Aaricka Washington
As the associate editor for How To LA, I not only write daily news stories in collaboration with the podcast, I lead strategy conversations with my team in order to create captivating, impactful stories for the podcast, digital site, radio and social media that capture the life, news, and culture of Los Angeles. In this role, I also report on original, L.A.-centric, in-depth stories monthly for the How To LA podcast. My stories largely focus on marginalized communities, youth and education. Lastly, I plan, coordinate and host community events with the aim of broadening and expanding audience reach within LAist and How To LA.
A community-driven local news reporter at heart, I've spent countless hours talking to parents, teachers, students, community members and school board trustees about the most crucial issues in education. I’ve covered breaking news, enterprise and investigative education stories for Chalkbeat Indiana and the Austin American-Statesman, focusing on the experiences of people from historically under-resourced communities that were similar to my childhood working class neighborhoods. I’ve also written for The New York Times, PBS NewsHour, Time Magazine and several other news publications.
Before becoming a professional journalist, I was a Teach for America corps member in Houston, Texas teaching Black, Latino and Southeast Asian kids in low-income schools.
I earned a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University-Bloomington.
My dad’s parents met in South L.A. after moving from Arkansas and Louisiana during The Great Migration in the late 1940s. They settled in Watts and started a large family of Washingtons. My family is currently all over South L.A. They are indeed witnesses of the most infamous, transformative parts of modern Black L.A. history. I was born in L.A. on the exact day my grandparents were married 40 years earlier. While I’m from L.A, I grew up mostly in Indianapolis, Indiana with my mom and visited nearly every summer. After living in Indianapolis, Houston, Austin and New York, it was time to return to my roots. I’m so happy to be back.
I’m an avid roller skater, long-distance runner, (soon-to-be) swimmer, and one helluva dope Auntie.
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Curren Price faces 10 counts of embezzlement, perjury and conflict of interest. -
Unpaid business taxes and overbilling raise more questions. -
LAist immigrant communities correspondent Leslie Berestein Rojas explores why some people of color are drawn to white supremacist ideologies. -
But it may be a challenge to find staff for the new program, which aims to put people suffering from mental illness on a potential path to treatment. -
Two recent clashes between anti-and pro-LGBTQ+ rights protesters occurred at schools over recognition of Pride Month. -
One in 10 Angelenos are weighed down by medical costs. The ones who are disproportionately affected are poor, people of color and those with chronic health conditions. -
How the Directors Guild of America’s tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers could impact writers currently on strike. -
Marisa Alcaraz and Imelda Padilla face off for the City Council District 6 seat, each presenting two different backgrounds. -
There are regulations to help shield outside workers from extreme heat, but rules to help indoor workers the same way remain in a holding pattern. -
The city launched the pilot program Big: Leap for low income families. Here’s how it impacted lives.
