The Brief

From neighborhood celebrations and museum exhibitions to comedy shows and movie screenings, there are lots of fun things you can do in Southern California this Juneteenth on Thursday.

First, if you aren’t already familiar with the history of America’s newest federal holiday and how it’s been celebrated for decades in L.A. (specifically Leimert Park), you can quickly brush up with this article by former LAist associate editor Aaricka Washington.

Then, take your pick of events happening in SoCal on or around Juneteenth (Thursday, June 19):

Juneteenth Eve (Wednesday)

Wednesday, June 18, 7:30 p.m.
Bri Giger’s Prideteenth Show
The Elysian
1944 Riverside Dr., Los Angeles
COST: $16 + $4 fee; MORE INFO

This annual all-queer, all-POC variety show at the nonprofit alt-comedy theater The Elysian features live music, comedy, acting and poetry. The “celebration of Black queer power” is presented by actress, activist and comedian Bri Giger and Club Cleo.

The holiday (Thursday)

8 a.m. - noon 
Black Folk Juneteenth Freedom Day Ride
Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza to Leimert Park
COST: FREE, BUT REGISTRATION REQUIRED; MORE INFO

Join cyclists from all over Southern California for this second annual bike ride that “promotes Black excellence, Juneteenth, and safe cycling in one of the world's best cities.” It’s a 9-, 14-, or 19-mile group ride through central L.A. that ends at the Leimert Park Village Juneteenth Celebration.

11 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Leimert Park Village Juneteenth Celebration
Leimert Park Village, Degnan Boulevard, Los Angeles
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

Celebrate Juneteenth where many say the holiday was first celebrated in L.A. back in 1949, with live music (drum circles, jazz, and DJ sets), poetry, line dancing, health and wellness resources, and a fashion show at Sole Folks at 5 p.m.

Noon - 1:30 p.m.
Altadena Historical Society Juneteenth Celebration and Luncheon
Loma Alta Park
3330 N. Lincoln Ave., Altadena
COST: $30-35; MORE INFO

The historical society’s fourth annual Juneteenth celebration will feature a luncheon, photo exhibition, quilt drawing and an awards ceremony for scholarships awarded to local students affected by January’s Eaton Fire.

The scholarship award is named after Ellen Garrison Clark, a Black educator and civil rights activist who fought against slavery and was buried in an unmarked grave in Altadena after she died in 1892. The historical society raised funds to purchase a headstone for Clark and unveiled it during their 2021 Juneteenth celebration.

Noon - 3 p.m.
Museum of African American Art
Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza
Level 2, Suite 283
3650 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Los Angeles
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

Visit the Museum of African American Art on Juneteenth and get a free tote bag (while supplies last) when you bring in a receipt from any Baldwin Hills Crenshaw retailer. Tour the museum’s collection and share what “Freedom Is…” to you.

3 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Gallery Conversation: Costuming Black History with Sharen Davis
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
6067 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles
COST: FREE WITH ADMISSION; MORE INFO

Make a trip to the Academy Museum and enjoy a conversation with Emmy Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated costume designer Sharen Davis (Watchmen, Ray, Dreamgirls) about memorable costume designs from her 30-year career.

5:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Repossessions and Reparations
California African American Museum (CAAM)
Figueroa Street and Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles
COST: FREE WITH RSVP; MORE INFO

Celebrate Juneteenth with a visit to CAAM to check out all their exhibitions, but specifically on the evening of Juneteenth, for a curator-led tour with artists in person from Repossessions (Feb. 14 - Aug. 3), a group exhibition reflecting on reparations for descendants of enslaved African Americans. The event also features a panel discussion with Reparations4Slavery and The Reparations Project, moderated by guest curator Bridget R. Cooks.

8:30 p.m.
The UCB Juneteenth Improv Extravaganza
Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre
5919 Franklin Ave., Los Angeles
COST: $11.96-17.94; MORE INFO

Prepare to laugh — either in person (at the UCB Theatre) or at home (for the livestream, also available for 7 days after) — during this show made up of four teams of Black improvisors. The show is hosted by comedian Ronnie Adrian.

8:35 p.m. and 11:10 p.m. 
Rooftop Cinema's Celebrating Black Cinema Series
888 S. Olive St., 4th Floor, DTLA
COST: FROM $23; MORE INFO

Check out one or both movies screening at Rooftop Cinema for Juneteenth: 1997’s Love Jones starring Larenz Tate and Nia Long, and Gina Prince-Bythewood’s 2000 film, Love & Basketball, starring Omar Epps and Sanaa Lathan. Or if Saturday works better for you, the rom-com Brown Sugar (2002) is playing at 11:10 p.m.

Beyond Juneteenth

Friday, June 20, 7 p.m. - 11 p.m.
KCRW Summer Nights @ CAAM
California African American Museum (CAAM)
Figueroa Street and Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles
COST: FREE ADMISSION; MORE INFO

This dance party includes after-hours access to CAAM, with food trucks, beer garden and crafts for you to enjoy outside.

Saturday, June 21, noon - 4 p.m.
City of West Hollywood Juneteenth Celebration
647 N. San Vicente Blvd., West Hollywood
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

Head to West Hollywood Park for food, music, live performances, and vendors from Black-owned businesses.

Saturday, June 21, 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Culver City Juneteenth Celebration
Ivy Station
8840 National Blvd., Culver City
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

The City of Culver City Juneteenth celebration features food, activities for kids, and live music performances from BriJolie and Friends and Top Shelf Brass Band.

Sunday, June 22, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Juneteenth in South LA: Team Tennis Tournament & Beginners' Clinic
Jackie Tatum Harvard Recreation Center
1535 W. 62nd St., Los Angeles
COST: FROM $17.85; MORE INFO

For tennis lovers and newbies to the sport alike, All-Love Racquet Club and Fortune Tennis are organizing a tennis clinic and tournament, complete with music, food and backyard games.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting agreed Monday to fulfill a $36 million, multi-year contract with NPR that it had yanked after pressure from the Trump White House.

The arrangement resolves litigation filed by NPR accusing the corporation of illegally yielding to Trump's demands that the network be financially punished for its news coverage. The argument, part of a broader lawsuit by NPR and several stations against the Trump administration, focused on CPB funding for NPR's operation of a satellite distribution system for local public radio stations. NPR announced Monday it would waive all fees for the stations associated with the satellite service.

The judge in the case had explicitly told CPB's legal team he did not find its defense credible. CPB lawyers had argued that the decision to award the contract to a new consortium of public media institutions was driven by a desire to foster digital innovations more swiftly.

"The settlement is a victory for editorial independence and a step toward upholding the First Amendment rights of NPR and the public media system in our legal challenge to [Trump's] Executive Order," Katherine Maher, President and CEO of NPR, said in a statement. "While we entered into this dispute with CPB reluctantly, we're glad to resolve it in a way that enables us to continue to provide for the stability of the Public Radio Satellite System, offer immediate and direct support to public radio stations across the country, and proceed with our strong and substantive claims against this illegal and unconstitutional Executive Order. We look forward to our day in court in December."

In its submission Monday evening to the court, CPB did not concede that it had acted wrongfully — nor that it had yielded to political pressure from the administration.

Instead, in a statement posted on its website, CPB asserted its side "prevails" as a result of the settlement.

"This is an important moment for public media," said Patricia Harrison, President and CEO of CPB. "We are very pleased that this costly and unnecessary litigation is over, and that our investment in the future through [Public Media Infrastructure] marks an exciting new era for public media." CPB had awarded a rival contract to PMI, a newly created consortium of public radio organizations including several major stations, to ensure the digital distribution system functions properly. That contract will continue, CPB said.

Federal subsidies for public broadcasting stopped on Oct. 1 as a result of a party-line vote over the summer by Congress, called a rescission. Only a skeleton crew remains at CPB, which was created as a nonprofit corporation more than a half-century ago to funnel federal subsidies to public media. While PBS has had layoffs and NPR is monitoring its own finances, many local stations across the country have been hit hard.

Over the course of the litigation this fall, mounting evidence appeared to demonstrate that CPB's board chair and executives had acted against NPR in what turned out to be a futile attempt to salvage the corporation's own future.

In hearings last month in Washington, D.C., U.S. District Court Judge Randolph Moss told CPB's legal team they had not made a credible case for why the corporation reneged on the contract just a day after a top White House official warned senior CPB leaders against doing business with NPR. A trial had been set to start on Dec. 1.

CPB's change of mind — and NPR's ensuing lawsuit — sparked consternation and unease within the larger public media ecosystem. The two organizations had served as partners for decades. But that relationship frayed earlier this year, as the system came under attack from the Trump administration.

Trump's public campaign against NPR and PBS started in earnest soon after he returned to the White House. Trump kicked it into high gear in late March with a series of social media posts.

In early April, CPB leaders sought to get money out the door before Trump took action against public media. On April 2, CPB's board approved the extension of a contract with NPR to distribute public radio programs, including those not produced by NPR. The arrangement stretched back four decades. The amount included millions still due on the then-current contract.

The next day, CPB's board chair and two senior executives met with a top White House budget official who attested to her "intense dislike for NPR." The budget official told them CPB didn't have to "throw the baby out with the bathwater," according to a deposition from CPB executive Clayton Barsoum submitted as part of NPR's legal filings.

And the day after that — just 48 hours after that board vote — CPB reversed itself. CPB executive Kathy Merritt informed NPR's top official over the satellite and distribution service that it had to be spun off: it could not be part of NPR. NPR refused to do so. CPB revised the scope of the contract and solicited new bids. NPR's submission proved unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, the White House was ramping up the pressure. It accused NPR and PBS of bias. On April 14, for example, it issued a formal statement that called their offerings "radical, woke propaganda disguised as 'news'." NPR and PBS's chief executives have rejected the accusations of bias.

On May 1, Trump issued an executive order that no federal money should go to the two public broadcasting networks. NPR and three Colorado public radio stations then filed suit against the White House, saying they were being unlawfully punished because the president did not like their news coverage. They contended the executive order represented a violation of First Amendment protections. Their suit names CPB as a defendant as well for, in their characterization, bending to the president's will. In Monday's legal filing, CPB agreed that the executive order was precisely the sort of government interference that Congress sought to prevent in establishing CPB as it did.

In the summer, Republican leaders in the U.S. Congress, urged on by Trump, pulled back all $1.1 billion for future public broadcasting that had already been approved and signed into law by the president.

Throughout the legal battle, NPR has said, regardless of the outcome of the case, it would work with Public Media Infrastructure.

NPR's broader constitutional case against Trump's executive order purporting to ban federal funding of public media continues. A hearing on its merits is scheduled for December.

Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik. It was edited by Deputy Business Editor Emily Kopp and Managing Editors Gerry Holmes and Vickie Walton-James. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no NPR corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.
Copyright 2025 NPR

A long-awaited vision for Huntington Drive is finally coming into focus. In the future, the busy corridor will have dedicated bus lanes, protected bike lanes, two lanes of vehicle traffic in each direction, a thin median and wide sidewalks.

This was the plan chosen by the City for the Huntington Drive Multi-Modal Transportation Improvement Project, which runs on an approximately four-mile stretch of the street between North Mission Road near LAC+USC Medical Center and Alhambra/South Pasadena. This had much more public support than the competing alternative, which featured a wide median rather than wide sidewalks, according to Mary Nemick, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Engineering.

Nemick said the next step is to hire a consultant to create design and engineering documents. This phase is expected to take about two years before groundbreaking can occur.

Currently, Huntington Drive has three vehicular lanes in each direction, the bike lanes are unprotected, and about 25% of the corridor lacks sidewalks. Though pedestrians and bicyclists account for only 1% of peak-hour trips, they account for 54% of severe or fatal injuries from traffic collisions, according to a project document.

The design budget is about $10.5 million, Nemick said, and the overall project cost will be determined after designs are completed.

The project is being funded by some of the money previously allocated for the construction of the 710 Freeway extension, which was abandoned in 2018 after decades of local opposition.

The Columbia Memorial Space Center in Downey held a groundbreaking ceremony Monday for a roughly 40,000-square-foot expansion that will include indoor and outdoor science learning areas and space for special exhibits.

The centerpiece of the buildout will include an interactive display of the Inspiration space shuttle mockup, where visitors can go inside the cargo bay.

Built in 1972, the 35-foot-tall model made of wood, plastic and aluminum functioned as a prototype and fitting tool for all of the orbiters that launched into space.

“We’re super excited to be able to put it on display for the public, really for the first time in forever,” Ben Dickow, president and executive director of the Columbia Memorial Space Center, told LAist.

The expansion will also allow for educational areas, where students can learn about the pioneering engineering and design work that went into building the model at Rockwell International in Downey.

The backstory

Last fall, after sitting in storage for more than a decade, the full-scale model was moved a few blocks to a temporary home.

The Inspiration space shuttle mockup was moved in sections to a temporary home last fall

(

Courtesy Columbia Memorial Space Center

)

The Space Center said renovation work on the mock up will take months and include rehabs of its 60-foot cargo bay and flight deck.

Dickow said Downey is where all of the Apollo capsules that went to the moon and all of the space shuttles were designed and built.

“This is part of the L.A. story as much as entertainment or anything like that,” Dickow said, adding that it’s a legacy he feels like Angelenos sometimes forget. “The space craft that took humanity to the moon, the space craft that brought humanity into lower earth orbit and built the international space station, these are human firsts... and they all happened right here.”

What’s next? 

The Space Center is looking to raise $50 million that would go toward building plans, special exhibits and more.

Dickow said the new building that will house the space shuttle mockup should be open to the public in about two years.

By early next year, he said the plan is to have the shuttle model available for bi-monthly public visits as it undergoes renovation.