Over the next week, you've got four opportunities to participate in promoting more livable streets in South L.A.
From 9 am to 1 pm on Saturday morning, Community Services Unlimited will be working with the USC Volunteer Center at two of their urban farm sites. It'll likely be hot, so have a hat, sunblock, and some water and be prepared to work hard at creating an edible green space in South L.A. RSVP to LD@csuinc.org for more information.
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Because Community Coalition believes that successful civic engagement is cause for excitement, they have pulled together a fantastic line-up of musicians for their South L.A. Summer Power Festival this Saturday, from 4 - 9 pm. The sweet sounds of artists such as Aloe Blacc and Las Cafeteras will serenade you as register to vote and learn about the initiatives on the November ballot. Also on hand will be The Red Cross, CHIRLA, and L.A. Care Health Plan to offer workshops on disaster preparedness, deferred action for DREAMers, and health care reform (respectively). Bienestar, New Way of Life, and the CLEAN Carwash campaign will be among some of the other organizations present offering health screenings and information on a variety of services available to community members.
So, come, learn, and dance at Martin Luther King Recreation Center at 39th and Western.
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On Sunday, the 26th, grab your bike and a friend and head to Watts to participate in the Second CicLAvia Southeast ride. Building on the momentum of the first ride, which had over 300 participants, the committee seeks to continue expanding the horizons for residents of communities in the area.
"Now we know that [CicLAvia] is something that the community does want," said organizer Mayra Aguilar. So, the next steps include continuing to create routes that cross through several of the Southeast cities at once and engaging local officials in the process. In doing so, she said, they hope residents and elected officials will see themselves as part of a larger community and want to work together to bring CicLAvia to the Southeast in 2013.
Want to join the movement? Meet up at the Watts Labor Community Action Committee (WLCAC) (10950 South Central Avenue) at 10 am. The ride will head to Lynwood, make a brief rest stop, and then return to the WLCAC along the same route. The reason, says Aguilar, is to mimic a real CicLAvia (although there will be no street closures on this ride). She also noted that there would be a stop at the Watts Towers.
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Finally, on Wednesday, August 29th, at 7 pm, you are invited to participate in the Neighborhood Bike Ambassador (NBA) meeting. The NBA is a LACBC initiative intended to support the implementation of the City of LA bicycle master plan. According to the LACBC, ambassadors will work to build local street level support for bike projects as well as work with neighborhood councils and other local groups to build awareness and support for projects, create safer streets, and help make Los Angeles healthier. Ambassadors will also organize community bike rides and other fun and educational events to help get more Angelenos out cycling.
The South L.A. meeting will be held in USC's Gerontolgy (GER) Building, 3715 McClintock Avenue, Room 230.
See you there!
