.
“I was just incredibly disappointed in LAPD… because it became so apparent to everybody, all at the same time, that it was racial profiling and nothing else,” Veliz said.
Weber said officers gave shifting explanations for the stop at the scene, including blocking the sidewalk and possible underage vaping. After Weber told the officers that all of the students were 18, they said they would investigate whether the group had any gang affiliation.
Police have not responded to questions about what led officers to believe that the group was gang-affiliated.
Weber recalled pleading with the officers to let the group go and explaining to them that they worked across the street. Community members and local business owners also stepped in to vouch for the students.
“Our job is to help them gain a new perspective on life,” Weber said. “They’re coming out of juvenile detention and they’re turning their lives around. We can do our part in keeping them off the streets and keeping them doing better but what does it mean if they’re going to be profiled and treated exactly the same way?”
In total, seven 18-year-old students and two staff members were detained. BHAC staff said one student and one staff member were taken to Hollenbeck Community Police Station and released less than two hours later after advocacy from community members and Councilmember Ysabel Jurado.
The incident ultimately resulted in an infraction for smoking a cannabis e-vape on a public sidewalk, according to a photo of the infraction shared with the Beat. LAPD did not provide details about the people taken to Hollenbeck Station or the infraction.
The graduation ceremony was cancelled that night and is expected to be rescheduled in April.
“Graduation should be a moment of pride and possibility — not fear,” Jurado said in a statement. “I’m seeking answers about what occurred, and this underscores the need for stronger relationships between law enforcement and community organizations so moments like these are protected, not disrupted.”
Carmelita Ramirez‑Sanchez, the conservatory’s executive director, said she was grateful to the community and Jurado for advocating for the students’ release. Jurado met her at Hollenbeck Station within 20 minutes of being alerted to the incident, she said.
“They had store owners, señoras, barbers, that ran out and were trying to explain to the police who our kids were,” Ramirez‑Sanchez said.
Still, she said the incident tarnished what should have been a joyous celebration.
“I imagine that what this does is derail this entire idea that you can be an active participant in your own restorative growth,” she said.
