The Rule Breaker
Charly Hinojosa is an active community member in Northeast LA, where he has served on the Cypress Park Neighborhood Council, led kayak tours for BIPOC individuals on the LA River, and coached gymnastics and parkour for at-risk youth in the community. Spending his youth immersed in countercultures like skating, punk rock, and graffiti helped set…
Read MoreThe City as Teacher
Charly Hinojosa is an active community member in Northeast LA, where he has served on the Cypress Park Neighborhood Council, led kayak tours for BIPOC individuals on the LA River, and coached at-risk youth in the community. However, Charly spent his “active, outdoor childhood” immersed in youth countercultures. A punk rocker, he was against playing…
Read MoreSilent Killer
Dayana Molina is no stranger to gentrification. As a longtime resident of and advocate for Northeast LA, she has seen her community change drastically. It is part of the double-edged sword that comes with fighting to improve one’s neighborhood. Dayana has engaged with community activism since her youth. As a teenager playing in Anahuak Youth…
Read MoreFinding the Right Path
Daniel Paredes recalls a childhood typical to Frogtown in the ‘90s — a tight knit community where everybody knew each other and neighborhood kids would hang out in the streets. “I was forbidden to go to the river when I was a kid. That didn’t stop me from going to the river. I used to…
Read MoreThe Coastal Conservancy
In the late eighties, while in graduate school at UC Berkeley, Christopher Kroll began a part-time job at a relatively new and small state agency: the Coastal Conservancy. Established in 1976, “the Coastal Conservancy was set up to be a project agency to actually work with local governments, and nonprofits, on issues that could not…
Read MoreLA River Fishing
It’s a common practice for fishers or anglers to keep their best fishing spots a secret, as part of the appeal of recreational fishing is researching and discovering your own spot and keeping that good spot hidden. For newcomers, this practice might be daunting, but when Karen Barnett was first learning to fish, she didn’t…
Read MoreProposition 12
In 2000, California residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Safe Neighborhood Parks, Clean Water, Clean Air, and Coastal Protection Bond Act, known as Proposition 12, which allocated $2.1 billion to California State Parks to address hundreds of critical State Park System needs across California, particularly for high-density, park-poor areas. As the former Los Angeles…
Read MoreThe Story Behind the Myth
It is easy to spot Don Raúl Macias in the middle of the crowd: just look for his beret. If that doesn’t work, follow the sounds of the hundreds of children and teens that Anahuak Youth Sports Association trains weekly in parks throughout Northeast Los Angeles. His most recent position as Director of Anahuak, a…
Read MoreBuilding Los Angeles State Historic Park (LASHP)
The 32-acre plot that now houses the Los Angeles State Historic Park (LASHP) is a testament to the power of community activism. Throughout hundreds of “hearing sessions” hosted by California State Parks, nearby residents voiced their wants and needs for the land — and, by doing so, saved it from becoming the “River Station Business…
Read MoreBuilding the Foundations
As Director and Founder of The River Project, and the former Executive Director of Friends of the Los Angeles River (FoLAR), Melanie Winter is no stranger to the many opinions people hold regarding the future of the LA River and its surrounding communities. Over the years, the development of high-rise luxury apartments, large commercial retail…
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