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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San Bernardino mountain communities work to recover their livelihoods after a record-breaking winter. But, for some, it’s hard to do. -
Advocacy groups and medical professionals are troubled by the skyrocketing number of unhoused people who have died from overdoses in recent years. -
There's been an increase in reports of mold throughout LA. Here's what to do if it's growing in your walls. -
Today the federal COVID health emergency ends. But for many Angelenos, it’s not over. -
In LA, we make most of the clothes, and buy a lot of them, too. -
Armenian Angelenos find ways to support fellow Armenians overseas caught in the conflict over the region known as Artsakh. -
The life of a writer has changed a lot in recent years. Two storytellers break it down. -
From HBO to Hulu, here’s a brief history of how new technologies and distribution platforms have changed the playing field for writers. -
The effects of the walk out could have ripple effects well beyond the entertainment industry. -
Amidst the distressing news that permeates the LGBTQ+ community, one journalist focuses on stories of joy.
